Raise the Future working on front lines of policy change discussions

An event called the National Think Tank recently came to the Denver metro area for an in-depth discussion of the future of adoption out of foster care. Raise the Future was among the child welfare leaders who were invited to take part in the conference and be part of the conversation.

"This year's topic is adoptions, so we will be discussing ways to increase the safety, security and consent for children going through the adoption process," said Ashley Brown, Founder & CEO of the Selfless Love Foundation.

The think tank was hosted by the Selfless Love Foundation out of Florida. The nonprofit works to find adoptive families for children living in foster care, to support teens who are aging out of the foster care system and to advocate for favorable policy changes that impact youth in foster care.

"We created the Selfless Love Foundation to truly transform the child welfare system," Brown explained.

Every other year, Selfless Love hosts a think tank to take an in-depth look at a specific topic affecting child welfare. The National Think Tank conference brings together participants from 30 states, including child welfare professionals, researchers, policy makers and young people who've had experience with the foster care system.

"Youth who were previously in foster care are truly the experts. They're the closest to the problem and we want them to be part of the solution," Brown added.

At the most recent think tank, more than 50% of the participants had lived-experience in foster care.

"What resonated with me the most was the professionals that have lived experience," said Mariana Pino, Vice President of Programs with Raise the Future.

Pino was among the Raise the Future team that was invited to the conference. The team included staff from the Colorado, Utah and Nevada offices.

"Everybody had a different breakout session, but it was all focused on recruiting for those who are in foster care, but how we do it moving forward in the future," Pino explained.

One topic of conversation was the pictures posted online of youth in foster care as a tool to recruit adoptive families.

"In Florida, it was brought to our attention by youth that their images were being put on public-facing websites for recruitment purposes, and they said that they were getting bullied in school," Brown said. "So, after advocating for over two years, Florida is leading the nation with the first-ever secure photo listing wall, which makes those images only available for approved families."

In addition to talking about the pros and cons of posting pictures and videos of children living in foster care, conference participants also talked about other creative ways to connect children with potential forever families. The conference lasted two days and generated a list of best practices that can go back to each state.

"Just because the think tank is over, our work isn't done, so we will continue to have quarterly meetings with our national network," Brown said.

"I just hope we continue to move forward with focusing on the children's voices," Pino added.

In a new age of social media and internet posts that last forever, reexamining recruitment practices is an important conversation.

LINK: Wednesday's Child on CBS News Colorado

You can find out more about the work that Raise the Future is doing by giving them a call at (303) 755-4756 or (800) 451-5246 or go to the Raise the Future website.