VOICES Youth Programs, which has several sites in California, recently released a publication entitled We Are Worth It: Recommendations for Implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act. The report is comprised of policy recommendations created by systems-involved young people across the state to ensure older youth are supported during the implementation of Family First. TheirRead More

The Youth Law Center has released a new brief, A New Deal for Transition Age Foster Youth in California: A Policy Roadmap for Ensuring a Resilient Recovery after COVID-19, which proposes key policy changes for transition age youth who are in foster care or have recently exited care in the aftermath of the COVID-19 public healthRead More

Florida Youth SHINE and its partner Vita Nova are maintaining a running covid-19 resource list for foster youth and their supporters. You can also check out their webpage for other great resources such as the Freaked Out About Finances tip sheet!

The Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has shared a well-being toolkit which identifies resources which can serve as a support to us all during this challenging time for our world.  The toolkit includes well-being tips, suggestions on how to talk to children and youth, meditations and resources for educators.  

On February 11, the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) announced the launch of a National Trauma Campaign calling for federal action to prevent and address childhood trauma and build resilience. The Campaign is designed to support local and state leaders in opening a line of regular communication with Congressional offices about trauma issues, including: evidence on theRead More

To support our members and the field as we navigate the challenges of the pandemic together, the YTFG Team is pleased to announce the launch of our new COVID-19 Resource Center. This new resource center: is created with the unique information needs of funders who invest in improving outcomes for youth and young adult. provides highly curatedRead More

The Youth Law Center has developed a resource to assist attorneys and advocates working with transition age youth during the crisis we are all facing. While the focus is on planning with transition age youth in foster care, much of the material will be relevant to a wider range of youth and some of theRead More

The California Homeless Youth Project (CHYP) published a new resource guide for students experiencing basic needs insecurity at California’s public colleges and universities, entitled Emergency Housing, Food, & Financial Resources for Undergraduates at California’s Public Colleges and Universities. Funded by the Walter S. Johnson Foundation and California Wellness Foundation, the resource guide builds on CHYP’s recentRead More

Our very own YTFG Fellows, Lucero Noyola and Carmen Noyola, played a critical role in advocating for the creation of Los Angeles County’s first-ever Youth Commission which elevates the voices of youth in policy and programming decisions at the county level. To learn more about the Commission see this Chronicle of Social Change article.  “When weRead More

The Children’s Defense Fund, with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Redlich Horwitz Foundation, has released Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, a comprehensive resource that analyzes each provision of the legislation in detail. The guide is a question-and-answer-style resource that aims to help a wide variety of stakeholders better understand theRead More

On January 22nd the Children’s Bureau issued ACYF-CB-IM-20-01, which informs state and tribal title IV-E agencies of the enactment of the Family First Transition Act and provides basic information on the new law. 

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report, Education Could Help States Improve Educational Stability for Youth in Foster Care, finding that the Department of Education should do more to help states provide educational stability for students in foster care. Federal law requires states to ensure that students in foster care stay in their schoolRead More

On Friday, the Children’s Bureau released AFCARS Report #26, the 26th annual report from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), which reflects national data related to children in the foster care system during federal fiscal year 2018, which occurred from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. The most noteworthy finding isRead More

Last week, the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse announced an opportunity for the public to recommend programs and services for review. If approved, these programs would be eligible for reimbursement under the Title IV-E Prevention Services program created by Family First. To learn more about the call, including submission requirements and instructions, please click here. ThisRead More

The Children’s Bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services recently modified a section of the Child Welfare Policy Manual (see Question 30) to allow states to use federal, IV-E dollars for parent and child legal representation. The policy reverses previous prohibitions on the use of Title IV-E for legal representation.  The state may now claimRead More

On October 20th,  YTFG Fellows Angel Jackson, Carmen Noyola, Lucero Noyola and Kera Pingree, shared ways in which systems did and did not support them as parents, how systems and institutions can be more responsive to their needs and the needs of their children, and their ideas for how foundations and communities can partner toRead More

The Youth Transition Funder’s Group (YTFG) is a national network of foundations whose mission is to help all youth make a successful transition to adulthood by age 25. This well-being investment framework was developed by our members in partnership with leading researchers, policy leaders, and young adults. Building upon work underway in the fields ofRead More

To support our members and the field as we navigate the challenges of the pandemic together, the YTFG Team is pleased to announce the launch of our new COVID-19 Resource Center. This new resource center: is created with the unique information needs of funders who invest in improving outcomes for youth and young adult. provides highly curatedRead More

The practice of family separation at the border is garnering significant national outrage over the trauma it’s inflicting on children and the blatant disregard for human rights. Family separation is the most visible of current government actions against immigrants, yet there are multiple strategies being employed that have potential implications for the child welfare system. The FosterRead More

This publication explores the important role and responsibility of each youth-serving system in supporting well-being for youth and young adults and presents a new framework for well-being for young people, highlighting the various domains of well-being and the role of families, communities, and public systems in supporting well-being. It also includes a series of concrete and actionableRead More