Changing Course in Youth Detention: Reversing Widening Gaps by Race and Place
Changing Course in Youth Detention: Reversing Widening Gaps by Race and Place is a report prepared by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and published in August 2023. A main finding is that there are large and widening gaps in youth detention by race and place, based on a three-year analysis of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on juvenile justice systems. When it comes to the odds of being detained, young people in the United States live in different worlds, depending on their race and the region and jurisdiction where they reside. The disproportionate use of detention for Black youth — already distressingly high before the pandemic — has increased. Also, over that three-year period, where youth lived mattered to a greater extent to their odds of being detained than it did before.
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Creating Equitable Ecosystems of Belonging and Opportunity for Youth: An Action Guide for Cross-System and Sector Leaders and Practitioners
Creating Equitable Ecosystems of Belonging and Opportunity for Youth: An Action Guide for Cross-System and Sector Leaders and Practitioners is a 2023 guide created by The Forum for Youth Investment. It is designed to help public- and private-sector leaders build ecosystems that are better suited to help young people thrive. It is specifically intended to support coordinated initiatives where multiple youth-serving organizations or agencies are already working together. To generate this guide, The Forum convened a wide range of national thought leaders, practitioners and youth. The group fulfilled a two-part charge: 1) explore research-based concepts for supporting learning and development; and 2) create tools to help youth and adults put these concepts to use within their own environments. Once this work was complete, the Forum engaged more than 50 youth to both create a Youth Journey Map for Belonging and Opportunity and build an action guide for systems leaders on fostering youth well-being and belonging.
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Developing Leaders: Reflecting on the Children and Family Fellowship
Developing Leaders: Reflecting on the Children and Family Fellowship pays tribute to 30 years of the Children and Family Fellowship with short, first-person reflections on the program and leadership from participants, faculty, staff and partners. The Fellows discuss four themes: results and equity; self-awareness and leadership development; collaboration, peer-to-peer learning and mutual support; and weathering change and transitions. The book was published in November 2023 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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Financial Aid Guide for California Foster and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Education
Financial Aid Guide for California Foster and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Education is a comprehensive guide that begins with an explanation of the different types of financial aid available for California foster and unaccompanied homeless youth. It also offers helpful tips to completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Application (CADAA), describes key steps on what to do after the FAFSA/CADAA forms are submitted, and explains how to keep getting financial aid.
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The Youth Program Quality Improvement (YPQI) Approach: Implications for Policy and Practice Research
The Youth Program Quality Improvement (YPQI) Approach: Implications for Policy and Practice Research demonstrates that programs for young people have positive benefits including academic achievement, career exploration and development, and social, emotional and civic skills. However, many programs do not realize this potential – often due to the lack of coordination and support about how to assess and improve staff practices that create the conditions for young people to have high-quality experiences across settings. Evidence suggests that the predominant form of professional development—staff training without follow-up—rarely produces sustained change in practice. The Youth Program Quality Improvement (YPQI) approach offers a continuous improvement method that shifts the norms of traditional professional development – starting with assessment of staff practices aligned to a standard of quality, and then engaging in a multi-month cycle of planning and improvement. The Youth Program Quality Intervention Study was the first experimental investigation of a data-driven, continuous improvement approach in the afterschool field. The study explored whether the YPQI approach could improve the quality of youth experiences in afterschool programs. This brief focuses on the implications of the findings of that study – and the lessons learned from continued implementation of that approach over the last 15 years in communities across the country – for policy and practice.
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Voices Unveiled: A Qualitative Exploration of the Postsecondary Journey of Foster Youth in LA County
The co-conveners of the Los Angeles Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC), JBAY, Alliance for Children’s Rights and UNITE-LA, partnered with the Los Angeles Community College District to explore the LA College Promise (LACP). While LACP had demonstrated success among the general first-time college population, its success among foster youth was untested. The OYC utilized a human-centered design process to convene partners and gather extensive youth and stakeholder feedback to determine if the LACP was an effective approach for foster youth and to better understand the experience of foster youth transitioning into postsecondary education and the systems that serve them. This report highlights the finding from this qualitative research study and opportunities for policy and practice changes that could improve the postsecondary educational outcomes of youth in foster care.
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A Culturally Responsive School Leadership Approach to Developing Equity-Centered Principals: Considerations for Principal Pipelines
A Culturally Responsive School Leadership Approach to Developing Equity-Centered Principals: Considerations for Principal Pipelines was published in July 2023 by the Wallace Foundation. It explores ways school districts can construct principal pipelines to produce school leaders who advance equity in education. It was written by Mark Anthony Gooden, Muhammad Khalifa, Noelle W. Arnold, Keffrelyn D. Brown, Coby V. Meyers and Richard O. Welsh.
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A National Call to Action for Summer Learning: How Did States Respond?
This report, funded by The Wallace Foundation, examines the results achieved from the national call for summer learning, specifically to counter COVID-related learning loss. Spurred by unprecedented federal funding, states mobilized in 2021 to support school district summer learning efforts. The report was published in July 2023, and was authored by Allison Crean Davis, John Hitchcock, Beth-Ann Tek, Holly Bozeman, Kristen Pugh, Clarissa McKithen, and Molly Hershey-Arista of Westat.
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California’s Historic Tax Credit for Foster Youth: Assessing Progress in its Inaugural Year Economic Security
In its first year of implementation, more than 4,700 youth received the California Foster Youth Tax Credit, collectively receiving nearly $5 million. This report summarizes the progress achieved in the first year of implementation of the new credit, which provided up to $1,083 to youth ages 18-26 who filed their 2022 state taxes, and who were in foster care on or after their 13th birthday.
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L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative 2022 Impact Report
John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) is part of the Los Angeles Opportunity Youth Collaborative, a multi-sector partnership to improve education and employment outcomes for transition age foster youth in LA County. This report highlights the impact in 2022 of JBAY’s work to improve postsecondary access and success for transition age foster youth, whether it be career and technical education or a 2-year or 4-year degree.
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Note : Appearance of activities, publications or organizations in these website listings does not constitute any type of endorsement from the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund. These listings are provided solely for informational purposes.