OGDEN — In a meeting very much like Friday's Youth Summit, a group of teenagers and young adults who had been placed in Utah's foster care system gathered together to talk about their common desire for "normalcy" during their teen years.

They wanted to take part in activities that most teenagers take for granted such as going to a school dance, competing on an athletic team or even learning how to drive.

For a teenager in the care of the state Division of Child and Family Services, getting the OK to travel on a team bus out of town meant his or her foster parent getting permission from their caseworker, who then had to get the approval of a supervisor, who would likely check with a juvenile court judge beforegiving the green light.

Youths taking part in the division's annual Youth Summit took a lead role in changing Utah law to streamline the process with the Utah Legislature's passage of HB346 in 2014.

It was a watershed moment for the youths and their self-advocacy efforts, said Jennifer Larson, the DCFS out-of-home program director, who works extensively with foster youths.

"As we have moved to this use of the youth foster care experience and seeing them as experts in their own experience, I think it has changed the scene, the format and the way we talk about foster care," she said Friday.

The 14th annual summit, held at Weber State University, is offering sessions on money management, job preparation, relationships and advocacy. Each of the state's public colleges and universities, applied technology