November 13, 2024 • 27 mins
Discover the transformative power of digital engagement in the foster care system and learn how it is reshaping the lives of transition-age youth. Imagine navigating the complexities of foster care without tailored support—now imagine how revolutionary it is for those who have it. In our latest episode, we dive into the collaboration between GoMo Health and Amerigroup's Georgia Family 360, which has created a lifeline for youth and their caregivers through a digital engagement hub. Hear the inspiring stories of four transition age youth, whose personal journeys from instability to independence highlight the profound impact of this initiative on emotional development and resilience.
In addition to these personal stories, Dr. Elizabeth Wynter sheds light on the grief and loss experienced by young people entering foster care, while Bhavini Solanki, Director of Amerigroup, offers insights into the functionality and success of the digital hub.
Listen and Learn:
- About the broader landscape of child welfare, where modern solutions meet the complex challenges of outdated policies
- The impact of multidimensional support services available, from employment preparation to family reconciliation
- The need for updated child welfare policies and the individuals dedicated to fostering positive change
Join us on this compelling exploration of human resilience and the future of foster care.
Hosts:
- Bob Gold, Chief Behavioral Technologist, GoMo Health
- Shelley Schoenfeld, Chief Strategist, GoMo Health
Guests:
- Dr. Elizabeth Wynter, Foster Youth Voice Champion and Child Welfare Strategist
- Bhavini Solanki, Director, Georgia Families 360°
- Joseph Stone, Peer Support Liaison and Community Outreach Coordinator, Georgia Families 360°
- Armoni Gregory, Transition Age Youth
- Clinisha Wilson, Transition Age Youth
- Eshontee Rowe, Transition Age Youth
Thanks for tuning in. Subscribe today to receive alerts of new weekly episodes and follow @GoMoHealth on social for the latest in healthcare engagement.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
From an early age.
You know.
When I look back on that Icould recognize that both my
birth mother and birth fatherhad anger issues and dealt with
depression and anxiety and actedaccordingly.
That led to a very rockychildhood.
Physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect it ran the gamut.
Speaker 5 (00:34):
GOMO Health is working hand-in-hand with
Amerigroup's Georgia Family 360on a program to extend the
virtual digital assistantAmerigroup's engagement hub to
transition age youth and forfamily preservation and
reunification for those familiesand children and young adults
(00:58):
in child welfare, foster carewho go through a foster parent
or adoptive parent or guardianor get reunified with their
birth parents.
So we work closely and the ideaof the engagement hub is to
massively scale directengagement to both transition
age youth, which is 14 to 26,and to the caregivers, so they
(01:24):
could be birth parents, fosterparents, adoptive parents,
guardians and those otherprofessionals who support them.
And the idea is to provideresources, content and
personalize it for each one ofthe thousands of people in the
program, based on where they'reat Do they need help with job
(01:48):
interviewing, how to dress foremployment?
Is a foster parent strugglingwith anger management of a young
adult and how do they handle it?
What are the availableresources?
So what's nice is the digitalengagement hub works hand in
hand with the Merrill Group caremanagers and care coordinators
(02:12):
who are assigned to variousyouth and parents and people in
the foster care and childwelfare system.
So what it has done?
It has increased engagementactivation and developed and
fostered resiliency in bothyouth and parents and adults in
the program.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
There are times in the world and life when a
discovery changes how we dothings.
Hi, I'm Shelley Schoenfeld,join me and my podcast partner,
behavioral technologist Bob Gold, from whom you just heard, on
this journey of discovery as weunfold a whole person health
delivery science for people inneed.
Welcome to Human ResilienceChanging the Way Healthcare is
(02:56):
Delivered.
In this episode, we meet fourtransition age youth who have
benefited enormously from fostercare programs in and around
Atlanta, Georgia, all run byAmerigroup, who partners with
GOMO Health to deliver digitalengagement solutions that
enhance the lives of youngpeople just like them.
Additionally, dr ElizabethWinter helps us understand the
(03:18):
context of foster care from herexpert child welfare advocacy
perspective, and Bhavini Solankiof Amerigroup, underscores
specifically, along with Bob,how the GOMO Health Digital
Engagement Hub actually works.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
There is no greater loss for a young person than
losing their parent, whetherthat is through death, through
separation, through separation,through termination of parental
rights.
There is no greater loss.
When young people are cominginto the system, the first thing
I think we overlook or don'tconsider is the grief and loss
(04:01):
that they're experiencing.
And I think, as therapists inthe system, we often have
inexperienced therapists who areworking with the most complex
families known to man.
I mean honestly, these are verycomplex cases with lots going
on and oftentimes what I find isclinicians in child welfare
(04:21):
want to dive right into thattrauma.
And that scares me.
Because young people, when youthink about Maslow's hierarchy
of needs, the first thing is youknow shelter and safety.
Well, you've just moved into astranger's home when you come
into foster care, so you're notgoing to feel safe and, by the
way, you don't know if you'regoing to be in that home two
weeks from now.
(04:41):
So it's frightening.
But then you think about youhave just lost a connection to
your primary caregiver, to yourparent.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I'm Joseph Stone.
I operate as a peer supportliaison and community outreach
coordinator with GeorgiaFamilies 360 Amerigroup.
Born in Dallas, texas, movedaround a lot as a kid, mainly
due to a birth father who wasalways either trying to escape
his ex-wife, child support andwhatnot and trying to make a
(05:18):
quick dollar.
