Elena is a tireless advocate for youth who are or have been in foster care. Her passion stems from her experience as a child who lived at the intersection of foster care and immigration.
Last October, Young Center Technical Assistance Program Co-Director Shaina Simenas moderated a panel at the California County Immigration and Child Welfare Convening Listening, Learning, & Leading: Strengthening Support for Immigrant Children and Families Conference hosted by the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and Casey Family Programs.
The panel, Voices of Lived Experts, was part of a two-day conference focusing on the intersection of immigration and child welfare. Sessions focused on opportunities for child welfare practitioners in California to develop additional skills and knowledge to better serve youth at this intersection. The panel featured a conversation with two lived experts about their experiences, insights, and visions for change.
Among the panel participants was Elena Ulyanova, a 21-year-old student at Los Angeles Mission College working to get her RN degree and associates in business management.
“I want to be a nurse, and I want to work in a hospital and then, eventually, I would like to become a nurse practitioner,” said Elena.
Elena is smart, kind, and energetic. In addition to studying full-time and running for Student Government, Elena is a tireless advocate for youth who are or have been in foster care. Elena works as staff in the Guardian Scholars Program, which “supports current and former foster youth in pursuing higher education, offering comprehensive assistance to help students obtain college degrees, achieve self-sufficiency, and find stable housing with NextUP—formerly known as Cooperating Agencies Foster Youth Educational Support (CAFYES).”
Through both, she offers Foster and Kinship Care Education and Resource Family Approval classes. Often, Elena weighs in as a Lived Expert to coach and counsel foster parents as they navigate life with their foster children.
“What inspires me is that I don’t really want anybody to go through what I had to go through,” said Elena, “So, I reached out to work with these programs here in California that help DCFS with a lot of Lived Experts to help change policies.”
Elena’s passion stems from her experience as a child who lived at the intersection of foster care and immigration. She arrived in the United States from Russia at the age of eight with her mother, who was looking to build a better life for the both of them. Once in the U.S., Elena’s mother gave birth to her brother.
But by the age of 15, Elena and her brother were sent to Los Angeles County foster care. During this time, Elena received a notice of deportation proceedings ] because, at the age of 12, Elena’s visa had expired. None of her case workers had ever bothered to investigate her immigration status. That’s when Elena realized she had no choice but to be an advocate for herself.
“I should have been connected with immigration services early on but I wasn’t. I was in foster care for one to two years before I was connected with my lawyer,” said Elena.
Moreover, the stressful process of finding appropriate foster care and immigration case assistance, showed her that she needed to advocate not just for herself, but for her brother.
“Immigrant foster youth have to face twice as many challenges and have to work twice as hard to achieve what they want in life. “
“When I entered foster care, I was first placed with a non-Russian speaking family. While my case worker was Russian, she did nothing to connect me and my brother to our culture,” said Elena, “I made sure to speak to my brother in Russian so he wouldn’t lose our language and I found a Russian church for us to attend. I felt like my foster family didn’t understand me and my culture and that contributed to a lot of the challenges I experienced in that home.”
Eventually, Elena and her brother were placed with a Russian speaking resource parent.
However, Elena’s migration status was not properly addressed by the foster agency for several years. Only after getting a notice that the government was trying to deport her Elena finally connected with an immigration attorney, with additional advocacy from Elena’s foster mom.
Today, Elena has a green card, and her brother lives with the parents from their second placement. Elena likes going back to visit him, whenever she can. Elena is often working on behalf of young people like herself, who find themselves navigating the beginning or the end of their foster care journey.
“I tell the younger foster youth that are about to turn 18 that it’s really important getting your education, especially as a woman,” said Elena, “Immigrant foster youth have to face twice as many challenges and have to work twice as hard to achieve what they want in life. Putting yourself out there and getting your education is the most important thing to do as an immigrant foster youth. There are many resources that are available for foster youth and its important to utilize them. It’s important to not give up and push through the challenges because if you don’t try you will never know what you are capable of.”