News from the Field Related to Wraparound
Youth MOVE National Welcomes New Executive Director
August 7, 2022
Mark Saint Amour (they/them/their) will be joining Youth MOVE National as its next Executive Director. A seasoned nonprofit executive and board leader, Mark brings more than 10 years of leadership experience in the national non-profit industry, most recently serving as the Co-Executive Director of the environmental justice organization Center for Whole Communities and as a core trainer for the Transgender Training Institute. Their work in the field aligns with Youth MOVE National’s values centered around lived experience, advocacy, collaboration, and community.
New Study of Wraparound with Homeless Youth
August 7, 2022
A newly-published study, Watch Me Rise: An Evaluation of Wraparound With Homeless Youth With a Child Welfare History presents findings from a formative evaluation of youth outcomes. Results indicate youth housing stability improved within the first six months of youth enrolling in WMR. Youth also demonstrated improvements in life domain functioning and employment and/or employment readiness. Although several other outcomes were not achieved or the results were inconclusive, the study highlights important insights for working with and studying this important population.
The Expanded Role of Telehealth for Behavioral Health
June 13, 2022
At its pandemic peak, telehealth represented 13% of outpatient visits between March and August of 2020. As in-person care resumed, telehealth began to represent a smaller share of outpatient care (8% between March and August 2021). While many continue to envision an expanded role for telehealth in the delivery of care following the pandemic, there remains considerable uncertainty in what services will be available, where and how providers will be able to practice, how benefits will be structured, and how providers will be paid.
Helping Young People Face the Reality of Climate Change
June 13, 2022
As they become more exposed to the grim realities of climate change, today’s teens and people are experiencing increased anxiety, grief, fear or guilt about the planet’s future as well as their own. This resource discusses six ways of helping youth build resilience while they learn about the planet’s future and ponder their own.
Impact on Behavioral Health of Cash Transfers to Families of Children in Poverty
June 13, 2022
New research asks whether direct cash payments to people living in poverty, particularly for households with children, effectively improve child development outcomes into adulthood. About 20% of U.S. American children grow up in poverty, and family income during early childhood is strongly associated with educational attainment and other social and economic outcomes. A cash transfer during infancy can have profound and long-lasting effects, including educational, behavioral, and economic or labor market advantages.
Lack of Sleep Contributes to Mental Health Difficulties
June 13, 2022
Teen mental health is a major concern for today’s parents. More than 1 in 3 high-schoolers say they’ve felt persistent sadness or hopelessness, and roughly 1 in 5 reports having seriously considered suicide. Many are searching for answers. But one major culprit identified in in this Washington Post opinion piece could be the significant sleep deprivation of this generation of teens.
Best Practices in Child Welfare: Resources
June 13, 2022
The Children’s Bureau has selected a series of resources on best practices in child welfare. These resources demonstrate how prioritizing the placement of children and youth in foster care with biological family, or kin can help transform the child welfare system into one that truly supports families and maintains connections. This includes an emphasis on family finding and other child-specific recruitment strategies, best practices for family engagement, and licensing relative caregivers who understand their unique ability to partner with parents to support reunification. These resources also highlight the positive impact that culturally appropriate trainings and services and equitable supports to kin caregivers can have on placement stability and permanency outcomes for children and families.
Utilizing Black Families’ Cultural Assets
May 13, 2022
This publication is part of a broader effort to build a deeper understanding of the diversity of Black families, contextualize their experiences within systems and institutions, and produce evidence to inform policies and practices that promote their well-being in the twenty-first century.
The Rise of Suicide Among Youth and Young Adults
May 13, 2022
For decades, the average age of suicides has decreased and the rate of youth suicide has increased. Among youth and young adults, suicide is as common a cause of death as car crashes. This article explores what is and isn’t known about causes and treatment.
Parenting an Introverted Child
May 13, 2022
Experts explain how to identify introversion in children, and offer parenting tips for raising an introverted child.