So I got to see quite a bit ofthe South and Southwest of the
US, kind of the unofficial way,sort of like the Anthony
Bourdain, but a little rougher,and from an early age.
You know, when I look back onthat I could recognize that both
my birth mother and birthfather had anger issues and
(05:40):
undealt with depression andanxiety and acted accordingly.
That led to a very rockychildhood Physical abuse,
emotional abuse, neglect it ranthe gamut.
I'm the oldest of four boys andthroughout my childhood I was
in and out of care, taken out ofthe home.
(06:01):
They would check the house andcheck with my birth family,
check with us and then reuniteus.
I think maybe I'm one of thosefew cases where reuniting with
your birth family isn't probablythe best idea.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
So tell me about.
You ended up in a, I think atage 15, with your foster parents
.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yes, my now parents.
I had probably been through myfourth or fifth group home at
the time.
They had taken in one of myyounger brothers and he told
them that he had three otherbrothers and them being
newlyweds not really knowing allthat much about children.
They were like let's bring themall in Four boys under one roof
(06:46):
.
And yeah, I think fondly backon that.
My mom was an executivedirector with the Georgia DJJ,
christy Doyle.
Everyone else around theseparts they look up to her as,
like this huge figure, she's mymom.
It's awesome.
She used to tell me as ateenager teenager it's
oftentimes in the safest placewhere the hits the fan.
(07:09):
Can I cuss sure, yeah, wherethe shit hits the fan.
Up until recently I was in avery religious environment where
you would testify and whatnotand that's always nice for the
pastor to hear.
Oh, they came from a bad placeand they're better now.
But I'm more than that.
I'm more than my story.
(07:31):
I went to music school, Istudied opera, I loved it, but
one of my great regrets in lifeis I quit music school and just
went a more conventional route,and that was largely due with
two of my brothers running away,turning to drugs and crime.
And here I am in college, awayfrom everything that's familiar
(07:54):
and just feeling my world crasharound me, so to say.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
What spurred you to go on for your master's?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Just being a nerd, a Bible nerd I really love the
playing with the words.
You know getting deep in that,understanding the context, kind
of approaching it like ananthropologist or archaeologist,
but then also you know a matterof faith.
In Romans 16, paul talks aboutbeing adopted and then you know
(08:27):
Jesus talking about I am thevine, you are the branches.
That's been a big thing for me.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
How do you think music could help people mentally
or physically Like what is itabout?
Music that reaches the soul?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well for me personally.
It pulls me further out of thatinner space where I might be
struggling with something.
It's helped me come into adeeper understanding with myself
and be more emotionallyexpressive.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
The engagement hub personalizes the communications
where they're at in anon-threatening way that's
within their lifestyle andconsistent with what they're
going through, and it adjusts ona continuous basis based on
what they're feeling.
Today they could be fine,Tomorrow they could have
(09:22):
tremendous amount of anxietybecause they were bullied,
because they're a foster childin school or because they're
frustrated about getting a joband they couldn't find one.
So the system has about 50 areasof content resources that they
don't get overwhelmed all atonce.
(09:43):
It's adjusting to what theyneed in their environment of
need, in their lived environment, and we're giving them
techniques to practice beinghealthier mentally, physically,
to know in the moment whatsocial resources they have,
based on where they are, theircounty, their zip code, their
(10:05):
circumstances.
And you combine that with theAmerigroup care coordinator
because GOMO escalates to themwhen we detect an issue or the
person needs a lot of help andsome human guidance.
So it escalates to the carecoordinator who immediately uses
(10:25):
GOMO chat to begin a chat withthem or calls them to resolve
the problem in the moment.
Because if you wait a few days,that youth or foster parent
will have 10 other issues andwhen you don't resolve things in
real time within a person'slived environment.
(10:46):
Many times it results inadverse events which cause high
human toll and costs on thesystem from all the stakeholders
involved.
Speaker 7 (11:01):
My name is Armani Gregory.
I was born in Milwaukee,wisconsin, raised in the state
of Georgia.
I was in D-Fax custody since2017, so it's been a while I
aged out and now that I'm inTransition Living Program, which
is Christian City out in UnionCity a nice program as well I
(11:22):
had to make the move because,you know, my mom signed the
rights over to the state ofGeorgia for custody or whatever.
My mom signed the rights overto the state of Georgia for
custody or whatever.
I went into a group home in2017, and I resigned there until
, I want to say, like 2019, 2020.
It was a good experience.
Riley Residence Group Home islocated in Decatur, georgia.
(11:42):
It was an all-boys group home12 boys.
It was a good experience.
I learned a lot mentally,physically, emotionally as well
being there and I learned a lotthat's going to cover me in the
long run in life.
I learned from the staff thatwas there guiding me with credit
, getting my credit right, makesure I'm saving money,
(12:02):
management and stuff like that.
After the group home, I wentinto a foster home and then,
after a foster home, I went intoa TLP, which is a transition
living program.
It was a different experiencefor me because you know I've
never been in a foster home, soit was my first time ever being
in one, so it was an okayexperience.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
Were the foster adults good to you?
Not good to you, Were they?
Speaker 7 (12:26):
helpful.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
They were good to me, they was helpful and then
explain a little bit more of theTLP again, because I'm not
familiar.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
Okay, Transition Living Program is like a program
that helps you, you know, getright for, like you know,
getting jobs, getting you readyfor your own apartment and stuff
like that.
