Kids in Need of Defense released a new report, Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Trump Administration’s Systematic Assault on the Protection of Unaccompanied Children, which describes recent federal policy changes that have negatively impacted immigrant and refugee children and families.

The National Center for Youth Law released a report, Promoting Permanency for Teens: A 50 State Review of Law and Policy, which explores how state policies can be strengthened to promote teens’ need for a permanent connection to family.  The report acknowledges that while young people have developmental needs related to their transition to adulthood, stateRead More

The Research and Training Center for Positive Pathways for Youth has released two Tip Sheets on working with transition age youth. The first, Understanding Neurobiology of Psychological Trauma synthesizes the impact of trauma on the adolescent brain and contains practical tips for promoting engaging of transition age youth who have experienced trauma. The second tip sheet,Read More

The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) of the Administration for Children and Families recently launched the National Clearinghouse on Homeless Youth and Families, which was established to identify and meet the needs of runaway and homeless youth service providers, including providing information on and access to research, literature, best practices, evidence-based approaches, trends, andRead More

Alia has issued a “Request for Innovators” interested in participating in the “Alia UnSystem Innovation Cohort,” a group of 6 public child welfare agencies who will work together over the next 3 years to guide their systems through a transformation process.   Innovators who are chosen for the cohort will participate in teams of four that includeRead More

Child Trends recently released the report, Supporting Young People Transitioning from Foster Care: Findings from a National Survey, which discusses the findings from their national survey of state independent living coordinators on the array and availability of services and supports for youth and young adults who have experienced foster care. The report highlights state trendsRead More

Voices for Youth Count, an initiative of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, released Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America. The study captures youth homelessness broadly, including sleeping on the streets, in shelters running away, being kicked out, and couch surfing. They also released the first in a series of briefs, called Missed Opportunities:Read More

Lambda Legal released a guide to statutory, regulatory and other policy protections against LGBTQ discrimination in state child welfare systems. This online resource is essential for anyone who cares about the rights of LGBTQ children and youth in the child welfare system.

The Works Wonders! program is a career development and employment engagement program for youth aging out of foster care.  Originally funded by a Children’s Bureau grant, the program includes 10-12 hours of personal skills training, 12 weeks of one-on-one career coaching and paid work-based learning opportunities.  The program was implemented by Foster Forward, a Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative site in RhodeRead More

The Center for the Study of Social Policy, Lambda Legal, and Children’s Rights recently released a report, Safe Havens: Closing the Gap Between Recommended Practice and Reality for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in Out-of-Home Care. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the law of laws and policies in most states to protect transgender, gender-expansiveRead More