For youth

AgedOut.com is a website for young adults who were in government care in BC. It's an up-to-date warehouse of information for young adults to help with the transition from government care to adulthood. AgedOut.com has information on money & income, education, health & wellness, housing, personal life, ID needs and more! AgedOut.com is also really useful for youth who are still in government care. It can help you plan your transition to adulthood.

Our life skills programming is like “Adulthood 101.” It can help you learn the important life skills you’ll need as an adult. The Belonging Network offers two different ways you can learn life skills: 1. AgedOut.com offers a self-guided life skills option. 2. Stepping Stones Life Skills is an in-person program. Different community organizations offer it throughout BC. Stepping Stones meets the requirements of the Agreements with Young Adults (AYA) program.

SAJE stands for Strengthening Abilities and Journeys of Empowerment. Youth and young adults who have been in government care in British Columbia are eligible for a range of supports offered by the SAJE program. This means young people with care experience may now access the SAJE program, which provides supports and services until the age of 27. These include housing supports, mental health and counselling benefits, training and Cultural Connections Funding, life skills, health care and dental, and childcare top-up. SAJE also provides pre-19 planning support. Youth can be connected to a SAJE Navigator starting at age 14 through to 19.5. Beginning at age 18.5, SAJE Guides will take on this role (working collaboratively with the SAJE Navigator until the youth is 19.5) and continue to support young adults with planning and service access up until age 25.

The Belonging Network's bursary programs provide funding for post-secondary education. That includes college, university, trades programs, and more. Bursaries can be used for tuition and related expenses, like living costs while you study. We run three bursary programs each year: the BC Orca Bursary Program,, the Joy MacPhail Bursary, and the Vancouver Film Studios Indigenous Bursary.

You deserve to know and understand your rights. If you’re in foster care or another type of government care, you have special rights under the law.