Aleks Talsky is a legal assistant at Michael Best & Friedrich. Aleks is a passionate child welfare advocate who serves on the advisory board for the National Association of Counsel for Children as well as the ACF- Youth Engagement Team for the Administration for Children and Families.
I’m “ALL-IN” because we must continue to make these important changes in the child welfare system:
1) Foster care is not meant to be a long-term solution, yet for far too many young people it is! The child welfare system should limit placement of children in foster care and prioritize keeping them safely with their families.
2) Young people deserve to have their voices heard and wishes granted! The negative outcomes and experiences of children in the child welfare system are serious and life changing. All children deserve the right to a high quality legal representative that will ensure their voices are heard and the best outcome is achieved.
3) All Children deserve to have the opportunity to achieve success, yet only 3% of former foster youth graduate from college! Young people who are in and aging out of the foster care system often have lower college persistence and completion rates than their peers in higher education. Current federal law has helped to improve college accessibility for former foster youth, but students continue to face considerable challenges in continuing their education and completing their degrees. We must create, expand and evaluate support programs for students who are current and former foster youth.
