Rotarians Learn About Foster Youth Issues from the Littleton Rotary Club
Numerous Littleton Rotary Club members attended the 2025 District Conference, Unite For Good, on Oct. 11, 2025. at the Littleton Public Schools EPIC campus.
The conference, which attracted approximately 250 Rotarians, featured a welcome from District Governor Cindy Rold and a keynote speech from Debra Fine, author of The Fine Art of Small Talk and a proud Rotarian for 30 years.
Littleton Rotary Club had a colorful booth that was staffed by B Bianchi and Karlyn McCrumb.
Littleton Rotary Susan Thornton led a breakout session on how Rotarians can make life better for children in foster care. She noted that the Littleton Rotary Foundation helped provide funding for a symposium of eight foster youth who provided insights prior to a large, educational community forum that was also supported by the foundation.
Thornton cited statistics showing that foster care youth are forced out of the system at age 18, become homeless and trafficked at high rates, and abuse alcohol and drugs at higher levels than their peers. Leaving the foster care system, few go on to college or skills training, and most of the youth are ill-prepared to hold a job or provide for themselves, she said.
Lynn Johnson provided a national overview of the issues facing foster youth as the former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Family Services. In this Senate-confirmed position, she led an agency with a budget of more than $59 billion and more than 60 programs.
Johnson noted that 20,000 U.S. youth age-out of the foster care system each year. They are moved to up to 50 foster families each year, and attend 20 to 30 schools. Sixty-two percent of youth are removed from their homes because of the “consequences of poverty,” she said, such as a mother losing her job, becoming depressed and turning to drugs to cope.
Johnson was followed by Tami Slipher, a Littleton community volunteer and foster mother. Slipher said she and her husband were in their mid-30s when they decided to take in foster children from a mother who used alcohol while carrying her babies. The children were beautiful, artistic and athletic, but lacked basic living skills, Slipher said. Despite challenges, the youngest of the foster children graduated high school at the top of her class, earned a Ph.D. and now helps veterans overcome trauma. Slipher noted that foster youth are “the parents of tomorrow.”
Two former foster youth also spoke at the session. Dominique and Shelby spoke about the pain of separation from siblings and urged Rotarians to get involved as foster parents or Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children. Shelby has founded her own cleaning business that is very busy, and Dominique has started a nonprofit that advocates for better services for foster youth.
The former foster youths observed that they had no warning prior to being removed from their birth families, and said that if they violated the rules of a foster home, they faced being moved to another home. Dominique told of being disciplined for dying her hair and getting a tattoo without advanced permission from her foster parents.
Rotarians at the presentation were reluctant to leave when the session ended after 45 minutes, but stayed to ask questions of the presenters.
Thornton said she hoped the session encouraged other Rotary clubs to begin taking steps to make outcomes better for youth in the foster care system.