New National Child Welfare Resource Center for
Youth Development Website Launched

On October 10, 2006 the NCWRCYD launched their new website. Visit the updated and improved State by State pages and while you are there, check out our resources page that contains monographs and publications that focus on older youth in foster care. Be sure to check back often for updates and additions.

Conference Review: Destination Future 2006

Destination Future is a youth leadership conference hosted annually by The University of Oklahoma OUTREACH National Resource Center for Youth Services and supported by The University of Oklahoma OUTREACH National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development, a service of the USDHHS Children’s Bureau.  This year's conference, Destination Future 2006: Improving the System through Youth Involvement, took place on August 11-13, 2006, at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD, just outside Washington, DC.  The 338 participants at this year’s conference consisted of youth, ages 16-20, and their adult sponsors, consisting of social workers, foster parents, youth workers, and volunteers.  While at Destination Future, youth were presented with an informative and entertaining format consisting of small group sessions, motivating keynote speakers, entertainment, and time for sightseeing in or around our nation’s capital. 

Youth from 24 states gathered at Destination Future 2006 to achieve two primary goals:

1. To increase civic engagement capacity of youth and to develop leadership skills.
2. To provide a mechanism for youth in care, or recently emancipated from care, to inform service providers and policy makers on the issues that impact children and youth in out-of-home care.

Youth had an opportunity to network with other youth leaders, foster parents, and child welfare workers and also participated in discussions around involving youth in the next round of the Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSR), case planning, stakeholders meetings, workforce preparation, and collaboration with state agencies.  Youth that attended Destination Future 2006 were provided with the opportunity to not only make the child welfare system better for themselves, but to pave the way for those who follow.  Stay tuned to the NCWRCYD website for a full conference report to be released soon.

Save the Date: 2007 Pathways to
Adulthood Conference

The 2007 Pathways to Adulthood Conference will be held on May 9-11, 2007, at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis, MN. Last year’s conference, held in Portland, OR, was the biggest and best yet with an attendance of 684 people from 49 states, the District of Columbia, British Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. More information regarding the Independent Living Coordinators' Forum and the Transitional Living Grantees' Meeting will be announced soon. Stay tuned to http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/conferences.shtml for the latest updates.

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2007 Child and Family Service
Reviews Schedule

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has finalized the schedule for the second round of Child and Family Services Reviews beginning in fiscal year 2007. The following 15 States will be reviewed in 2007:

Association of Caseworker Visits on other
CFSR Outcomes and Performance Indicators

One of the key findings of the 2001 to 2004 Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR) was an association between the frequency and quality of caseworker visits and a positive performance on other CFSR outcomes and performance indicators. To address this issue, The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and JBS International, Inc. (JBS) produced a brief on behalf of the Children's Bureau (CB) through the technical assistance (TA) to state legislators on the CFSRs component of the State Team Training Project.  Legislative Brief: Child Welfare Caseworker Visits with Children and Parents presents background information about caseworker visits, including the elements that comprise quality visits. It also offers questions that legislators and their staff can use to facilitate a dialogue about caseworker visits with their child welfare agency administrators. Click here to view the brief.

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The Tom Osborne Federal Youth
Coordination Act

On September 20, 2006, The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 (H.R. 6197), a measure reflecting a bipartisan, House-Senate agreement to reauthorize and strengthen services offered under the Older Americans Act, the chief federal law governing the organization and delivery of a number of social services for older Americans.

Also included in the act was legislation to evaluate, coordinate, and improve federal youth serving programs.  The Tom Osborne Federal Youth Coordination Act, authored by Committee Member Tom Osborne (R-NE), would establish the Federal Youth Development Council within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Council will be charged with:

• ensuring communication among federal agencies with programs serving youth;
• recommending ways to coordinate and improve these youth serving programs; and
• identifying areas of overlap or duplication and recommending ways to improve program efficiency.

Click here to view the Act.

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation
Focusing on Foster Youth

On September 22, 2006, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bills to help improve the lives of the youth in state custody.  One bill signed will ease the restrictions that youth are faced with when trying to stay in contact with their siblings.  Other signed bills included legislation requiring credit checks on foster youth at age 16, to make sure no identification theft, and a bill that will create a council with the aim to improve collaboration among all the state agencies that serve foster children. To view the full Los Angeles Times article visit their website.

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Advance Level Technical Assistance
Shared Youth Vision Forums

The Shared Youth Vision Federal Collaborative Partnership (SYVFCP) is a collaboration consisting of representatives from the United States Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Labor; and the United States Social Security Administration, and the Corporation for National Community Service that is focused on serving our nation's neediest youth by developing innovative approaches, enhancing the quality of services delivered, and improving the outcomes for the youth served.

On September 20-21 and 27-28, 2006, the Advance Level Technical Assistance Shared Youth Vision Forums (ALTASYVF) were held in Atlanta, Georgia. These two-day forums provided an opportunity for State Teams to receive individualized technical assistance geared toward the Team’s specific interagency goals and objectives for integrating services to better serve the neediest youth as identified in the 2003 White House Task Force Report on Disadvantaged Youth. During the forums, facilitators provided the selected teams with advanced technical guidance on aligning resources, staffing, barriers and challenges, resource mapping, and the identification of specific outcomes and other projects as a result of their work. The following states were selected to participate in the Forums:

To learn more about this collaboration visit http://www.doleta.gov/ry.
To read the executive summary of the White House Report click here.
Click here to view the full text document.

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November is National Runaway
Prevention Month

The fifth annual National Runaway Prevention Month (NRPM), a collaboration between the National Runaway Switchboard and the National Network for Youth, is set to take place during November 2006.  The goals of NPRM 2006 are to raise awareness of the issues facing runaway youth and to educate the public about solutions and the role they can play in preventing youth from running away. Visit www.1800RUNAWAY.org/Novemeber to see how you can promote NRPM 2006 in your community.

The Original Foster Care Survival Guide

Written by Paul Knowlton, former foster youth from New Jersey turned Georgia attorney, The Original Foster Care Survival Guide provides the minimum, specific wisdom and knowledge the average foster teen needs in order to make a successful transition into an equally successful adulthood. The Guide is also targeted to foster parents, providers, and mentors that help youth prepare for their successful transition to adulthood.  For more information visit www.sagesjournal.com.

New Research Brief on Pregnancy Among
Foster Youth

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy focuses on foster youth in their August installment of their research brief series Science Says (#27). The brief compares youth in foster care to other youth and how older adolescents who remain in care fare compared with those who “age out” of the foster care system. To view the brief, as well as other resources from the National Campaign that focus on foster youth click here.

Report on the Critical Role of
Adoption Subsidies

Ending the Foster Care Life Sentence: The Critical Need for Adoption Subsidies, released by Children’s Rights, reports the findings from a survey conducted in collaboration between the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) and the National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) of 242 adoptive and prospective adoptive parents in 6 states.  The survey responses indicate that adoption subsidies play a critical role in ensuring that abused and neglected children are adopted from foster care.  Click here to read the full report.

Transition for Youth with Disabilities

Published by the Center for Workers with Disabilities, Transition for Youth with Disabilities: A Look at State Programs, Progress, and Promising Practices, by Alexandra I. Suchman, provides an overview of the state programs and efforts addressing the needs of youth in transition with disabilities and compiles a list of promising state practices for transition programs that are in progress. The report also includes a discussion about the importance of transition programs and planning the context of current disability culture and policy. To view the document, click here. 

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