The Need

The ZNET organization addresses several youth needs and gaps in services found in the foster care system and found with agencies that support youth after foster care.

First, time and time again we hear of young people who resist engaging in their own future planning as they prepare to leave and transition from traditional foster care. Certainly it makes sense that part of a youth’s resistance to plan can be attributed to their overall anxiety of the looming transition. But what we have also seen are youth who disengage from the process because they were not put in the driver’s seat of their own planning. Supportive and well-meaning adults have all too often taken over the planning process and only then do they turn to the youth for their buy-in. The ZNET organization is based on the concept of finding identity and feeling the support and love through guidance with help from mentor-supported residence. This approach drives everything we do and meets an important developmental need that many agencies have not yet mastered. This may include identifying any missing foundational components which are paramount to building a moral code and value system to live by.