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PublicationsChild and Family Service ReviewsAn Analysis of States’ Child and Family Services Reviews and Program Improvement Plans From a Youth Development Perspective (pdf)This paper was written by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development (MCWRCYD) and presents an analysis of issues, relating specifically to adolescents, identified in the final CFSR reports and the PIPs. This document analyzed reports for the presence of youth related issues and explores their ramification in the PIP process. CollaborationIn the Spirit of Chafee: Collaboration in Youth Service (pdf)This monograph, published by the NCWRCYD, emphasizes the importance of coordinated services for youth in foster care by describing the service needs of the group. Promising practices are also described to show various strategies states can use to partner with other groups so that service provision for foster youth is enhanced. EducationEducating Youth In Care: The First Year of Education and Training Vouchers (pdf)In 2001, Congress passed a monumental addition to the existing Foster Care Independence Act (FCIA). The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Provisions that year added a sixth purpose to FCIA that called for the availability of Education and Training Vouchers. These vouchers were funded in Fiscal Year 2004 for the first time and offered students money to continue their education. This program has impacted the way states provide post-secondary education services to adolescents in many ways. The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development has spent the past year analyzing how states have implemented the program and have evaluated what areas seem to be working for states and areas that should be focused on for additional study. The result of this in-depth analysis is Educating Youth in Care: The First Year of Education and Training Vouchers. Educating Youth in Foster Care: The McKinney-Vento and No Child Left Behind Acts (pdf)Released in 2007 by Casey Family Programs, with the National Education Association, this report offers recomendations for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act and the McKinney-Vento Assistance Act. Guide to Scholarships for New Americans and Minorities (pdf)This publication, compiled by DFW International, provides an extensive list of the scholarship opportunities available for recent immigrants and minorities. EmploymentFoster Care Work Group Co-Investment Plan: Draft Strategy (pdf)This document offers strategies for improving the economic well-being and financial success of youth leaving foster care. This is great for programs that are analyzing their outcomes and developing standards. The draft was published in October of 2003. LegalImproving Outcomes for Older Youth: What Judges and Attorneys Need to Know (pdf)The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development in conjunction with American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law have released a new publication for use by judges, attorneys, and youth advocates around the country. Improving Outcomes for Older Youth: What Judges and Attorneys need to know, is a comprehensive guide to federal legislation for youth in out-of-home care. The guide covers issues in housing, health, education, employment, undocumented youth, parenting youth, and tribal youth, among others. Click the link above for a free copy. Additional bound copies can be obtained for $15.00 by contacting Barbara Loud at NCWRCYD, (918) 660-3700. Legal Rights of Teens in Out-of-Home Care (pdf)This booklet, based on California law, covers some of the concerns of a youth in out-of-home care, including types of placements, guardianship, independent living, role of the courts, visitation, confidentiality, pregnancy, money, religion, driving, emancipation, and rights and responsibilities of youth in out-of-home care, group or foster homes and social worker or probation officer. The last revision was in September of 2003. PermanencyYouth Permanency Demonstration ProductsIn October, 2005 Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded nine grants to explore innovative programs to achieve youth permanency. The many products developed by the grantees are now available for review. Permanency Planning: What Does It Mean for Adolescents? (pdf)Explores how the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 impacts services to adolescents in foster care. This document, published by the National Resource Center for Youth Services, is frequently used to begin a discussion on safety, permanency, and well-being for adolescents. Youth Focus: Engaging Youth in Permanency Planning (doc)Helping youth secure and sustain life-long permanent connections to caring adults could very well be the most important key to ensuring a successful transition to adulthood for foster youth. This brief, prepared by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development, introduces the topic of engaging youth in permanency planning and describes how permanency is defined by youth in care. Also included is a compilation of federal and state policies and best practices that promote engaging youth in the permanency planning process. A Report to Congress on Adoption and Other Permanency Outcomes for Children in Foster Care: Focus on Older Children (pdf)Released in 2003 by the Children's Bureau, this report outlines the challenges and strategies associated with finding permanency for older youth in care. Families for Life: Addressing the Needs of Older Youth in Foster Care (pdf)This document, compiled by Casey Family Programs, is a list of web-based resources related to achieving permanency for adolescents in foster care. Permanency Pact (pdf)This free tool, developed by FosterClub, promotes permanency for youth in care by providing the structure and verbalized commitment that is needed to establish a positive, kin-like relationship between a youth in care and a supportive adult. Teen Pregnancy/Pregnant and Parenting YouthFostering Hope: Preventing Teen Pregnancy Among Youth in Foster Care (pdf)This report provides quantitative research on the high rates of teen pregnancy among foster care youth, new qualitative research findings from Chicago-area focus groups in which foster care youth and foster parents were asked about their perspective on teen pregnancy, and results of an online survey of Chicago-area child welfare service providers. Helping Teens Help Themselves: A national blueprint for expanding access to supportive housing among pregnant and parenting teens exiting foster care (pdf)This national blueprint represents a multi-year, multidisciplinary approach to increase supportive housing options for pregnant and parenting teens exiting foster care. SpiritualityAdolescent Heart & Soul: Achieving Spiritual Competence in Youth-Serving Agencies (pdf)This publication was a joint product of The University of Oklahoma’s National Resource Center for Youth Services and the New England Network for Child, Youth & Family