Lived Expert Resources

Children's Aid Foundation of Canada

Visit the website: https://cafdn.org/

• Business Directory of LE's https://cafdn.org/events/youth-lived-expert-business-directory/

• Educational Support https://cafdn.org/for-youth/educational-support/

• Employment Support - Youth Works https://cafdn.org/your-impact/our-four-focus-areas/youth-works-program/

• Mental and Physical Health Support - Connections Program Application https://cafdn.org/for-youth/mental-health-support/

• Financial Literacy Support https://cafdn.org/for-youth/financial-literacy-training/

Fostering Community

Posts and information as well as, links to resources and interesting opportunities such as scholarships, employment programs, budgeting tips and much more. 

Visit the website: https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/

• Get Prepared for Your First Apartment https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/get-prepared-for-your-first-apartment-with-bytelearning/

• Creating Healthy Boundaries with Your Friends https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/create-healthy-boundaries-with-your-friends-with-bytelearning/

• Create a Healthy Eating Routine  https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/create-a-healthy-eating-routine-with-bytelearning/

• Making Time for Self Care https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/make-time-for-self-care-with-bytelearning/

• Learn How to Manage Your Time https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/learn-how-to-manage-your-time-with-bytelearning/

• 5 Ways you Can Practice Mindfulness https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/5-ways-you-can-practice-mindfulness-today/

• How to Enjoy Spending Time Outside Alone https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/how-to-enjoy-spending-time-outside-alone/

• Be a Better Listener https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/hello-world/

• Consultation Opportunities https://www.fosteringcommunity.ca/category/consultation/

Government of Canada - Job Bank

Visit the website: https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/home

• Resume Builder https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/findajob/resume-builder

Magazines:  

• Represent Magazine (Youth Communication) – "Stories by Teens in Foster Care." Currently active, teen writers are mentored by professional editors and paid for published work.  https://youthcomm.org/represent-stories/

• The Thread - A digital zine celebrating the creativity, leadership, and resilience of former youth in care and our allies. https://www.formeryouthincare.com/the-thread

• Zine & Heard – Zine Amplifying Voices of Youth In Care https://www.zineandheard.ca/

National Council of Youth In Care Advocates 

Visit the website: https://www.ncyica.ca/

• Blog https://www.ncyica.ca/publications/categories/blogs

Podcasts:

• Adoption Council of Ontariohttps://adoption.on.ca/ Honoring and elevating the thoughts, feelings and ideas of first voice experts - Letters to my younger self https://adoption.on.ca/aco-home/voices-of-living-experience/

• INNOVATE! – Hosted by Angela Tucker, a transracial adoptee and foster care alumna, featuring REFCA Champions using lived experience to reshape the system. https://www.treehousefoundation.org/innovate/

• Beyond the System – Bilingual Canadian podcast from the Canadian Consortium on Child and Youth Trauma, featuring former youth in care. Topics such as wellness before and after leaving care, parenting after leaving care and finding balance. https://www.traumaconsortium.com/en/podcast/

• Foster Career Experience – On foster alumni's career journeys and workplace identity. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/foster-career-experience/id1693694407

• Expert Voices: A Podcast Using Lived Experience to Explore the Multiple Systems Affecting the Lives of Young People in Foster Care https://fieldcenteratpenn.org/expert-voices-a-podcast-series-using-lived-experience-to-explore-the-multiple-systems-affecting-the-lives-of-young-people-in-foster-care/

Spotlight: Child Welfare

Collaborates with lived experts of the child “welfare” system and journalists to support and produce community-driven, trauma-informed stories that drive social change.

Visit the website: https://www.spotlightchildwelfare.com/

• Hire Artists from Care https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScLhV7hvei0jzVW3IqEMPVt8-kznOZp79kj0fO5J3Sx89p6RA/viewform

• Work Safely with Journalists https://www.spotlightchildwelfare.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Spotlight-Child-Welfare-Resource-Guide.pdf

• Fellowships — We hire people with lived experience in the child “welfare” system to help plan and deliver community workshops https://www.spotlightchildwelfare.com/get-involved/#_MoreResources

• Sensitivity editors — We train and pay people who have lived through the so-called “child welfare” system to review stories by journalists before they’re published. https://www.spotlightchildwelfare.com/get-involved/#_MoreResources

Youth In Care Canada - Youth In Care Networks

Visit the website: https://youthincare.ca/ 

• British Columbia https://fbcyicn.ca/ 

• Power Pages Magazine; Read, Publish, Subscribe https://fbcyicn.ca/our-magazine/ 

• Manitoba https://voices.mb.ca/ 

• New Brunswick Youth in Care Network https://partnersforyouth.ca/ 

• Ontario https://youthincare.ca/ 

• Saskatchewan https://syiccn.ca/