Also it helps you, you know,get back on your feet as well.
When you kind of hit rockbottom when I was in a group
home, my mental health was upand down.
Me being in a group home,sometimes I get tough, it can
(12:57):
mess with your mental sometimes,but to now I feel like my
mental health is at the beststate that it ever would be at.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
What would you say to another kid?
Maybe they're not sure if theyshould go for further school or
not.
What would be something you'dtell them why they should try to
pursue more education?
Speaker 7 (13:19):
College is a whole other experience that you want
to experience in life.
I didn't know if I wanted to goto school or not, but once I
went, the best experience Iwould ever have, the best time
of my life, was in college Justmeeting new peers and meeting
new people from all over theworld, all over from different
states, making new friends and,you know, just being around a
good environment.
(13:40):
Because money management is abig thing, you know.
Saving is a big thing, you know.
I have a savings account.
I save percentage out of mychecks every week so I can have
money put up for like a rainyday just in case.
So that plays a big part inlife as well too.
I work for UPS and, like me,and being in the warehouse and
(14:02):
moving around keeps my bodyright, keeps me going and it
keeps me on the right path andeverything.
So that keeps me in shape aswell.
You know sweating off thecalories and stuff like that
while I'm working and makingmoney.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
If you had to maybe say a couple words of wisdom to
maybe someone who's strugglingmentally and in foster care and
hasn't found who they are like,what would be a couple things
you'd tell the person?
Speaker 7 (14:30):
It's life.
You know you're going to gothrough things to get to things
that you're trying to get to.
You know it's not like pattycake.
It's going to be a few bumps ina row.
You got to crawl before youwalk first, so that's how I
really got through it, crawlingbefore I had to start taking my
steps.
So I'm also expecting dad soonas well.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Oh congratulations.
Speaker 7 (14:52):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
So you know a football coach, afamily man, just somebody that
a lot of people looks up to.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
What are some characteristics of people you
would look up to Like?
What is it about them?
That?
Would make you want to learnfrom them, or what do people do
that inspires you?
Speaker 7 (15:11):
The biggest thing is their personality, or how they,
you know, come off of greetingeach other and stuff like that.
And once I see your personalityis a pretty good personality, I
want to get in it more and getto know you more and see what I
can learn from you and what wecan learn from each other what I
(15:32):
can learn from you and what wecan learn from each other.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
One of our goals is to seek out and partner and find
other organizations andindividuals that are passionate,
that care and dedicated tohelping others, and I couldn't
think of a person that fits thatbetter than Bovini, who's one
of the leaders of inAmerigroup's Georgia Family 360
and has been with the programfrom inception.
Speaker 8 (15:59):
So we use a whole health model, because health
care and insurance is not justabout physically what's going on
with you, and it's also notjust about psychologically
what's going on with you oremotionally what's going on with
you, although those areimportant.
There's also pharmacy-wise doyou have the right medications
that you need?
And then there's this entirelarge branch, which probably is
(16:22):
larger than all of them, aboutsocial determinants, which are
things like do you have accessto food?
Do you have stable housing?
Do you know when you're goingto be able to get to school the
next time?
Do you know if you're going tohave supplies for school?
You know, do you have enoughenergy?
Did you sleep enough to payattention in class?
(16:44):
All the things that can impactyour physical health and your
behavioral health and not evenreally recognize that.
So all of our members, whetherthey're part of the Georgia
Family 360 program or justGeorgia families, all get a
health risk assessment where weask as many of those questions
up front as we can and then,certainly, as you answer things,
(17:06):
then we can dig deeper intocertain areas.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
My name is Klenisha Wilson.
I am 21 years old.
I have a daughter who's sevenmonths Right now.
Her name is Janiyah and I havebeen in the foster care system
since the age of 15 until theage of 21.
I was in a foster home with afoster family up until 18.
Then I went to college with thefoster family up until 18.
(17:38):
Then I went to college and thenafter that I transitioned into
a TLP transitional livingprogram for teenagers and young
age adults, where they help youwith housing, groceries and
things of that nature.
They also help you witheveryday life skills and also
around the age of 21,.
They prepared me to go intoanother program, which is the
(17:59):
parenting youth program foryoung women who have babies, and
so that's where I am currentlyright now, and I have been able
to grow within the program.
I was able to get employmentthat's what I'm working on right
now and they do provide housingfor the youth.
Being a mom has really changedmy whole perspective on a lot of
(18:21):
things.
It has helped with like justbeing more patient and even
though it's not easy at all, butit helps you, it makes me happy
.
That's the main thing.
It makes me happy and thesleepless nights is worth it to
me.
I love being a mom.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
I can tell because you're smiling when you said it,
so that's really nice To theextent you're comfortable
talking about it.
I think you said you enteredinto foster care at 15.
Are you comfortable saying thecircumstances to why you entered
into foster care, like what wasthe environment you were in?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
or the environment was kind of abusive and I just
knew I need to just just getaway with your therapist.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
It seems like you have a good relationship.
Yes, like what's one or twothings.
You would say that maybe you'redoing better now with because
they helped you, like mentallyor whatever.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
They helped me communicate a lot better because
at first I was a lot I wasstandoffish and not really being
open with certain issues thatI'm going through or dealing
with at the time, and they alsohelp me with just being able to
connect with different adults.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
What would be some words of wisdom.
