Here they were —
Teenagers from Missouri foster homes, having come to LINC’s June Commission Meeting brimming with feelings and stories and ideas — weight they had been carrying all along the way.
But this time, the faces looking back at them were school superintendents, LINC commissioners and top state officials, who were sharing their meeting space with them.
When foster youth Jordan Grindstaff said, “Small voices can be powerful,” that was Missouri’s Director of the Children’s Division Sara Smith, having come from Jefferson City just to listen, who said, “I appreciate you being brave and sharing from your hearts.”
When foster youth Brandy Figueroa-Campos said, “The only person who really knows what the youth needs is the youth,” that was LINC Commissioner and Associate Circuit Court Judge Tricia Scaglia who said she was determined to make foster youths regular participants in the team meetings where adults plan their care.
“When youth come through my division,” Scaglia said, “I’m going to ask to hear from them, not just from their caseworkers.”
When foster youth Rakiyah Wright lamented that she didn’t feel like she could go to her school teachers for support, and when Jordan said it would sure help if schools had groups or clubs for foster youth, those were superintendents and assistants from the Kansas City, Grandview, Hickman Mills, Center, North Kansas City and Fort Osage school districts taking note.
The gathering of all these adults with these youth, said Jackson County CASA President and CEO Angie Blumel, is going to make an impact.
“We are going to make things better,” she said, “because of your voices.”
LINC’s Youth Advocacy Team every year helps some 700 youth aging out of the Missouri’s foster care system gain essential skills, life coaching, financial support and confidence to overcome barriers and grow into lives as independent adults.
The five youth at the Commission meeting — Victoria Olson, Jordan Grindstaff, Gary Richardson, Brandy Figueroa-Campos and Rakiyah Wright — were invited to be essential voices in a discussion on how the community can better serve its youth.
They were joined on the panel by Carla McArthur of Grandview, who, with her husband, James, has cared for 55 foster youth over the past 16 years.
The opportunities in meetings like this are important, said youth Gary Richardson.
He had some specific concerns, like the frustrations in the state’s voucher system for helping foster youth get clothes. He was encouraged that things could change because of the roles and the attention of the adults in the room.
“Just keep your ear to ground (and) show up when we’re having these conversations,” Gary said. “It makes a huge difference. It’s one thing to talk to our peers and have them believe us. It’s something else entirely when you’re in the room.”
So often for foster youth, Victoria Olson said, “the trajectory you want your life to go . . . is taken out of our hands.” That’s why her answer to the question — What do foster youth need most? — was “just feeling heard.”
The need for self-advocacy and autonomy is strong for foster youth, said Brandy Figueroa-Campos. Those are essential life skills, she said, that she has been fortunate to gain. And speaking before the audience of the LINC Commission meeting was a milestone in that journey.
“I wouldn’t be here,” Brandy said, “if I hadn’t been heard.”
Smith, who was appointed director of the Children’s Division in March 2025, has scheduled a series of “Lunches with Leaders” this summer to meet with communities across the state to have these kinds of conversations, she said.
“We’re all coming to the table for kids and families,” she said. “My role,” she said, with a nod to the panel of teenagers, “is to amplify what they’re saying they need.”
Now they’re planning college experiences, pursuing career dreams. Rakiyah wants to be a marine biologist. Gary wants to be a lawyer. And when the meeting was over, the youth and many of the adults remained, networking, talking aspirations, pledging to work together.
