A 2016 study looked at the relationship between abuse and youth outcomes in relation to whether the abuse was self-reported or reported in the case file. The psycho-social outcomes looked at included both externalizing and internalizing behavior. Externalizing behavior is behavior such as acting out in disruptive ways. Internalizing behavior includes isolating, withdrawal, depression, or physical symptoms without a medical explanation. Significantly the study found that exter

The Center for State Child Welfare Data at the University of Chicago Chapin Hall released “Understanding the Differences in How Adolescents Leave Foster Care” in November 2017. The report finds age, gender, and racial differences for how adolescents leave foster care. Most foster youth leaving foster care for the first time will move to permanency, including reunification, adoption, and guardianship. The second most likely ways for youth to leave foster care is to age out or

A study released in late 2017 examined four programs around the nation that instituted interventions to improve relational skills for foster youth. The study’s background noted the importance of relational skills in allowing youth to successfully transition to adulthood, which is a challenge for most foster youth aging out of the foster care system. Although some of the research showed positive outcomes none of the studies was able to prove a causal link between the intervent

A 2015 study found that youth represented by a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer were significantly more likely to have a permanency outcome of adoption or reunification with a birth relative, but not their birth parents. This study looked at foster youth in the rural Tennessee county of Anderson, which is predominantly white (92.2%). The study examined closed files over 18 years from 1995 to 2012, comparing permanency outcomes for youth who had a CASA volunte

According to a report released Last week schools suspend foster youth five times more frequently than the average, and black male foster youth have the highest suspension rates in the state. The overall suspension rate in California is 3.6%. Overall, schools suspend foster youth at the rate of 15.1%, and they suspend black male foster youth at the rate of 27.4%. 41% of seventh and eighth are black foster children. The Community College Equity Assessment Lab and UCLA Black Mal

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on the front page of the paper on Feb. 17, 2018 titled, “Girl’s undue jailing exemplifies plight of foster youth in custody.” The article details the story of a 14-year-old girl who ran away from a group home in San Joaquin County who police booked on five felony charges after they arrested her for vandalism at a nearby hospital. She remained jailed for weeks after her guilty plea because the foster care system could not find housin

Ballard, P.J., Hoyt, L.T. & Pachucki, M.C., Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood (2018), Child Development Kim, J. & Morgul, K, Long-term consequences of youth volunteering: Voluntary versus involuntary service (Sept. 2017). Social Science Research, Vol. 67, pp. 160-175 These research studies looked at the impact of civic engagement in adolescence on adult physical and mental health, educational attainment, and

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has maintained a database of evidence-based treatments for mental and substance use disorders since 1997. Since 2015 the database also included treatments that are not effective treatments. On January 10, 2018, the Washington Post reported that SAMHSA had suspended the program in September 2016, but will have a new entity take over the program. The new program has hired a director, but no staff are in plac

This brief examines the “role that Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) play in supporting crossover youth.The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform defines Crossover Youth as “youth who have experienced some form of abuse or neglect and who engage in delinquent behaviors regardless of the depth of their involvement in these systems.” A Court Appointed Special Advocate is a trained individual who is appointed by a judge to represent the best interests of an abused and negle

The most important points for from this study are the following: a. “the number of months youths spent in care after age 18 was significantly associated with the odds of finishing high school. Each month in care past age 18 increased the expected odds of completing high school by about eight percent.” b. “In particular, adults who had gone to college and whom foster youths turned to for advice and tangible support were particularly influential in increasing the chances that y

Research shows that the stress of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as physical or emotional abuse or losing a parent to divorce, imprisonment or foster care, has a long-term-impact on physical and mental health outcomes even 40 years later. The researchers in this study were able to empirically prove that there are four positive childhood experiences that moderate the effect of having three or more ACEs. These include: 1) Family stood by me; 2) Felt supported by fri