Child Welfare Archives - Page 7 of 12 - National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
NCTSN Policy Brief: Intimate Partner Violence and Child Trauma
January 19, 2018 | Emily Taylor
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has published a policy brief on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and its impact on children. The brief summarizes research on the subject, including a study published in 2011 that showed one in 15 children reported witnessing violence in the home between parents in the last year. The brief also details the negative short and long term impact this exposure can have on children, and outlines recommendations for policy makers on supporting early intervention programs.
Research: Mental Health Intervention Tied to Decreased Cortisol Levels
January 11, 2018 | Emily Taylor
Research published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology claims to be the first to use a biological measurement – hair cortisol in this case – to measure the impact of a mental health intervention in war-affected youth. The study included 733 war-affected youth from Syria and Jordan aged 12-18 who participated in a Mercy Corps. program, Advancing Adolescents, that is “designed to reduce the effects of profound stress and build strong ties to family and community”. Results showed cortisol levels were reduced by about 38 percent over time.
Why foster care students in Seattle are beating the odds
January 4, 2018 | Emily Taylor
NPR recently profiled the success of Treehouse, a nonprofit dedicated to improving lives of foster youth, in their efforts to increase high school graduation rates. In 2010, the high school graduation rate for youth in foster care in Seattle and King County, Washington was 36 percent. In 2012, Treehouse started assigning “education specialists” who work with students to support them in identifying and reaching their goals. Last year, 89 percent of the eligible students in the Treehouse program graduated within five years.
Making the Grade: A Progress Report and Next Steps for Integrated Student Supports
December 8, 2017 | Emily Taylor
Child Trends has published a report on Integrated Student Supports (ISS) initiatives which help schools connect children with needed services (housing, medical care, food assistance, etc.) in order to support their academic success. Making the Grade: A Progress Report and Next Steps for Integrated Student Supports is an update on the developments in the field since 2014, when Child Trends first published a report on the topic. This 2017 report includes details on the growing number of evaluation studies on these programs and examples of successful implementation in specific cities.
New Research on Youth Homelessness
November 21, 2017 | Emily Taylor
A recent report from Voices of Youth Count (VoYC), a national research initiative on youth homelessness led by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, provides estimates that at least 700,000 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 (or 1 in 30), experience homelessness in a given year. For young adults ages 18 to 25, the number is higher: 1 in 10 don’t have a place to live.
Research: Psychological Impacts of Natural Disasters on Youth
October 2, 2017 | Emily Taylor
Researchers looked at how to identify children who need support services after natural disasters. They screened 327 children aged 7-11 who were in the path of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Researchers found that the preschool definition of PTSD helped identify children more effectively than the adult-based definition. The researchers also created a workbook for families to help their children cope after a hurricane.
Research: Children Living with Parents who have a Substance Abuse Disorder
September 25, 2017 | Emily Taylor
SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ) August 2017 monthly report focused on children living with parents who have a substance abuse disorder. According to the report, data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health show that about “1 in 8 children (8.7 million) aged 17 or younger lived in households with at least one parent who had a past year substance use disorder (SUD)”.
Child Mind Institute’s 2017 Children’s Mental Health Report
September 25, 2017 | Emily Taylor
The Child Mind Institute recently published its 2017 Children’s Mental Health Report. This year the report has an emphasis on adolescent brain development and mental health disorders that develop during adolescence and young adulthood.
Data on Student Homelessness
August 18, 2017 | Emily Taylor
In a recent blog post, the National Center for Education Statistics shared data from two recent reports on student homelessness in urban, rural, and suburban settings. For these reports, homeless students are defined as “children/youth who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence”. In 2014-15, the highest percentage of homeless students was in cities, 578,000 students, 3.7 percent, but the percentage was also 2.0 or higher in suburban, rural and town districts.
Research on Biological Processes Impacted by Loss of a Father
August 2, 2017 | Emily Taylor
Recent research published in the journal Pediatrics identified biological changes correlated with the absence of a father in a child’s life. While the absence of a father, either due to incarceration, death, separation or divorce, is already understood to have adverse consequences for children, this research connected the loss of a father with a change at the cellular level. The children who lost their fathers had shorter telomeres, the protective nucleoprotein end caps of chromosomes and a core biological indicator of health.