In order to fully participate in our increasingly digital world, foster youth need technology to access resources necessary to thrive and support positive relationships. Yet, an alarming number of our youth struggle to get consistent access to technological tools, and those who do have access still frequently lack knowledge of how to navigate available resources online. COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the digital divide for systems-impacted youth – a crucial obstacle for youth graduating from the foster care system, or Transitional-Age Youth (TAY.)

Aiming to remedy this dire situation – and building off a commitment among FTN partners to integrate the voice of lived experience into system planning – the Tech & TAY Initiative piloted a deeper approach of co-creation, bringing on a board of former foster youth to unpack and build solutions to this problem at every step of the process, from research to recommendations. These youth leaders surveyed and interviewed a broad audience of system-impacted youth and technology experts regarding how we might reshape technologies into valuable tools with which youth-in-care thrive. In so doing, it provided a new model for offering youth a seat at the table.