For decades, young people in foster care have largely faced three choices: reunite with their parents, be adopted, or remain in foster care until they age out of the system.
Now, Kansas is trying something different — and it’s the first state in the nation to do it.
The new option is called SOUL Family Legal Permanency. SOUL stands for Support, Opportunity, Unity, and Legal Relationships, and the program allows youth in foster care ages 16 and older to identify the adults they trust and want as part of their permanent support system and legal family.
Instead of the system deciding where a teenager belongs, young people help define who their forever connections are.
That could mean an older sibling, a coach, teacher, mentor, aunt, former foster parent, or another trusted adult who has already shown up consistently in their life.
“It’s not you telling the young person, ‘You’re going to live here,’” said Wichita advocate Alexandria Ware. “It’s the young person telling you, ‘These are my people, and this is where I feel safe and connected.’”
Ware, who spent time in foster care herself, helped advocate for the law in Kansas and has become one of the state’s leading voices helping families and communities understand what this permanency option truly means.
Under the Kansas law, youth can choose one or more approved adults to become part of their SOUL Family support system. One person may serve as the residential custodian — the adult the youth lives with — while others may provide emotional support, mentorship, guidance, transportation, educational support, or simply remain a consistent lifelong connection.
For example, a 16-year-old might choose to live with an older sibling while also identifying a coach, teacher, uncle, or mentor as part of their circle of support.
Ware says SOUL Family reflects something many communities have practiced for generations — the understanding that family and belonging are built through relationships, consistency, and care.
Through her organization, Culture Creations Inc., Ware works with foster youth on healing, identity, mentorship, and community connection. She believes those same values are at the heart of SOUL Family.
“The young person is telling us who their village is,” Ware said. “Permanency is belonging. Permanency is knowing you have people who will continue to show up for you long after a case closes.”
Unlike traditional foster care, the goal is not temporary placement.
The goal is lifelong connection and permanence.
Youth who choose the SOUL Family option are able to leave foster care with a legal support system they helped create, while still maintaining healthy relationships with siblings, biological family members, and other important people in their lives when appropriate.
Kansas implemented the permanency option in 2024, becoming the first state in the nation to do so. Since then, nearly 50 families statewide have begun using the model to create permanent, youth-centered support systems.
Ware believes awareness is one of the biggest challenges right now — not because people are unwilling to step up, but because many youth and adults still do not realize this option exists.
“I think one of the biggest struggles is helping people understand what SOUL Family really is,” she said. “This is about making sure young people know they do not have to walk through life alone.”
While the state offers support services to help families during the transition, Ware emphasizes that the heart of SOUL Family is not financial assistance — it is relationships, commitment, and community.
For some youth, those relationships may look like a parent. For others, it may feel more like an aunt, uncle, older sibling, coach, or lifelong mentor.
What matters most is that the young person feels chosen, supported, and connected to people who will remain in their life far beyond foster care.
