Spring 2024 Newsletter
Listen to Lived Experts – Celebrating 10 Years of Children and Youth in Care Day and Lifetimes of Lived Expert Advocacy.
Written by Wendy Hayes
Children and Youth In Care Day is an Ontario-based awareness day that is meant to draw attention to the experiences of Lived Experts of the child protection/welfare system. The Act which named this day was passed in 2014 – which makes this year the 10th Anniversary!
This day was created by a group of Lived Experts that came together to advocate for better outcomes for young people who have and will enter the system. It was one of seven recommendations from the My REAL Lifebook Report.
This is important to observe, because historically people who have become involved in the child welfare system have not been seen as the experts of our own experience. Society and caregivers have listened more to the “professionals” who surround us and our experiences (social workers, educators, mental health professionals and politicians). Supportive professionals have something to offer – but their voices should never be louder than Lived Expert voices. They may have good intentions – but as our Training for Humans teaches us – good intentions are not good enough.
It’s important to acknowledge that many marginalized communities experience more weight being given to the words of the observer vs the words of the lived expert. We see it in disability, mental health, neurodivergent, 2SLGBTQIA+ and racialized communities also.
While this attitude is changing – it still lingers. As Humans and allies– this listening and learning from Lived Experts is an essential part of showing up.
Last November, Never Too Late attended the premier screening of The Youth-in-Care Project Documentary created by Project Outsiders, an initiative owned and created by Lived Experts. As a Lived Expert myself, this was a powerful experience. For me it was a vision of the past, the present and the future. It was easy to trace the lineage of profound advocacy by Lived Experts that brought us to a place where this documentary was possible. I saw a glimpse of what a new generation of Lived Experts are creating and fighting for now. I saw potential futures – ones that can only be transformed for the better by listening to and learning from Lived Experience.
For Children and Youth in Care Day, we honour Lived Experience. We honour those who have spoken out even when no one is listening, those who have come together as a collective to affect change. We grieve those Lived Experts who we have lost along the way, whose voices have been silenced. We implore those who surround us to listen and learn from us – to let us take the lead in identifying what we need to thrive and belong. Here’s a few ways you can do that:
Follow Lived Experts Advocates, and Lived Expert run initiatives on social media
Listen to podcasts created and produced by Lived Experts
Watch media created by Lived Experts
Read books written and compiled by Lived Experts
Read reports created by Lived Experts on changes needed in the systems that impact us
Practice intersectionality – what other Lived Expert communities can you tune into?
Attend Never Too Late’s annual Lived Expert Panel in honour of Children and Youth in Care Day (see info below)
But, most importantly, listen with open hearts and open minds and remember to prioritize the voices of Lived Experts.
Featured in the Summer/Fall 2023 Newsletter
On April 1 Never Too Late (NTL) officially turned “1 year old” as an independently operating organization!
Education Session Information - Lived Expert Panel May 15th, 7:30pm-9pm
Looking to get started at Never Too Late (NTL)? Find Upcoming Orientation and Training information in this newsletter
A Helpful Tip for navigating Mother’s Day, featuring Listening to Our Inner Child by Wendy Hayes (Lived Expert, Kin Caregiver)
Improving Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being for LGBTQ Youth Webinar by Families Rising in honour of Pride Month in June