Juvenile Justice Is Smaller, but More Unequal, After First Year of COVID-19 A year after the coronavirus pandemic began, the Casey Foundation finds that a historic drop in the size of the youth detention population at the beginning of 2020 did nothing to reduce the already huge racial and ethnic disparities in who gets detained. Read More
Podcast Explores Proposed SOUL Family Permanency Option A podcast episode explores how former foster youth and their yearning for legal, loving and lifelong relationships led to a new permanency option called SOUL Family. Read More
Evaluation Lessons From Family-Centered Community Change Can working with public systems to integrate services and serve parents and children at the same time spark broader community change? In a new webinar, the Annie E. Casey Foundation revisits its Family-Centered Community Change effort to explore this very question. Read More
Casey Supports National Effort to Grow Credible Messenger Mentoring Credible messengers are mentors who meaningfully connect with youth in the justice system through shared experiences. As interest in this form of mentorship grows, a national nonprofit is helping local efforts succeed. Read More
Resources for Holding Icebreaker Meetings Between Birth and Foster Parents Building relationships between birth parents, foster parents and caseworkers can be extremely important for foster kids, and using Icebreaker meetings can be an effective mechanism for doing that. Read More
Trauma-Informed Training Helps Foster Parents Feel More Prepared A new training curriculum, ARC Reflections, is helping child welfare agencies teach foster parents about the effects of trauma. It's also offering caregivers problem-solving strategies that can help children and teens regulate their emotions, connect with others and build life skills. Read More
Kids in Concentrated Poverty Data Snapshot Find state-level statistics on concentrated poverty and how child poverty rates have changed over time in this KIDS COUNT data snapshot. Read More
How Policymakers Can Address the Youth Debt Crisis Explore the harmful effects of debt on young adults in the United States and review policy recommendations to reduce debt burdens. Read More
The Consequences of Poverty for Children and the Nation Extended exposure to economic hardship can harm children’s development and have long-term negative consequences for individuals and families, but it also puts tremendous financial strain on all levels of government and weakens our nation’s competitiveness in the global economy. Providing all children with the opportunity to reach their full potential would strengthen the next generation and our country’s economic future. Read More
Report Explores Shifts in How Youth Describe Racial and Ethnic Identity A new report examines shifts in young people’s self-described racial and ethnic identity and explores the implications for child welfare systems. Read More