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The Office of the Foster Youth Ombudsperson (OOFY) was created in response to Fosters* expressing a need for an office to respond to their unanswered concerns. OOFY is a neutral and independent agency that helps solve problems and complaints about the care, placement, safety, and services of children and youth in foster care. We help foster youth, social workers, probation officers, resource families and advocates understand the rights of children and youth in foster care. We also help by making policy recommendations to improve the foster care system.

Join us to learn about the key priorities of OOFY, what to expect from our complaint resolution and investigative process, and how we can best partner to fulfill our legislative mandate to “promote the highest attainable standards of competence, efficiency, and justice for youth who are in the care of the state.”
We use the term Foster as described by Foster Advocates: Early leaders in our network stated foster care creates a significant cultural identity, akin to other immutable characteristics, that goes unrecognized once they are reunited with family, adopted, or age out. In response, we use the term Foster to name and claim this unique identity.

Misty Coonce (she/her) is humbled and honored to serve as Minnesota’s first Ombudsperson for Foster Youth. She is grounded in her personal experience in foster care and subsequent adoption into a non-relative family along with her older sisters. Prior to her appointment by Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan in September 2023, she worked in child welfare for 15 years, in a variety of roles within private non-profit organizations including Ampersand Families and EVOLVE Family Services. Misty earned her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010, and is a Licensed Independent Social Worker in the state of Minnesota. She stays busy as a parent of two children, volunteering with their school’s Parent Teacher Association, and getting out to hike and camp whenever she can. Misty appreciates the opportunity to seek and hear feedback, including complaints and ideas for solutions, regarding the experiences of Fosters within our state system. She looks forward to being a resource for, and a partner with, youth and the many other stakeholders who care deeply about the safety and well-being of Fosters, in defining solutions for improvement in foster care.

Closed Captioning will be available once the webinar begins.