You would tell someone a littleyounger than you like
struggling with certain things.
Is there any advice you'd give?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yes, I would say to always have hope, always reach
out to people for help or justif you're dealing with something
, just make sure you talk tosomeone.
It always gets better.
It always gets better, Good foryou.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
You've come a long way Now.
The other thing you wrote downwas parenting needs.
What kind of things are theyteaching you?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Usually on Thursdays we have groups.
Sometimes they talk about likecredit, they help with like
certain issues, with if you needanything like for your baby,
they'll help you with thoseneeds.
They also have us go todifferent groups it's like for
moms and they talk aboutdifferent stuff as well, and
they also have us do certainactivities within the group.
(20:35):
Usually on those Thursdays wealso stay a little bit after for
just if we need to talk tosomeone For employment.
Sometimes within those groupsthey help you write your resume
and also they take you to yourinterviews.
They help you print your resumeand also they take you to your
(20:56):
interviews.
They help you print your resumeout and just if you need
additional help with like goingto work, they help you with that
too.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
That's awesome.
So what type of employment areyou thinking about or focused on
?
Or you know the things you liketo do?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Right now either like retail work, warehouse jobs,
scanning, like packages andstuff like that.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Is there anything you could think of like if there
was a new person at age 15 orthereabouts who was going into
foster care for the first timeand had no clue?
Is there any words of wisdom?
If you were sitting in front ofthem, you would say Again, like
have hope, think about thepositive things.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Just take advantage of the things that you may be
able to get in touch with orlike be able to, just like if
you have people in front of youthat you can learn from, just
listen and see where you couldgo from there if you had to say
self-improvement for clinician,what would one or two things be
(22:07):
for yourself to continue to door get better at?
Just being able to buildcertain relationships with
certain people that I may wantto get closer to, and being open
with communication.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
Well, you know, it's interesting.
Just to wind down, the factthat you agreed to do this is
awesome, or hopefully use thisto help others, right?
Maybe you haven't figured itout yet, or going through some
tough times.
Was this hard for you?
By the way, just out ofcuriosity, Was this stressful
(22:43):
coming in and this wholeexperience?
Is it okay?
Do you feel good about it, orwhat's your thoughts about this
whole?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
thing, I was a little nervous, but it's not that bad.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
The fourth transition age youth Bob interviewed was
Ashanti Rowe.
Like Joseph, armani and Kanisha, she's grown tremendously in
the foster care environmentcoupled with utilizing the
Amerigroup Engagement Hub that'spowered by the GOMO Health
Behavioral Technology.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
The relationship with my family became strained when
I was eight years old.
My dad passed away.
He committed suicide.
That in itself was alreadysetting rocky ground for the
family.
Once I was put into foster care, it was essentially my mom and
my siblings, and then it was me.
I had made connections with mygrandmothers because I was a
grandma's kid, so I was able tohave that relief and go hang out
(23:42):
with my grandmothers on theholiday.
But for years, even afterexiting foster care, the
relationship continued to bestrained.
But in all great news, thingsare better.
I hang out with my mom on adaily basis.
I have an awesome niece andnephew now, and so we live 20
minutes away from each other.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
we see each other all the time, and so we've been
able to reconcile and rebuildthat relationship and just tell
me a little bit about what youthink, over the years, went on
through your mom's brain.
Or did she have feelings ofbeing killed, forgetting what
you would say like?
What was her lived experience,given she let a kid go into
(24:21):
foster care, did that affect her?
Does that?
Speaker 4 (24:24):
I love that question.
Nobody typically asks thatquestion.
I would say that my mom is oneof the bravest women that I've
ever met.
Um, if we go back to the Biblestory of Moses, when Pharaoh was
going around killing all thebabies, she decided to sacrifice
her child in order to save herchild and, in that sense, my mom
sacrificed me in order to saveme, and so for years she dealt
(24:49):
with guilt, even up untilrecently, and in the work that
I've done, she thought that Iwas, you know, parading around
saying that my mom's a horriblemom and all the things, and I'm
like no, I defend you, I protectyou.
I tell everybody how great youare because you saved my life.
I don't know where I would behad I stayed home in the
circumstances that werehappening.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
I mean, you have to think about this.
The child welfare system in theUnited States has been around
for over 100 years.
Every year we're putting six toeight new child welfare laws on
the books.
Think about doing that for thelast 100 years.
How many laws do we have thatare written and outdated, that
we have never taken off thebooks?
So right now we're justoverwhelmed with the amount of
(25:36):
policy and policy doesn'tnecessarily look the same in the
field as it does on a piece ofpaper.
And I think it's a time ofreckoning and I've been in child
welfare for 25 years so I thinkI can say this is that I think
we've gotten to a place where wehave been and listen.
The pendulum always swings inchild welfare.
(25:57):
If you watch it, it swings fromfamily preservation to child
safety, and child safety is whenwe put more kids in the system,
and it's a very expensivesystem to run.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
You know we get asked a lot what does it mean to
measure success?
And actually in the second partof this three-part podcast
series you'll hear a lot aboutthe measurements of the program
within child welfare, fostercare and the types of resources
and services we're putting infront of the youth and parents,
(26:33):
and then measuring activation,resiliency, adherence to those.
