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In Depth: Catching up with teen in foster care who is now a youth advocate
Along the way on our FOX 11 journey with Wednesday's Child, we meet so many other advocates for foster youth. Junely Merwin was a teen mom when she entered foster care. Now, she is a youth advocate.
Junely Merwin is beaming after returning from Washington D.C.
The former foster youth was part of the annual Congressional Foster Youth Shadow Day. It was founded 10 years ago by Congresswoman and now Los Angeles mayoral candidate Karen Bass.
Merwin was a 15-year-old teen mom when she entered foster care. She is now 28 and her son Christian is 12 years old. She is a college grad and is now a youth advocate for John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY).
JBAY's Jessica Petrass says they helped get the age that youth in foster care age out of the system changed from 18 to 21 years old.
Most recently, JBAY celebrated a bill under California Governor Gavin Newsom's 2022 budget to fund higher education for foster youth and college support programs like the well-established Guardian Scholars.