Foster youth belong in and to the community, but that’s not how most foster kids feel.
“No kid should ever feel like they’re not wanted, so I started working with teen girls [in foster care], because they were considered ‘hard-to-place,’” said Monique McClendon, a 55-year-old former foster parent in South Los Angeles.
She was a foster parent from 2008 to 2022. In that time, she cared for more than 20 foster youth, from babies to teens. She adopted one baby boy, now 13.
The L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles agree with McClendon; youth should know they are wanted.
To help cultivate a much-needed sense of connection, DCFS and the YMCA joined forces to create the You Belong Foster Youth Initiative (You Belong) in collaboration with community partners, including L.A. Unified School District.
Nearly half of children who have been in the system for at least two years have had three placements. “Because it’s nearly all of the Ys in L.A. [participating], this [program] is going to have a little haven of stability,” Dr. Melissa Jimenez, director of the KIDS foster care clinic at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center,
And as part of the program, Y facilities will provide space for family visits for children, siblings and parents to help promote family reunification.
“There’ll be safe, clean, bright comfortable places for parents to visit with their kids,” said DCFS Director Nichols. He said he thinks this will be welcomed by families, as currently, visits often occur in public places, such as parks or restaurants, which offer little privacy.
The YMCA is promising the foster youth that they are not alone, they are valued and that they belong, said Wendy Greuel, board chairperson for YMCA Metro Los Angeles, said at the You Belong April announcement press conference held at the Weingart YMCA.
Health challenges for L.A.’s foster youth
About 20,000 youth were under the supervision of DCFS in 2024, according to their latest calendar year data available. About half were aged 10 and older. Overall, nearly 85% are Black or Latine. In California, an estimated 85% of families involved in the child welfare system live in poverty, defined as about $5,000 for a family of four in 2023.
Before entering child welfare, many foster children have lived through trauma such as neglect, abandonment, or physical, emotional or sexual abuse. More than half have chronic health conditions, such as malnutrition, anemia, obesity and asthma, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Lack of stability can aggravate all of those health challenges.
“So many of the kids don’t know healthy eating…The Y gives them a safe place to exercise and learn nutrition and healthy living,” said Jimenez.
McClendon used to live five blocks from the Weingart YMCA. She paid for some of her foster children, as well as her biological children, to join the Y. She said it seemed safer than some of the “adult-focused” gyms.
She recalled a past teen she fostered around 2015 who wanted to get ready for prom. “She asked, ‘Can I work out?’ I got her a membership [to Weingart nearby]. She lost about 20, 30 pounds.”
You Belong will provide free YMCA membership to foster youth, age 12 to 26, at the county’s 28 facilities. The program is primarily funded by $1 million provided each year by the YMCA. You Belong has four focus areas: healthy living, civic engagement, character development and economic stability. The youth will have full access to the Y’s health and well-being classes, sports, workshops and all activities.
“I love this for the foster parents (who) aren’t able to do extra for the kids, and for the kids, it gives them some normalcy…The Y “helps give foster parents an activity [for the youth in their care]. If they are going to give it [membership] to them for free, it’s an incentive for them to take [them].”
“It’s not going to be just swim classes and yoga. It’s going to be a place where…they feel like they got kind of a home, regardless of what’s going on in the rest of the world, a safe place, a warm place, a supportive place,” said Brandon Nichols, director of DCFS.
The Weingart YMCA in South Los Angeles and the Antelope Valley Family YMCA will participate in a pilot program that offers free membership to relatives who are caregivers and foster parents, too.