One of the exciting parts ismeasuring success, and we have a
number of key performanceindicators and quality measures
that we work with Amerigroup onaround hitting certain goals.
In addition to that, you couldjust feel the success through
(26:58):
the youth and family that areserved.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Thanks very much, dr Elizabeth Winter and especially
Joseph Stone, armani Gregory,klenisha Wilson and Ashante Rowe
for sharing your real-lifeexperiences before, during and
after foster care.
We're most grateful to BoviniSolanki of Amerigroup, who is a
visionary with unparalleleddedication in the lives of these
(27:24):
and countless other youngpeople in Georgia.
On behalf of Bob Gold andmyself, thank you all for
listening to this episode aboutthe unique solutions available
for transition-age youth.
And stay with us.
This is just part one of thisepisode about the unique
solutions available fortransition age youth.
And stay with us.
This is just part one of thisepisode in our podcast Human
Resilience Changing the WayHealthcare is Delivered.
From an early age.
You know.
When I look back on that Icould recognize that both my
birth mother and birth fatherhad anger issues and dealt with
depression and anxiety and actedaccordingly.
That led to a very rockychildhood.
Physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect it ran the gamut.
Speaker 5 (00:34):
GOMO Health is working hand-in-hand with
Amerigroup's Georgia Family 360on a program to extend the
virtual digital assistantAmerigroup's engagement hub to
transition age youth and forfamily preservation and
reunification for those familiesand children and young adults
(00:58):
in child welfare, foster carewho go through a foster parent
or adoptive parent or guardianor get reunified with their
birth parents.
So we work closely and the ideaof the engagement hub is to
massively scale directengagement to both transition
age youth, which is 14 to 26,and to the caregivers, so they
(01:24):
could be birth parents, fosterparents, adoptive parents,
guardians and those otherprofessionals who support them.
And the idea is to provideresources, content and
personalize it for each one ofthe thousands of people in the
program, based on where they'reat Do they need help with job
(01:48):
interviewing, how to dress foremployment?
Is a foster parent strugglingwith anger management of a young
adult and how do they handle it?
What are the availableresources?
So what's nice is the digitalengagement hub works hand in
hand with the Merrill Group caremanagers and care coordinators
(02:12):
who are assigned to variousyouth and parents and people in
the foster care and childwelfare system.
So what it has done?
It has increased engagementactivation and developed and
fostered resiliency in bothyouth and parents and adults in
the program.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
There are times in the world and life when a
discovery changes how we dothings.
Hi, I'm Shelley Schoenfeld,join me and my podcast partner,
behavioral technologist Bob Gold, from whom you just heard, on
this journey of discovery as weunfold a whole person health
delivery science for people inneed.
Welcome to Human ResilienceChanging the Way Healthcare is
(02:56):
Delivered.
In this episode, we meet fourtransition age youth who have
benefited enormously from fostercare programs in and around
Atlanta, Georgia, all run byAmerigroup, who partners with
GOMO Health to deliver digitalengagement solutions that
enhance the lives of youngpeople just like them.
Additionally, dr ElizabethWinter helps us understand the
(03:18):
context of foster care from herexpert child welfare advocacy
perspective, and Bhavini Solankiof Amerigroup, underscores
specifically, along with Bob,how the GOMO Health Digital
Engagement Hub actually works.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
There is no greater loss for a young person than
losing their parent, whetherthat is through death, through
separation, through separation,through termination of parental
rights.
There is no greater loss.
When young people are cominginto the system, the first thing
I think we overlook or don'tconsider is the grief and loss
(04:01):
that they're experiencing.
And I think, as therapists inthe system, we often have
inexperienced therapists who areworking with the most complex
families known to man.
I mean honestly, these are verycomplex cases with lots going
on and oftentimes what I find isclinicians in child welfare
(04:21):
want to dive right into thattrauma.
And that scares me.
Because young people, when youthink about Maslow's hierarchy
of needs, the first thing is youknow shelter and safety.
Well, you've just moved into astranger's home when you come
into foster care, so you're notgoing to feel safe and, by the
way, you don't know if you'regoing to be in that home two
weeks from now.
(04:41):
So it's frightening.
But then you think about youhave just lost a connection to
your primary caregiver, to yourparent.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I'm Joseph Stone.
I operate as a peer supportliaison and community outreach
coordinator with GeorgiaFamilies 360 Amerigroup.
Born in Dallas, texas, movedaround a lot as a kid, mainly
due to a birth father who wasalways either trying to escape
his ex-wife, child support andwhatnot and trying to make a
(05:18):
quick dollar.
So I got to see quite a bit ofthe South and Southwest of the
US, kind of the unofficial way,sort of like the Anthony
Bourdain, but a little rougher,and from an early age.
You know, when I look back onthat I could recognize that both
my birth mother and birthfather had anger issues and
(05:40):
undealt with depression andanxiety and acted accordingly.
That led to a very rockychildhood Physical abuse,
emotional abuse, neglect it ranthe gamut.
I'm the oldest of four boys andthroughout my childhood I was
in and out of care, taken out ofthe home.
(06:01):
They would check the house andcheck with my birth family,
check with us and then reuniteus.
I think maybe I'm one of thosefew cases where reuniting with
your birth family isn't probablythe best idea.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
So tell me about.
You ended up in a, I think atage 15, with your foster parents
.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yes, my now parents.
I had probably been through myfourth or fifth group home at
the time.
