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Federal Resources
Spotlight on NYTD: New Videos Released
The Administration for Children & Families released three videos featuring young people discussing the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD), the first national data collection effort on youth aging out of foster care. These data track their outcomes during their transition and capture their feedback about their time in the foster care system. The videos describe the NYTD initiative, encourage state welfare agencies to administer the survey, and explain why youth should complete it.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act: Barriers to Reunification between Children and Incarcerated Parents
This information packet, developed by the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections and featured on the Children's Bureau website, addresses how certain provisions of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) create barriers to reunification for incarcerated mothers. The packet also includes information about amendments that some states have made to ASFA to address these issues, best practice tips for working with children of incarcerated parents, and other related resources
The Economic Well-Being of LGB Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care
This report describes the characteristics and economic well-being of young people aging out of foster care who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB).
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW): Implications for Child Welfare Evaluations
Developed as part of the Child Welfare Evaluation Virtual Summit Series, the Children's Bureau has released this video, "The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW): Implications for Child Welfare Evaluations," which illustrates ways that the NSCAW can provide a meaningful comparison group for those interested in assessing in their jurisdictions outcomes of child and adolescent well-being.
Using Social Media in Child Welfare
The “Using Social Media in Child Welfare” page offers tips and resources for social workers, youth, and foster parents on the safe and effective use of social media.
Use of Research Evidence: Building Two-Way Streets
This video from the Child Welfare Evaluation Virtual Summit Series challenges researchers and evaluators to think differently about the ways that research is acquired and used and suggests steps that they can take to close the gap between research and practice.
When a Parent Is Incarcerated
Developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and featured on the Children's Bureau's website, this guide provides information to public child welfare agencies and caseworkers on working with incarcerated parents and their children. Goals of the primer include familiarizing child welfare professionals with the impact of incarceration and providing information to child welfare and correctional systems to help improve permanency outcomes for children.
Watch: Youth Describe Their Most Meaningful Relationships
In a new video series from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, four youth talk about the adults who helped change their lives. The first video in the series features Marcus, a former foster youth, describing how his adoptive mom has helped and supported him.
Youth Leadership Toolkit: Strategic Sharing
Foster youth have precious and hard-earned stories. Strategic Sharing teaches youth how to present their stories with meaning and purpose.
Youth Leadership Toolkit: Youth Engagement
Young people are valuable contributors in the planning and implementation of programs that impact them. This section of the Toolkit discusses strategies for increasing the effectiveness of their participation and engagement in the process.
Improving Attachment Between Mothers and Children
This article describes a recent study on whether new mothers dealing with past trauma would be able to develop an attachment to their babies. If the mothers could develop an attachment, the study examined if addressing the mother’s issue would help with bonding. The results show that all the mothers in the study who were dealing with past trauma had trouble bonding with others and over 75% of the mothers with unresolved trauma had insecurely attached infants. The researchers found that being in the process of dealing with past trauma can help mothers form secure bonds with their children, despite the mothers themselves having difficulty attaching to others around them.
5 Tips for Providing Trauma-Informed Sex Education
This article highlights the work of two researchers who are pioneering changes in sex education that bridge the gap between sex education and trauma-informed care by better understanding how sex education could be more sensitive to students’ traumatic experiences. This article also offers tips, based on this research, for implementing a trauma informed approach to sex education.
Slideshow: 5 Collaborations to Ensure Trauma-Informed Care for Youth and Families
This slideshow highlights five types of professionals that runaway and homeless youth program managers can collaborate with to support youth who have experienced trauma.
Brief: Developing a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System
This issue brief provides an overview of trauma and its effects, and describes some of the primary areas of consideration for state or county child welfare systems as they design and implement approaches that are more responsive to trauma.
Brief: the Needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth in Child Welfare Settings
A recent brief from the Permanency Innovations Initiative highlights how research is contributing to a better understanding of the needs of LGBTQ youth in child welfare settings. The brief presents findings from qualitative interviews conducted with youth participating in the Recognize, Intervene, Support, and Empower (RISE) project, funded through a grant from the Children’s Bureau to the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
Videos: Real-Life Stories — Authentic Voices
These videos share the stories of foster and adoptive parents, children, youth, and child welfare professionals, including their perspectives about issues of belonging, connection, development, and normalcy for children and youth in out-of-home care. Developed as part of the Real-Life Stories collection, these Authentic Voices Videos were created to raise awareness and provide resources to promote normalcy for children and youth in foster care and to support the implementation of provisions in the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act that relate to participation in age-appropriate experiences that allow for healthy development.
Resource: National Foster Care Month Promotes Positive Connections Between Fathers and Their Children
This blog post discusses how improved connections with a father or father figure can be a critical protective factor for youth in foster care that yields positive outcomes and help prevent homelessness and encounters with law enforcement.
Resource: Narrative Writing Exercises for Promoting Health Among Adolescents: Promises and Pitfalls
This resource describes a literature review that explores the potential mental health benefits and concerns of using narrative writing with youth and young adults.
Resource: Health-Care Coverage for Youth in Foster Care and Beyond
This issue brief reviews the eligibility pathways for youth in foster care to receive Medicaid or other health-care coverage. It also examines some of the newer benefits now mandated through the Affordable Care Act, especially those for older youth in, or formerly in, foster care.
Resource: Running Away from Foster Care
This article highlights a literature review that analyzed the research on prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of running away from foster care, as well as the interventions implemented to stop it from happening.
Resource: Helping Youth Prevent Suicide Among Their LGBTQ Peers
This article highlights free resources educators and youth service providers can use to implement the Trevor Project’s Lifeguard Workshop, a program encouraging young people to be “lifeguards” for one another by having the knowledge to help in a crisis. Professionals can request a free, in-person workshop or use the resources highlighted in the article to create personalized trainings.
Resource: Integrating Medical and Mental Health Care for Teen Moms
This article describes the mental health challenges teen moms face and highlights a Denver-based program that integrates mental health screening and treatment into their existing medical care.
Upcoming Event: November is National Adoption Month
This observance aims to increase national awareness of the need for permanent families for children and youth in the foster care system. This year’s theme, “We Never Outgrow the Need for Family—Just Ask Us,” reflects a focus on the importance of identifying permanent families for the thousands of 15- to 18-year-olds in foster care who are currently less likely to be adopted or who may age out of the system without a stable home. A new tip sheet, Talking with Older Youth About Adoption (PDF, 2 pages) provides child welfare professionals with a framework for how to talk with older youth about permanency and includes suggestions for how to make these conversations more effective.
Report: Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering: Program Impacts Technical Report
This report presents findings on the impact of family strengthening services in four prison-based programs from the Multi-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering and discusses the implications for policy, programs, and future research.
Resource: Engaging Youth in Foster Care
This podcast shares the perspective of a youth formerly in foster care. It provides tips to caseworkers for engaging youth in developing their case plans and identifying supportive adults in their lives. This resource can help caseworkers as they work with youth who are in foster care or preparing to transition to adulthood.