2023 Unsung Heroes Part 2: Our Summer Interns Helped Champion and Reimagine Foster Care Systems

Saluting Our Unsung Heroes

Continuing our Loren Warboys Unsung Hero Awards series, we’re proud to uplift our Summer Interns who helped make a difference across the country for children and young people in the juvenile justice and foster care systems.

The Loren Warboys Unsung Hero Awards honor the legacy of our first managing director, Loren Warboys. Loren’s expertise and commitment to advocacy for children in the juvenile justice system, particularly in the areas of education and mental health services, was unparalleled. A founding staff member, Loren worked at the Youth Law Center from 1979 until his untimely death from leukemia in 1999.

Each summer we host exceptional students who we hope will be the next generation of leaders and legal advocates for children and youth. This year our Unsung Heroes are the 2023 Youth Law Center class of summer interns and law fellows, all of whom worked tirelessly to advocate for children and young people and continued the exemplary work of previous summer interns and fellows.

Today we salute 2023 Unsung Hero Summer Law Interns: Megan Foreman and Xochitl Armién.

Megan Foreman, Summer Intern and Undergraduate Student at Rice University

Megan’s work supported the Youth Law Center’s Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) advocacy to ensure child and adolescent development research informs foster care policy and practice. Megan applied her interests in Psychology, human-centered design, and intersectional identities of youth in foster care to support our work to connect every young person with the relationships and opportunities needed for a successful future. As part of her work, Megan analyzed policy and practice reform ideas from the almost 500 local foster and birth parents, youth, staff and advocates the Youth Law Center has trained as QPI Champions, who are leading change across the country in their communities.

Additionally, Megan captured highlights from the QPI National conference which focused on needed changes to affirm the relationships and improve the experiences of Black, Latinx, and Native children, youth, and families in foster care by celebrating cultural identity, building connections to community, and supporting relative families. We are grateful for Megan’s excellent contribution.

Xochitl Armién, Summer Intern and Recent High School Graduate

Xochitl’s work supported the Youth Law Center’s advocacy to reimagine the relationships and resources youth need to thrive during their transition to adulthood over a next decade shaped by climate disasters, technology advances, and a changing economy. Xochitl’s vision of a future where unjust systems are rebuilt to facilitate love and joy in the community was the perfect lens for the Youth Law Center’s advocacy to reimagine how systems can support youth to thrive as adults.

Xochitl also developed communications materials for a soon-to-be released policy report on the future of extended foster care which was created in partnership with the Institute for the Future and youth leaders in the California Youth Connection. Her work included helping to translate how some of the current realities in extended foster care, such as racism, economic inequality, lack of familial and community relationships, digital divides and climate crises, are impacting youth’s ability to live the lives they deserve. We are grateful for Xochitl’s excellent contribution.

Support Our Work

With your help, the Youth Law Center can continue using the law as a tool, and inspiring the next generation of legal advocates to fight for our children in foster care and juvenile justice systems across the country while building better systems with their guidance.

If you make a gift to the Youth Law Center before Midnight on December 31, 2023, your gift will be matched, dollar for dollar, thanks to a $15,000 matching gift from two generous donors.