Services. Heart and Soul is one of the first-ever studies of spiritual programming in youth-service agencies. This publication describes how spirituality programs - both secular and religious - look in agencies that do them well. These 'spiritually competent' agencies recognize spirituality as an important component of a holistic therapeutic approach, and deliver their spiritual programs in conformance with widely accepted standards of clinical care and the principles of youth development. This report is indispensable for social service professionals interesting in incorporating spiritual activities into their own practice with young people. Transitioning YouthPromising Practices I: Supporting Transition of Youth Served by the Foster Care System (pdf)This document has been prepared by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement at the University of Southern Maine and the National Resource Center for Youth Services at The University of Oklahoma. It reports the findings of a two-year effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to increase the knowledge of services for youth in transition. The eleven criteria and the recommendations that emerged from this work reflect the current trends in the literature, survey data, and the thoughts and experiences of "experts" in the field. The experts included youth in care, emancipated young adults, direct service providers, policy makers, program administrators, and advocates. Promising Practices II: How Foster Parents Can Support the Successful Transition of Youth from Foster Care to Self-Sufficiency (pdf)A follow-up to the initial project that focuses on an integral player in helping youth transition. Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at The University of Southern Maine, Casey Family Services and the National Resource Center for Youth Services at The University of Oklahoma has collaborated again to continue their research – with the goal of identifying promising practices and “tools” and to create a source of information and assistance for foster parents as they work with youth preparing to live independently. Aftercare Services (pdf)This monograph, published by the NCWRCYD, identifies and describes effective aftercare efforts at the state and county levels. The Transition Years (pdf)The Transition Years, published by the NCWRCYD, describes the services offered to older youth in care and the barriers faced when serving this population. Connected at 25 (pdf)This paper was published in March of 2004 by the members of the Foster Care Work Group under the Youth In Transition Funders Group. These work groups focus on young people who have dropped out or have been pushed out of schools, those in/emerging from foster care, and youth in the juvenile justice system. In 2003, the work groups examined research and strong practices, sought input from the field and young people, and assessed other information in order to develop an investment strategy in each area. GAO Report on Independent Living Released (pdf)The Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, entitled HHS Actions Could Improve Coordination of Services and Monitoring of State’ Independent Living Programs, offers the first comprehensive view of how the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (FCIA) has impacted services to youth in foster care. FCIA increased funding for independent living services from $7 million to $140 million and adjusted the allocation formula, which provided significant increases of funding for many states. This report describes how services have been expanded, the extent to which coordination with other federal and state agencies has occurred, and how HHS has fulfilled the program accountability provisions of FCIA. It's My Life (pdf)This publication, developed by the Casey Family Programs, is a youth-centered framework to guide transition services for young people who age out of foster care. Click here for the Spanish version. Independent Living for Youth In Out-of-Home Care (pdf)This report was published in January 2002 and outlines recommendations for improving the child welfare system for youth in care. It addresses areas specific to adolescents that are likely to "age out" of the system. Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Conditions of Youth Preparing to Leave State Care (pdf)This report, authored by Mark E. Courtney, Sherry Terao, and Noel Bost, presents preliminary findings from the first wave of the Midwest Evaluation of Adult Outcomes of Former Foster Youth study. This longitudinal study examines the transition to adulthood for 749 youth in three states (Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin) who are “aging out” of the child welfare system. Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Conditions of Youth Preparing to Leave State Care In Illinois (pdf)This report is the Illinois specific information of the Midwest Evaluation. TribesTribal Approaches to Transition (pdf)This monograph, published by the NCWRCYD, provides information for the practitioner who works with tribal youth and is intended to help agencies meet the FCIA requirement of providing "services to Indian youth on the same basis as other youth." Youth DevelopmentDestination Future 2006 Report (pdf)Destination Future is a youth leadership conference bringing together youth and adults across the nation to address issues of relevance to youth in foster care. During the conference youth and adults meet in small groups, focus on a topic of concern, identify challenges and solutions, and present their ideas to a listening panel of policy makers and advocates. This report highlights the issues and recommendations presented at the 2006 conference hosted by The University of Oklahoma, OUTREACH, National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development. Partnering With Youth: Involving Youth in Child Welfare Training and Curriculum Development (pdf)In 2000, the Children’s Bureau of the US Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) funded twelve, three-year projects to train child welfare practitioners on how to work effectively with youth transitioning out of foster care. One unique aspect of these projects was the inclusion of these youth in the development and design of the curricula and trainings. Through a collaborative effort with the twelve projects, this monograph was written to serve as a starting point for agencies interested in involving youth in the development of child welfare curriculum and staff development projects. CurriculumWith the increased focus and expanded funding of independent living services brought about by the passage of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (FCIA), the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau saw a need to broaden the knowledge base of workers providing services to adolescents in care. To meet this need, the Children's Bureau funded 12 projects to design competency-based training for workers of adolescents transitioning from foster care.
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