Foster-led systems change starts here.
Foster Advocates is Minnesota's Foster-informed systems change organization. We partner with Fosters, people with lived experience in foster care, to turn lived expertise into leadership, research, public policy, and institutional change.
Minnesota is where we build and test this work. The lessons can help transform child welfare and every connected system that shapes Fosters' lives.
8 laws in 7 years
120+ Fosters engaged in Minnesota Promise
50+ Minnesota counties represented
13 statewide listening and design sessions
[Production note: Verify the eight-law count and the date range immediately before launch. Link each number to a methodology or source.]
The people closest to the system should help lead its transformation.
Too often, systems ask Fosters to share their experiences after priorities and solutions have already been decided. Foster Advocates takes a different approach.
We build the relationships, paid leadership opportunities, research, partnerships, and advocacy infrastructure Fosters need to help define problems, shape solutions, and hold systems accountable.
Our work is grounded in a simple commitment: Nothing about Fosters without Fosters.
One model. Three connected pillars.
Relationships build power.
We create paid and supported opportunities for Fosters to connect, lead, advise, organize, and bring their full expertise into public life.
Research makes lived experience visible.
We combine participatory research, data, and Foster expertise to identify patterns, challenge assumptions, and show decision-makers what must change.
Reform turns ideas into lasting change.
We move Foster-informed priorities into policy, funding, institutional practice, training, and accountability.
From lived expertise to lasting change
Our work does not end when a story is heard, a report is released, or a bill is introduced. We stay engaged as ideas move from community priorities to research, policy design, implementation, and accountability.
That approach has contributed to major changes in education, oversight, rights, and economic security for Minnesota Fosters. Our record includes the Keeping Fosters in School Act, the Fostering Higher Education Act, the Office of the Foster Youth Ombudsperson, survivor-benefits notification requirements, and continued work to protect and strengthen Fostering Independence Grants.
Minnesota Promise
A grounding vision for Minnesota's Foster Movement
Minnesota Promise brings together what Fosters across the state said must change and what every Minnesotan can do about it. The process included 13 listening and design sessions, more than 120 Fosters, and representation from more than 50 counties.
The report does more than document harm. It offers Bold Ideas, practical actions, and a shared direction for building a Minnesota where Fosters can lead stable lives and transform every system that touches them.
Read Minnesota Promise | Bring the Promise to Your Organization
Why Minnesota matters nationally
States across the country are asking how to meaningfully involve people with lived experience in policy, research, and institutional change. Foster Advocates offers a model grounded in paid leadership, shared learning, public accountability, and years of state-level policy work.
We welcome partnerships with foundations, public agencies, colleges, researchers, and national networks that want to strengthen lived-experience leadership and turn community knowledge into durable systems change.
For Fosters
Your expertise belongs in the room.
Connect with other Minnesota Fosters, explore paid leadership opportunities, find resources, and learn how to shape the issues that affect our community.
Join the Foster to Foster Portal | View Leadership Opportunities
Invest in the infrastructure that turns lived expertise into lasting change.
Flexible, multi-year support allows Foster Advocates to compensate Foster leaders, conduct community-informed research, advance policy, strengthen partnerships, and build the durable organization this movement requires.
Stay connected to the Foster Movement.
Receive policy updates, new research, Foster-led ideas, leadership opportunities, events, and clear ways to take action.
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