They had taken in one of myyounger brothers and he told
them that he had three otherbrothers and them being
newlyweds not really knowing allthat much about children.
They were like let's bring themall in Four boys under one roof
(06:46):
.
And yeah, I think fondly backon that.
My mom was an executivedirector with the Georgia DJJ,
christy Doyle.
Everyone else around theseparts they look up to her as,
like this huge figure, she's mymom.
It's awesome.
She used to tell me as ateenager teenager it's
oftentimes in the safest placewhere the hits the fan.
(07:09):
Can I cuss sure, yeah, wherethe shit hits the fan.
Up until recently I was in avery religious environment where
you would testify and whatnotand that's always nice for the
pastor to hear.
Oh, they came from a bad placeand they're better now.
But I'm more than that.
I'm more than my story.
(07:31):
I went to music school, Istudied opera, I loved it, but
one of my great regrets in lifeis I quit music school and just
went a more conventional route,and that was largely due with
two of my brothers running away,turning to drugs and crime.
And here I am in college, awayfrom everything that's familiar
(07:54):
and just feeling my world crasharound me, so to say.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
What spurred you to go on for your master's?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Just being a nerd, a Bible nerd I really love the
playing with the words.
You know getting deep in that,understanding the context, kind
of approaching it like ananthropologist or archaeologist,
but then also you know a matterof faith.
In Romans 16, paul talks aboutbeing adopted and then you know
(08:27):
Jesus talking about I am thevine, you are the branches.
That's been a big thing for me.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
How do you think music could help people mentally
or physically Like what is itabout?
Music that reaches the soul?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well for me personally.
It pulls me further out of thatinner space where I might be
struggling with something.
It's helped me come into adeeper understanding with myself
and be more emotionallyexpressive.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
The engagement hub personalizes the communications
where they're at in anon-threatening way that's
within their lifestyle andconsistent with what they're
going through, and it adjusts ona continuous basis based on
what they're feeling.
Today they could be fine,Tomorrow they could have
(09:22):
tremendous amount of anxietybecause they were bullied,
because they're a foster childin school or because they're
frustrated about getting a joband they couldn't find one.
So the system has about 50 areasof content resources that they
don't get overwhelmed all atonce.
(09:43):
It's adjusting to what theyneed in their environment of
need, in their lived environment, and we're giving them
techniques to practice beinghealthier mentally, physically,
to know in the moment whatsocial resources they have,
based on where they are, theircounty, their zip code, their
(10:05):
circumstances.
And you combine that with theAmerigroup care coordinator
because GOMO escalates to themwhen we detect an issue or the
person needs a lot of help andsome human guidance.
So it escalates to the carecoordinator who immediately uses
(10:25):
GOMO chat to begin a chat withthem or calls them to resolve
the problem in the moment.
Because if you wait a few days,that youth or foster parent
will have 10 other issues andwhen you don't resolve things in
real time within a person'slived environment.
(10:46):
Many times it results inadverse events which cause high
human toll and costs on thesystem from all the stakeholders
involved.
Speaker 7 (11:01):
My name is Armani Gregory.
I was born in Milwaukee,wisconsin, raised in the state
of Georgia.
I was in D-Fax custody since2017, so it's been a while I
aged out and now that I'm inTransition Living Program, which
is Christian City out in UnionCity a nice program as well I
(11:22):
had to make the move because,you know, my mom signed the
rights over to the state ofGeorgia for custody or whatever.
My mom signed the rights overto the state of Georgia for
custody or whatever.
I went into a group home in2017, and I resigned there until
, I want to say, like 2019, 2020.
It was a good experience.
Riley Residence Group Home islocated in Decatur, georgia.
(11:42):
It was an all-boys group home12 boys.
It was a good experience.
I learned a lot mentally,physically, emotionally as well
being there and I learned a lotthat's going to cover me in the
long run in life.
I learned from the staff thatwas there guiding me with credit
, getting my credit right, makesure I'm saving money,
(12:02):
management and stuff like that.
After the group home, I wentinto a foster home and then,
after a foster home, I went intoa TLP, which is a transition
living program.
It was a different experiencefor me because you know I've
never been in a foster home, soit was my first time ever being
in one, so it was an okayexperience.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
Were the foster adults good to you?
Not good to you, Were they?
Speaker 7 (12:26):
helpful.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
They were good to me, they was helpful and then
explain a little bit more of theTLP again, because I'm not
familiar.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
Okay, Transition Living Program is like a program
that helps you, you know, getright for, like you know,
getting jobs, getting you readyfor your own apartment and stuff
like that.
Also it helps you, you know,get back on your feet as well.
When you kind of hit rockbottom when I was in a group
home, my mental health was upand down.
Me being in a group home,sometimes I get tough, it can
(12:57):
mess with your mental sometimes,but to now I feel like my
mental health is at the beststate that it ever would be at.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
What would you say to another kid?
Maybe they're not sure if theyshould go for further school or
not.
What would be something you'dtell them why they should try to
pursue more education?
Speaker 7 (13:19):
College is a whole other experience that you want
to experience in life.
I didn't know if I wanted to goto school or not, but once I
went, the best experience Iwould ever have, the best time
of my life, was in college Justmeeting new peers and meeting
new people from all over theworld, all over from different
states, making new friends and,you know, just being around a
good environment.
