Webinar discussion on best practices for adolescent foster youth in DCF care.

A recording of the webinar is available on CCA's YouTube page. Click here to access the slides.

 

One of the speakers, Latosha Johnson from the Connecticut Department of Children of Families, provided some materials on DCF's transition age youth (TAY) policies: DCF Adolescent Policy 28-1, V.I.T.A.L Policy (aka DCF Adolescent Practice Guide 28-1), and a video on DCF's V.I.T.A.L. approach to working with transition age youth.

 

Another speaker, Jenny Pokempner, provided some materials from the Youth Law Center which may be of help to practitioners. Click on the following links to access: Transition Age Youth Data & Research, Federal Laws Supporting Youth Transitioning to Adulthood, Youth Practice Tips, and TAY Pandemic Funding Maximization Matrix.

Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) Webinar on Working With Youth.

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A comprehensive training on working with youth in the homeless response system. This training thoroughly discusses the CAN system and how it operates for a youth that is experiencing homelessness. Additionally, this training covers a variety of housing strategies and best practices such as shelter diversion, outreach, housing first, trauma informed care, and motivational interviewing. This training is ideal for Youth Navigators, YHDP Rapid Re-Housing case managers, YETIs, and all those that work with youth in the homeless response system.

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Click here for webinar slides, and here for the CCEH webinar library.

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Podcast episode from Child Welfare Information Gateway featuring a conversation to help states and agencies leverage the provisions of the Family First Prevention Services Act to support parenting and expectant teens in foster care.

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"Young parents want the same thing every parent wants for their children. I think somehow we forget that because we view them as a youth in care rather than a parent.”  —Jeannette Pai-Espinosa, President, National Crittenton

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In the crush of child welfare, State and local agencies may struggle with providing appropriate and holistic services to older youth in care who are parents or expecting the arrival of a newborn. The challenges can range from accounting for the number of parenting and expecting teens to applying—and funding—services that support their needs as youth and as parents.

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Click here for a pdf transcript of the podcast.

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Powerpoint presentation from CAC's in-service on 10/12/18 with Stephanie Luczak and Jessica Nelson from CT Voices for Children, regarding the outcomes for CT's foster youth who are aging out of DCF's care.

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Powerpoint presentation from Center for Children’s Advocacy Training Session on Educational Rights of Older Students in CT’s Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems

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This Annie E. Casey Foundation brief used comprehensive data collected across all 50 states to address common issues in the lives of young people who have experienced foster care.  Click on the above link to see the report and learn more.

Article in Rhode Island Monthly

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Kids in state care can wind up on the streets when they turn eighteen.

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A decade ago, youth in the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) care could receive support — including housing and college tuition assistance — until age twenty-one. But in 2007, in an effort to close a $360 million budget deficit, then-Governor Donald Carcieri changed the law to lower the cutoff age for foster care services to eighteen. Teenagers with severe mental or physical disabilities are eligible for extensions.

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In the ten-year wake of that decision, hundreds of victims of abuse, neglect and tragedy confronted adulthood on their eighteenth birthdays. In 2016, 142 youth aged out of foster care without being adopted or reunited with their parents. It’s a 50 percent jump from 2015 when ninety-four kids aged out, according to data compiled by Rhode Island Kids Count. The later a child enters state care, the more likely he or she will age out of it.