Jamie Kelley

She/Her/Hers

Hello everyone, I am Jamie Kelley and I live in Atlanta, GA. I am currently working as an intern at The nsoro Educational Foundation and Carrie Steele Pitts Home as an ILP Life Skills worker. I graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College with my B.S. in Human Development & Aging Services. I am currently attending American Intercontinental University getting my MBA, in Healthcare Management. My goal is to work for the Emory Healthcare facility as a healthcare manager, specifically collaborating with the elderly community.

I join CARES because I will have the opportunity to make a change politically within the foster care system for the better of youths aging out of the foster care system, by advocating, while teaming with organizations like the CARES program. It is important for older youth transitioning out of foster care to gain the best things from resources, support, and knowledge to gain self-sufficiency.

When I am not working, or advocating for current and former foster youths, you can find me traveling and making memories with my love.

#CARES4Power

Follow us on Instagram to learn more about our work, the CARES Ambassadors, and the policies we are building to advance change for all transition age youth.

When woven into practice, cultural humility includes:
- An examination of one's own biases.
- Open dialogue with families.
- Proactive efforts to level the playing field and address systemic inequities.

While race and culture are not synonymous, cultural humility with a racial equity lens can help address the stark racial disparities in the [child welfare] system and promote attention to the intersections of race and other cultural identities. 
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#classisinsession #KeyEquityTerms #CARES #CARESAmbassadors #Equity #CulturalHumility #ChildWelfare
Skin-based privilege impacts all of our lives. Showing preference based on color is referred to as colorism. Colorism is based on a hierarchy of skin color, giving privilege to lighter skin tones while disempowering darker skin tones. Research suggests that colorism continues to be a problem across the US. According to The Grio, a study in Michigan found that out of 1,183 adoptive families, 42% of the adoptive parents' most recently adopted children were "very fair or somewhat fair" in skin color. At the same time, 31 percent were "somewhat dark or very dark." 
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#classisinsession #KeyEquityTerms #CARES #CARESAmbassadors #Equity #Colorism #ChildWelfare
Happy Friday! Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultural practices and values promote family well-being and improve child welfare outcomes. Strong ties with cultural, racial, and ethnic identities can build resilience and act as a buffer against the effects of trauma. 

This series aims to expand the reach and use of many terms that appear in our work, lives, and communities.
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#classisinsession #KeyEquityTerms #CARES #CARESAmbassadors #Equity #Culture #ChildWelfare
Happy Friday! We're back with our "Key Equity Term" Series; today's Key Equity Term is ✨Discrimination✨. This series aims to expand the reach and use of many terms that appear in our work, lives, and communities. 

Discrimination fact: According to the American Bar Association, "Racial discrimination in U.S. child welfare is a human rights issue. On August 30, 2022, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), a group of international experts charged with monitoring state compliance with human rights obligations on racial discrimination, expressed concern at the 'disproportionate number of children of racial and ethnic minorities removed from their families and placed in foster care' in the U.S. Stay tuned for new terms in the coming weeks, and if you have additions — let us know!
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#Discrimination #classisinsession #KeyEquityTerms #CARES #CARESAmbassadors #KeyTerms #Wordoftheday #WOTD