(13:40):
Because money management is abig thing, you know.
Saving is a big thing, you know.
I have a savings account.
I save percentage out of mychecks every week so I can have
money put up for like a rainyday just in case.
So that plays a big part inlife as well too.
I work for UPS and, like me,and being in the warehouse and
(14:02):
moving around keeps my bodyright, keeps me going and it
keeps me on the right path andeverything.
So that keeps me in shape aswell.
You know sweating off thecalories and stuff like that
while I'm working and makingmoney.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
If you had to maybe say a couple words of wisdom to
maybe someone who's strugglingmentally and in foster care and
hasn't found who they are like,what would be a couple things
you'd tell the person?
Speaker 7 (14:30):
It's life.
You know you're going to gothrough things to get to things
that you're trying to get to.
You know it's not like pattycake.
It's going to be a few bumps ina row.
You got to crawl before youwalk first, so that's how I
really got through it, crawlingbefore I had to start taking my
steps.
So I'm also expecting dad soonas well.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Oh congratulations.
Speaker 7 (14:52):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
So you know a football coach, afamily man, just somebody that
a lot of people looks up to.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
What are some characteristics of people you
would look up to Like?
What is it about them?
That?
Would make you want to learnfrom them, or what do people do
that inspires you?
Speaker 7 (15:11):
The biggest thing is their personality, or how they,
you know, come off of greetingeach other and stuff like that.
And once I see your personalityis a pretty good personality, I
want to get in it more and getto know you more and see what I
can learn from you and what wecan learn from each other what I
(15:32):
can learn from you and what wecan learn from each other.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
One of our goals is to seek out and partner and find
other organizations andindividuals that are passionate,
that care and dedicated tohelping others, and I couldn't
think of a person that fits thatbetter than Bovini, who's one
of the leaders of inAmerigroup's Georgia Family 360
and has been with the programfrom inception.
Speaker 8 (15:59):
So we use a whole health model, because health
care and insurance is not justabout physically what's going on
with you, and it's also notjust about psychologically
what's going on with you oremotionally what's going on with
you, although those areimportant.
There's also pharmacy-wise doyou have the right medications
that you need?
And then there's this entirelarge branch, which probably is
(16:22):
larger than all of them, aboutsocial determinants, which are
things like do you have accessto food?
Do you have stable housing?
Do you know when you're goingto be able to get to school the
next time?
Do you know if you're going tohave supplies for school?
You know, do you have enoughenergy?
Did you sleep enough to payattention in class?
(16:44):
All the things that can impactyour physical health and your
behavioral health and not evenreally recognize that.
So all of our members, whetherthey're part of the Georgia
Family 360 program or justGeorgia families, all get a
health risk assessment where weask as many of those questions
up front as we can and then,certainly, as you answer things,
(17:06):
then we can dig deeper intocertain areas.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
My name is Klenisha Wilson.
I am 21 years old.
I have a daughter who's sevenmonths Right now.
Her name is Janiyah and I havebeen in the foster care system
since the age of 15 until theage of 21.
I was in a foster home with afoster family up until 18.
Then I went to college with thefoster family up until 18.
(17:38):
Then I went to college and thenafter that I transitioned into
a TLP transitional livingprogram for teenagers and young
age adults, where they help youwith housing, groceries and
things of that nature.
They also help you witheveryday life skills and also
around the age of 21,.
They prepared me to go intoanother program, which is the
(17:59):
parenting youth program foryoung women who have babies, and
so that's where I am currentlyright now, and I have been able
to grow within the program.
I was able to get employmentthat's what I'm working on right
now and they do provide housingfor the youth.
Being a mom has really changedmy whole perspective on a lot of
(18:21):
things.
It has helped with like justbeing more patient and even
though it's not easy at all, butit helps you, it makes me happy
.
That's the main thing.
It makes me happy and thesleepless nights is worth it to
me.
I love being a mom.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
I can tell because you're smiling when you said it,
so that's really nice To theextent you're comfortable
talking about it.
I think you said you enteredinto foster care at 15.
Are you comfortable saying thecircumstances to why you entered
into foster care, like what wasthe environment you were in?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
or the environment was kind of abusive and I just
knew I need to just just getaway with your therapist.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
It seems like you have a good relationship.
Yes, like what's one or twothings.
You would say that maybe you'redoing better now with because
they helped you, like mentallyor whatever.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
They helped me communicate a lot better because
at first I was a lot I wasstandoffish and not really being
open with certain issues thatI'm going through or dealing
with at the time, and they alsohelp me with just being able to
connect with different adults.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
What would be some words of wisdom.
You would tell someone a littleyounger than you like
struggling with certain things.
Is there any advice you'd give?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yes, I would say to always have hope, always reach
out to people for help or justif you're dealing with something
, just make sure you talk tosomeone.
It always gets better.
It always gets better, Good foryou.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
You've come a long way Now.
The other thing you wrote downwas parenting needs.
What kind of things are theyteaching you?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Usually on Thursdays we have groups.
Sometimes they talk about likecredit, they help with like
certain issues, with if you needanything like for your baby,
they'll help you with thoseneeds.
They also have us go todifferent groups it's like for
moms and they talk aboutdifferent stuff as well, and
they also have us do certainactivities within the group.
(20:35):
Usually on those Thursdays wealso stay a little bit after for
just if we need to talk tosomeone For employment.
