Susan Punnett is the founder and executive director of the DC NGO Family & Youth Initiative, which connects teens who are in foster care with adults with whom they form what become lasting connections (some of which lead to teens being adopted). DCFYI and its volunteers stay connected with youth long after they “age out” of foster care (in DC, youth generally emancipate from care at 21).

 

They are also working to create a new form of legal permanency (called SOUL) for DC youth in foster care ages 16 and older in collaboration with DC Child and Family Services Agency, Children’s Law Center, and most importantly, individuals with the lived experience of being or having been in foster care.