L.Y.G.H.T.
Led by Youth in Foster Care
Listening and Led by Youth in Foster Care: Grief, Hope, and Transitions (L.Y.G.H.T.) is an evidence-based peer grief support program influenced by and developed for youth in foster care.
About L.Y.G.H.T.
Multiple research studies conducted with youth in foster care demonstrate that youth’s experiences of death and non-death losses are under acknowledged in the child welfare system. Based on these findings, the L.Y.G.H.T. program was developed to create a trauma-informed and grief-informed program to support the needs of youth in foster care who are grieving.
L.Y.G.H.T. is a youth-led and youth-driven program facilitated by supportive adults. The program is facilitated by volunteers in the child welfare system who have successfully completed the L.Y.G.H.T. Facilitation training and is implemented at organizations in the youth’s local community.
Oversight and guidance of the L.Y.G.H.T. program is provided by Dougy Center program staff and on-site organizational clinical support staff.
L.Y.G.H.T. was developed by Dr. Monique Mitchell, a nationally recognized expert in the field of child welfare, and Dr. Donna Schuurman, a nationally recognized expert in the field of thanatology. L.Y.G.H.T. is an evidence-based intervention and is listed in the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare.
L.Y.G.H.T. Mission
At the core of the L.Y.G.H.T. program, we aim to raise awareness about how youth in foster care who are grieving experience marginalization on various levels, create ways to provide trauma-informed peer support to youth in foster care, and promote the importance of moving the child welfare community toward a grief-informed holistic model of care.
The Impact of L.Y.G.H.T.
Dougy Center’s L.Y.G.H.T. program promotes peer-based support for youth in foster care who are grieving, providing a supportive and non-stigmatizing place to offer and receive support.
L.Y.G.H.T. is especially important to youth in foster care who are grieving because:
- Grief is a natural response to loss of all kinds, adjusting to loss requires attention, and when it is buried or ignored, it may affect us in numerous physical, emotional, and social ways.
- For decades, research has produced the same findings: Youth in foster care are at greater risk for negative outcomes than are youth in the general population.
- Many of the commonly accepted protective factors which contribute to healthy development in adolescence are lacking for youth who have been in the foster care system, including the sense of safety, consistency, and self-efficacy.
- While the circumstances which lead to a youth needing to be removed from their home may vary, the undeniable fact is that their life has experienced a disruption which dominoes into multiple losses.
The findings from two randomized control trials (RCTs) demonstrate that the youth who engage in L.Y.G.H.T. program report:
- Increased social support
- Increased hopefulness
- Increased self-worth
L.Y.G.H.T. Timeline
Youth Feedback: What Youth Have to Say
“I would 100% recommend L.Y.G.H.T. Grief never truly goes away, however this program can help individuals find ways to carry on life while managing their grief in a health way”
“L.Y.G.H.T. gives young adults and teens an outlet to help them talk about their feelings and misfortune in the past and learn to build and grow from them.”
L.Y.G.H.T. Community Sites
Dougy Center partners with community organizations and agencies serving youth in foster care around the country. Currently, the evidence-based L.Y.G.H.T. program is offered to teens and young adults in foster care throughout South Carolina. To locate a community site near you, click on the L.Y.G.H.T. Community Sites link below.
Resources for Youth in Foster Care
Dougy Center is here for youth in foster care who are coping with death and non-death losses and need grief support and hope.