Sometimes within those groupsthey help you write your resume
and also they take you to yourinterviews.
They help you print your resumeand also they take you to your
(20:56):
interviews.
They help you print your resumeout and just if you need
additional help with like goingto work, they help you with that
too.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
That's awesome.
So what type of employment areyou thinking about or focused on
?
Or you know the things you liketo do?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Right now either like retail work, warehouse jobs,
scanning, like packages andstuff like that.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Is there anything you could think of like if there
was a new person at age 15 orthereabouts who was going into
foster care for the first timeand had no clue?
Is there any words of wisdom?
If you were sitting in front ofthem, you would say Again, like
have hope, think about thepositive things.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Just take advantage of the things that you may be
able to get in touch with orlike be able to, just like if
you have people in front of youthat you can learn from, just
listen and see where you couldgo from there if you had to say
self-improvement for clinician,what would one or two things be
(22:07):
for yourself to continue to door get better at?
Just being able to buildcertain relationships with
certain people that I may wantto get closer to, and being open
with communication.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
Well, you know, it's interesting.
Just to wind down, the factthat you agreed to do this is
awesome, or hopefully use thisto help others, right?
Maybe you haven't figured itout yet, or going through some
tough times.
Was this hard for you?
By the way, just out ofcuriosity, Was this stressful
(22:43):
coming in and this wholeexperience?
Is it okay?
Do you feel good about it, orwhat's your thoughts about this
whole?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
thing, I was a little nervous, but it's not that bad.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
The fourth transition age youth Bob interviewed was
Ashanti Rowe.
Like Joseph, armani and Kanisha, she's grown tremendously in
the foster care environmentcoupled with utilizing the
Amerigroup Engagement Hub that'spowered by the GOMO Health
Behavioral Technology.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
The relationship with my family became strained when
I was eight years old.
My dad passed away.
He committed suicide.
That in itself was alreadysetting rocky ground for the
family.
Once I was put into foster care, it was essentially my mom and
my siblings, and then it was me.
I had made connections with mygrandmothers because I was a
grandma's kid, so I was able tohave that relief and go hang out
(23:42):
with my grandmothers on theholiday.
But for years, even afterexiting foster care, the
relationship continued to bestrained.
But in all great news, thingsare better.
I hang out with my mom on adaily basis.
I have an awesome niece andnephew now, and so we live 20
minutes away from each other.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
we see each other all the time, and so we've been
able to reconcile and rebuildthat relationship and just tell
me a little bit about what youthink, over the years, went on
through your mom's brain.
Or did she have feelings ofbeing killed, forgetting what
you would say like?
What was her lived experience,given she let a kid go into
(24:21):
foster care, did that affect her?
Does that?
Speaker 4 (24:24):
I love that question.
Nobody typically asks thatquestion.
I would say that my mom is oneof the bravest women that I've
ever met.
Um, if we go back to the Biblestory of Moses, when Pharaoh was
going around killing all thebabies, she decided to sacrifice
her child in order to save herchild and, in that sense, my mom
sacrificed me in order to saveme, and so for years she dealt
(24:49):
with guilt, even up untilrecently, and in the work that
I've done, she thought that Iwas, you know, parading around
saying that my mom's a horriblemom and all the things, and I'm
like no, I defend you, I protectyou.
I tell everybody how great youare because you saved my life.
I don't know where I would behad I stayed home in the
circumstances that werehappening.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
I mean, you have to think about this.
The child welfare system in theUnited States has been around
for over 100 years.
Every year we're putting six toeight new child welfare laws on
the books.
Think about doing that for thelast 100 years.
How many laws do we have thatare written and outdated, that
we have never taken off thebooks?
So right now we're justoverwhelmed with the amount of
(25:36):
policy and policy doesn'tnecessarily look the same in the
field as it does on a piece ofpaper.
And I think it's a time ofreckoning and I've been in child
welfare for 25 years so I thinkI can say this is that I think
we've gotten to a place where wehave been and listen.
The pendulum always swings inchild welfare.
(25:57):
If you watch it, it swings fromfamily preservation to child
safety, and child safety is whenwe put more kids in the system,
and it's a very expensivesystem to run.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
You know we get asked a lot what does it mean to
measure success?
And actually in the second partof this three-part podcast
series you'll hear a lot aboutthe measurements of the program
within child welfare, fostercare and the types of resources
and services we're putting infront of the youth and parents,
(26:33):
and then measuring activation,resiliency, adherence to those.
One of the exciting parts ismeasuring success, and we have a
number of key performanceindicators and quality measures
that we work with Amerigroup onaround hitting certain goals.
In addition to that, you couldjust feel the success through
(26:58):
the youth and family that areserved.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Thanks very much, dr Elizabeth Winter and especially
Joseph Stone, armani Gregory,klenisha Wilson and Ashante Rowe
for sharing your real-lifeexperiences before, during and
after foster care.
We're most grateful to BoviniSolanki of Amerigroup, who is a
visionary with unparalleleddedication in the lives of these
(27:24):
and countless other youngpeople in Georgia.
On behalf of Bob Gold andmyself, thank you all for
listening to this episode aboutthe unique solutions available
for transition-age youth.
And stay with us.
This is just part one of thisepisode about the unique
solutions available fortransition age youth.
And stay with us.
This is just part one of thisepisode in our podcast Human
Resilience Changing the WayHealthcare is Delivered.
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