Child Welfare Archives - Page 6 of 12 - National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
Three Better Ways to Support Foster Youth than Extending Care to 26
March 9, 2020 | Maria Hermsen-Kritz
An alumni of the foster care system discusses his changing views on a California bill which would extend the state’s optional foster care system for young adults through age 25.
Child Trends Brief: Applying the Research and Evaluation Provisions of the Family First Prevention Services Act
November 19, 2019 | Emily Taylor
Child Trends has published a brief with information for state agencies, legislators, and researchers on the Family First Act. The brief outlines research and evaluation requirements for prevention and kinship services currently eligible for federal reimbursement under the Family First Act.
Lessons Learned When Building the Evidence for a Child Welfare Practice Model
August 21, 2019 | Emily Taylor
Child Trends recently issued this brief for the child welfare field to highlight lessons learned from the evaluation of Success Coach, a post-reunification program developed by Catawba County, North Carolina. The authors also discuss the implications for other jurisdictions who may want to implement and evaluate similar post-reunification services. According to the authors, the new Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) “offers an opportunity for agency leaders and practitioners to begin to build evidence of success.”
CHDI IMPACT Report: Helping Young Children Exposed to Trauma
June 6, 2019 | Emily Taylor
A new IMPACT report from the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc. (CHDI), provides a summary of the research on the effects of early trauma exposure and outlines Connecticut’s approach to early intervention, which can be useful for other programs. The report notes there are unique challenges in identifying the effects of trauma in very young children. Many young children not enrolled in early education programs and trauma symptoms are often misinterpreted as developmental delays or behavior problems. The report includes case studies on interventions in different settings and outlines key elements of trauma-informed systems.
More Research on Pervasive Effects of Childhood Trauma
June 6, 2019 | Emily Taylor
A research study published recently provided further evidence of the long-term negative impact caused by growing up in poverty and experiencing traumatic events as a child. The study’s senior author Ruben C. Gur, Ph.D., a professor of Psychiatry, Radiology, and Neurology, and director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory, said “Parents and educators should become more aware of the special needs of children who are exposed to either adversity. Additionally, mental health professionals should be particularly on notice that traumatic events are associated not only with PTSD, but with elevations across domains including mood, anxiety, and psychosis.”
Rate of Children in Foster Care Increased in 39 States in 2017
January 3, 2019 | Emily Taylor
A new Child Trends post on the 2017 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data shows that in 2017 the number of children and youth in foster care in the U.S. rose for the 5th consecutive year, to 443,000, with 39 states experiencing an increase in the rate of children in foster care.
When low-income families can meet their basic needs, children are healthier
December 12, 2018 | Emily Taylor
Children’s HealthWatch published reports based on survey data of 18,000 low-income families with children under four years old, in five cities (Baltimore, Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Little Rock). They found that “young children and their parents are healthier when they are able to afford basic needs, such as food, shelter, utilities, medical care, prescription medicines and childcare”. This study, however, examined the differences between children living in hardship-free families versus those in families with any or multiple hardships. The report authors support policies to better support low-income families.
SOAR Online Course Available
December 5, 2018 | Emily Taylor
The SOAR Online Course: Child Curriculum, launched by SAMHSA and Policy Research Associates, Inc., is designed to train case managers to assist children and youth who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder to apply for the Social Security Administration’s disability program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Research: How Early Head Start Prevents Child Maltreatment
November 1, 2018 | Emily Taylor
Child Trends has published a research-to-practice brief on a study on the role of programs that serve families with infants and toddlers like Early Head Start (EHS) in reducing child abuse and neglect. The study found that participating families had positive short-term outcomes that led to lower risk of child welfare involvement in the future. The brief also includes recommendations for early childhood programs.
New Research on Youth Suicide
October 10, 2018 | Emily Taylor
Research published recently in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) , found that 71% of youth dying by suicide did so on their first attempt and 85% of those cases involved firearms.