Chidera Sibeudu

Chidera Sibeudu is a Youth Action Organizer with the Children's Defense Fund-New York, born and raised in Trenton, NJ. Chidera comes with a Bachelors in Community Health Education from Kean University. He is also currently a Site Coordinator at Kipp Schools for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark, New Jersey. Chidera loves music, sports, and exercising while having an interest in cooking/ food science. He is also a business owner and operator as a Notary Public in the State of New Jersey. He is a dedicated Youth Advocate with a background in positive youth development, youth leadership, and advocacy for children and families. Chidera's passion is helping youth and their families with supports and guidance to reach their full potential. He envisions youth as the way forward as a society, and equipping our young people to be productive citizens. This is a top priority for him as a youth advocate.

Chidera believes transition age youth are being underserved by the current child welfare system and that radical change is needed. In his Introductory remarks for the briefing for the New York Congressional Delegation in Washington, DC, Chidera stated: “we are working towards providing solutions that involve transition age youth having an input in their growth path, having young people prioritize their own personal health and well-being, and having unwavering access to community-connected support services or resources.” He also called for stakeholders to take “extreme ownership” in all aspects of the system to make the services and supports for transition age youth truly accountable to them, their communities and their families.

Christine Joseph

Christine Joseph is a vigorous young woman, raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn. She enjoys knitting, reading books while on the beach, and being a young mom to her five year old son. She became a mom at the age of 19 and knew it was time to make better decisions for herself and her son. Despite multiple foster home placements, getting suspended from schools, and surviving an unstable home environment, she was determined to continue her education. In 2021, she graduated from the Brooklyn Adult Education center. Today she advocates for single mothers. She is sharing her story so that young people don't feel like they're alone, and it allows her to bring awareness of some of the struggles transition age youth face. She created a healing page on Instagram to encourage others who are struggling to heal from their past or current situations. She currently works as a Youth Action Organizer with the Children's Defense Fund-New York. Christine Joseph demands change within the child welfare system, and she will continue to fight until we achieve better.

Recently, Christine led a briefing for our New York Congressional Delegation in Washington, DC, where she shared her expertise on the child welfare system. During the presentation, Christine said: “In 2020, More than 20,000 young adults aged out of foster care in the U.S. Young people who age-out of foster care are MORE likely than their peers to face homelessness, struggle to find work, and are less likely to finish high school or college. As someone who never really had a voice while I was in the system, I want to focus on how important it is that our laws change to make sure that we have ways to ensure that young people’s voices are heard. Many young people who age-out of foster care have experienced trauma, including physical and mental abuse but aren't able to speak out – like what happened to me. Mental health was a critical part of my journey through the system, and an area where I wish I had been given the opportunity to provide guidance and advice to the child welfare system so that it could improve.” That’s why Christine says: Nothing About Us Without Us – transition age youth need to be at the center of the change.

Denice Ocana

Denice Ocana is a first-generation Mexican-American college student living in NYC. She is a City University of New York (CUNY) student born and raised in Queens and studying psychology while minoring in anthropology, hoping to advance into a master’s degree program to study School Psychology in order to be there for future youth in whatever way she can. At the Children’s Defense Fund-New York she serves as a Youth Action Organizer. In the past, she has worked as a Mental Health Advocate with the Mental Health Awareness Project at the Youth Advocacy Corps. In her role, she was able to grow her passion for mental health and self-care as well as spread awareness and aid. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, reading thrillers and mysteries and self-help/psychology books, as well as cooking and baking goodies.

She is passionate about mental health and how it intersects with the many social justice issues one may face growing up such as poverty, neglect, racial injustice, along with the many other issues those growing in the foster care system may face such as emotional and physical abuse. During the briefing she led with members of the New York delegation in Washington, DC, Denice stated, “The healthy mental and emotional development of youth is critical and for transition-age youth, this healthy development is difficult to achieve. Many of these youth have been through traumatizing experiences …. Moments like these leave mental and emotional wounds that need healing.” Denice hopes to have an effect on the improvement of mental health conditions within the foster care system. With proper mental health support, transition age youth can better their quality of mind, helping to result in a better life.