Take a Walk in My Shoes
Youth Experiential Learning Labs (YExLS)
Youth Experiential Learning Labs (YExLS) is an immersive learning experience designed to close the gap between how public systems are intended to work and how young people actually experience them.
Grounded in the lived realities of youth navigating foster care, juvenile justice, homelessness, and related systems, YExLS invites participants to step into the role of a young person working to meet basic needs, pursue personal goals, and survive trauma all while simultaneously navigating complex systems, rules, and biases.
Developed through collaboration between youth with lived experience and seasoned professionals across courts, education, social services, behavioral health, and probation, YExLS offers a powerful, empathy-building perspective. The experience is gamified, but it is not a game. Participants move through the space making decisions, responding to barriers and opportunities, and discovering how chance, policy, and perception can dramatically alter outcomes.
The lab concludes with a facilitated reflection and problem-solving session where participants unpack what happened, examine system impacts, and identify practical, real-world changes they can take back to their own roles and institutions.
Partners invited include:
- Judges
- Referees
- Guardian Ad Litems
- State’s Attorneys
- Defense Attorneys
- Juvenile Court
- CHINS Specialists
- ICWA Family Preservation Workers
- Human Service Zones Child Welfare Workers
Training Details
Date: May 19, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location: Alerus Center, 1200 S 42nd St, Grand Forks, ND 58201
Cost: No fee to attend (travel costs covered by attendee/employer)
Social Work Continuing Education Credits are still pending. Check back for updates!
All questions should be sent to Heather Traynor at htraynor@ndcourts.gov.
Registration
Registration closes May 1st, 2026. Please register below:
Training Contact
Heather Traynor, LBSW
Youth and Family Court Specialist
Court Improvement Program
North Dakota Supreme Court
htraynor@ndcourts.gov