Does Michigan Lack the Motivation to Advocate for Foster Youth?

A heavy title, but it comes from a recent job search I did out of curiosity. One day, it might be nice to settle down in Michigan - I choose Michigan because I've lived there before and find it incredibly peaceful in comparison to Los Angeles. The green acres and fields are so simple and bring my anxious heart a lot of peace. Just today, though, I went on Indeed and searched "foster youth" jobs in Los Angeles, and was met with ample opportunity to advocate for young people in the system. When I went to look the same term up but for Saginaw, Michigan, I was met with a small handful of vague opportunities that were not as specifically curated for the betterment of the lives of foster youth, but rather the easier operation of the offices who handle them.

The Research

When I had this outcome from Indeed, I decided to do a quick google search to see what resources I can easily find in Michigan for foster youth. When it comes to Los Angeles, there are so many easy to find resources for former foster youth, but I was curious to see what I'd find if I looked outside of the area.

Resources Found (First and Second Page of Google Search Results)

Macomb Foster Closet

The Macomb Foster Closet exists to help current and transitional age foster youth as well as caregivers in gaining the supplies and support that they need. You can find everything from clothing to baby supplies and school supplies. They also have some furniture items and luggage so that youth don't have to move using garbage bags.

Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange

MARE has a section of their website that has lists of resources that actually surprised me. What surprised me wasn't that these resources exist, but that I didn't find them when I initially searched for Michigan resources. Most of the resources were more informative than they were call-to-action, though, recommending food pantries local to youth and national foster youth help organizations and things like that. Still helpful, but not very localized or "made easy."

Fostering Success Michigan

This organization states that they aim to help people figure out the best ways to help foster youth who are in college. Fostering Success Michigan shares that "Fostering Success Michigan is a program of Educate Tomorrow, a national organization focused on postsecondary access and success for youth with experience in foster care and homelessness." Their website helps youth locate campuses that provide students with support.

Why More Resources in Los Angeles?

According to the Macomb Foster Closet's website, there are around 13,000 foster youth in Michigan. James Storehouse reports that there are approximately 30,000 foster youth in Los Angeles alone - more than double the amount in the state of Michigan as a whole, reportedly. The obvious conclusion here is that the reason there are more resources in Los Angeles because there are more youth in need (numerically speaking). The fact of the matter, though, is that regardless of the number of youth there are that need help, they all deserve access to the same amount of resources local to their areas.

That being said, I would say that the only way to cause that ripple reaction of taking action is by taking action yourself. Let's help youth nationally by helping the youth local to us!

So does Michigan lack the motivation to advocate? Not all of Michigan, that's for sure.