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Federal Resources
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.
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: 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.
Program Evaluation: A Variety of Rigorous Methods Can Help Identify Effective Interventions
This GAO report describes how program evaluations can help identify effective interventions.
Report: Access to Federal Financial Assistance for Homeless and Foster Youth
This report highlights obstacles faced by homeless youth and youth who have been in foster care in securing financial aid for college. The report includes six recommendations to improve access to financial assistance for these youth, including centralizing college information and considering legislative proposals to simplify federal requirements.
Report: Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness: 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report
This annual report (PDF, 96 pages) provides a snapshot of homelessness, both sheltered and unsheltered, on a single night in late January in the U.S., including estimates for particular populations such as youth. The data show 35,686 unaccompanied homeless youth were counted. Eighty nine percent were between the ages of 18 and 24, and 11% were under the age of 18. There were 9,800 parenting young adults between 18 and 24 years of age, and 92 parents under the age of 18.
A Parent's Guide to Using the Internet
This booklet from the Department of Education helps parents, regardless of their level of technological expertise, use the on-line world as an important educational tool.
Report: E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General
This report is the first to be issued by a federal agency that comprehensively reviews the public health issue of electronic cigarettes and their impact on young people. Using evidence gathered from studies that included young adolescents, adolescents, and young adults, this report confirms there is no acceptable level of nicotine when it comes to these populations and the aerosol from e-cigarettes is not harmless. The report website also offers tools for parents and a public service announcement.
Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Spotlight on Opioids
This report provides the latest data on the prevalence of substance use, opioid misuse, opioid use disorders, opioid overdoses, and related harms. It also addresses prevention, treatment, and management of opioid use disorders and the progress to address the opioid epidemic.
Prevalence and Implementation Fidelity of Research-Based Prevention Programs in Public Schools
This report from the Study of the Implementation of Research-Based Programs to Prevent Youth Substance Abuse and School Crime offers the following information which can be applied to gang prevention efforts: collecting background information on substance abuse and school crime, identifying research-based programs and practices, using data collection instruments, developing implementation fidelity measures, and collecting, processing, and analyzing data.
Report: Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education
This report (PDF, 94 pages) provides key data that illustrate the educational inequities and opportunity gaps that continue to exist for students of color and low-income students in accessing and completing a quality postsecondary education. It also highlights the Obama Administration’s efforts to promote diversity in institutions of higher education, and provides recommendations for states, colleges, and universities to promote higher education access and inclusion for all students.