Kansas

Aaliyah McRae, age 20 Pronouns: She/Her 3 years in Kansas foster system Aaliyah is from Topeka, Kansas. She will soon start her senior year of college, and is majoring in Health Administration because she believes that everyone deserves equal care. Aaliyah enjoys volunteering at the Humane Society and listening to... Read more

Jozie Caudillo Pronouns: She/her Age 24, Three years in the Kansas foster system Jozie is from Wichita, Kansas. She is a first-generation college student and graduated from Wichita State University. Her dream is to be an attorney or advocate, and focus her career on criminal justice, child welfare, and civil... Read more

Cory Seller He/Him/His 24 Years Old Kansas Foster Care System Cory Seller spent 5 years in the Kansas foster care system. Cory recently graduated with his bachelor’s degree in social work from Pittsburg State University with hopes of obtaining his Masters of Social Work and his Juris Doctorate to practice... Read more

Kristen Powell She/Her/Hers 23 Years Old Kansas Foster Care System Kristen spent most of her childhood and adult life in Wichita, KS. She is currently a student at Wichita State University, and is working to obtain her bachelor’s degree with a major in Criminal Justice and a minor in Sociology... Read more

Anonymous Recipient 21 Years Old Kansas Foster Care System Anonymous recipient, currently 21 years of age, attends Wichita State University in Kansas while working multiple jobs in healthcare. Anonymous recipient has experienced adoption and four different placements during their time in foster care, entering care during their teen years in... Read more

Nicole Shaner 6 years in Kansas’s foster care system 21 years old She/Her/Hers Nicole entered the foster care system at the age of thirteen and moved roughly thirteen times. While in care, she was told that she would never make it in life. Instead of taking these statements as a... Read more

Shaileigh spent five years in the Kansas Child Welfare system. She describes her foster care experience as “messy”; bouncing from parents to kinship care, to foster homes. Until her best friend's parents became foster parents for her and that provided her some stability. Shaleigh is an experienced advocate and blogger... Read more

Stormy Lukasavage 3 years in Kansas's foster care system He/Him/His Stormy Lukasavage used his three years of lived experience as well as his passion for authentic advocacy to create opportunities for former youth. He first started working on the state’s tuition bill which would grant foster youth a tuition free... Read more