Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Report: Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange
This report provides information on international students studying at higher education institutions in the U.S. and students from the U.S. studying abroad. Developed by the Institute of International Education, the report shows the number of international students at colleges and universities in the U.S. increased by 7% to a record high of 1,043,839 in the 2015-16 academic year, while U.S. students studying abroad increased by 3% to 313,415 students in the 2014-15 academic year.
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.
Children's Bureau
The Children's Bureau (CB) is one of two bureaus within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Children's Bureau seeks to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children through leadership, support for necessary services, and productive partnerships with states, tribes, and communities. It has the primary responsibility for administering federal programs that support state child welfare services.
Report: Child Maltreatment 2015
This report from the Child Welfare Information Gateway provides state-level data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System on reports of abuse and neglect made to child protective services (CPS) agencies, the children involved, types of maltreatment, CPS responses, child and caregiver risk factors, services, and perpetrators.
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.
Share with Youth: Being an Engaged and Involved Teen in Foster Care
This webpage provides information to teens in foster care about their permanency options, tools to help them transition to adulthood, and how to find support from other teens who have been in foster care.
Supporting Families Impacted by Incarceration — A Dialogue with Experts
This report, developed by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center, is the outcome of a meeting that convened national child welfare experts on families impacted by incarceration. It features key issues around this topic for practitioners and identifies needed resources and tools to support the workforce and families, along with a practical framework of intervention points from arrest to release.
John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (the Chafee program) provides funding to support youth/ young adults in or formerly in foster care in their transition to adulthood. The program is funded through formula grants awarded to child welfare agencies in States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and participating Tribes. Chafee funds are used to assist youth/ young adults in a wide variety of areas designed to support a successful transition to adulthood. Activities and programs include, but are not limited to, help with education, employment, financial management, housing, emotional support and assured connections to caring adults. Specific services and supports are determined by the child welfare agency, vary by State, locality and agency, and are often based on the individual needs of the young person. Many State or local agencies contract with private organizations to deliver services to young people.
'Margins of the Margins': FYSB Grantee Coordinates Response to Trafficking in New York
Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families, a New York City-based program, is one of three programs chosen to participate in a two-year demonstration project aimed at helping victims of severe trafficking. In this article, a representative from the organization discusses the project’s goals and wider efforts to combat trafficking in New York.
4 Ways to Help Homeless Students Overcome Barriers to Scholarship Funding
Having a GED instead of a high school diploma, difficulty getting parental permission, lack of a GPA, and incomplete transcripts can all be obstacles that homeless students can face when seeking scholarship funding. In this blog post, Cyekeia Lee, director of higher education initiatives at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, shares strategies for youth-serving professionals who are helping students navigate the scholarship application process.
Administration for Children and Families/Family and Youth Services Bureau Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs
Eligibility: Youth aged 16 to 22 who are unable to return to their homes
Focus: Life skills training
Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs that serve transition-age youth include the Transitional Living Program and the Maternity Group Homes Program.
The Transitional Living Program for Older Homeless Youth promotes the independence of youth between 16 and 22 years old who are unable to return to their homes. Grantees provide housing and a range of services, including life skills training, financial literacy instruction, and education and employment services. Youth might live in group homes or in their own apartments, depending on the program and each young person's independent living skills.
The Maternity Group Homes Program, part of the Transitional Living Program, supports homeless pregnant and/or parenting young people between the ages of 16 and 22, as well as their dependent children. Services are provided for up to 21 months.
Advice on Applying for Local Funding
This blog entry from the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau, contains tips from staff of the William T. Grant Foundation on applying for local and regional funding.
All the Pointers You Need to Help Homeless Students Finish High School--And Go on to College
This article highlighs a series of tip sheets, developed by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, which is divided into five sections which each address a different aspect of attempting to help keep homeless youth in school, including information on McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program, easing homeless youths’ paths to college, and helping homeless youth access basic services
Ask NCFY: 'How Do I Help Clients Try to Clear an Arrest Record?’
Many young people who have arrests on their record may have difficulty obtaining a job or securing housing. In this blog post, a lawyer provides advice for youth-serving professionals who help their clients move on by clearing their arrest records.
Bright Idea: A Free Teen Clinic Reduces Barriers to Health Care
This article from the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth highlights the work of Tulane’s Drop-In Clinic, which provides free medical care to teens in New Orleans. It shares some of the best practices that have helped the clinic successfully reduce barriers and connect youth to care.
Bought and Sold: Helping Young People Escape from Commercial Sexual Exploitation
This booklet provides youth workers with an overview of the issue of human trafficking as well as concrete information about how to help survivors. Information about populations of youth that may be more at risk for trafficking, signs of sexual exploitation, tips for providing appropriate supports and services to survivors, and suggestions for when to involve the victim’s family and the police are included.
Beyond Addiction: Understanding and Treating Substance Abuse in Young People
This report series from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth provides an overview on substance abuse in youth and young adults. Find information on how drug use can affect the teen brain, how the development of the teen brain makes young people susceptible to trying drugs, the benefits and things to be aware of when hiring youth workers in substance abuse recovery, and some best-known evidence-based practices for treating adolescent substance abuse.
Bright Idea: Emergency Shelters Look for Human Trafficking When Youth Walk in the Door
This article provides tips for youth workers on recognizing youth who may be survivors of sexual exploitation. The article notes that many youth will seek services for other issues and, if made to feel comfortable, will divulge their experience with trafficking. The article recommends that youth workers have the knowledge to recognize the signs of trafficking, go appropriately off-script in their interactions with youth if they suspect trafficking is taking place, and maintain a non-judgmental stance when speaking with youth to build trust.
Community Mapping Connects Youth to Their Neighborhoods
This podcast from the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth describes the work of a nonprofit organization that uses a tool called community mapping to help young people understand the assets and deficits that exist in their communities
Creating a Safe Space for LGBTQ Teens
The Family and Youth Services Bureau's Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program created “Creating a Safe Space for LGBTQ Teens," a free online course (requires login) designed to inform those who deliver teen pregnancy prevention programming. The course will help professionals understand key terms related to gender and sexual identity, the challenges that LGBTQ youth face and the importance of including them in prevention messages about teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and key strategies for creating safe spaces and classrooms for LGBTQ youth.
Educating Young Men as a Way to End Commercial Sexual Exploitation
This article from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth features a Q&A with a representative from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) who discusses the organization’s research on the demand for prostitution and how youth-serving professionals can use the curriculum developed by CAASE to encourage young men to take a stand against sexual exploitation.
Evidence-based Practice 101
This series of articles from the Department of Health and Human Services, Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, articulates the FYSB’s position on implementing evidence-based practices in youth programming, provides the perspective of an FYSB grantee on implementing an evidence-based program, and discusses working with researchers to illustrate the effectiveness of programs.
Ending Youth Homelessness
This website developed by FYSB illustrates how the programs operated through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act help to meet the needs of homeless youth and young adults and contribute to the goal of ending youth homelessness by 2020. It also provides information on the issue of youth homelessness and ways users can contribute to the efforts to end homelessness among youth.
Don't Call Them Dropouts
A report from America’s Promise Alliance encourages readers to think differently about youth who have left school, suggesting a change in terminology, from “dropouts” to “nongraduates” or students who have had “interrupted enrollment.” As this article explains, youth voices are featured prominently in the report, which also highlights factors that influence students to leave school and the supports that can help them to return to and remain in school.
Everything You Need to Know About Helping Homeless Youth Apply for Medicaid
In this article, Graham Bowman, an Equal Justice Works fellow at The Law Project of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, offers advice on encouraging and helping runaway and homeless youth to apply for Medicaid.