Tashia, 31 years old, DC

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Tashia aged out of foster care at 21, and her placements consisted of traditional foster care, kinship care, and independent living. Her time in care helped make her a more empathetic and resilient person. Tashia is extremely proud that she received a Master's of Social Work and Master's of Public Administration from The Ohio State University. Over the years, she has dedicated herself to combating racial disparities throughout the child welfare field. She firmly believes that policy is a blueprint for change, and by incorporating social work values into the policy-making process, the system can achieve accessible social justice policies. She recently accepted the John Lewis Social Justice Fellowship via the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Her goal is to continue working towards policy solutions that produce better child welfare outcomes.

CCAI's Foster Youth Internship Program is a congressional internship for young adults who spent time in the foster care system. The FYI Program began in 2003 as an effort to raise awareness to federal policymakers about the needs and unique perspectives of children and youth in foster care. Tashia successfully completed their internship and to celebrate OSW would love to surprise them with an Amazon Gift Card for all of their hard work this year!