The recently enacted federal budget reconciliation law established a new children’s savings initiative known as the “Trump Account,” creating federally supported investment accounts for eligible children. The law also includes enhanced accounts and additional contributions for certain children who have experienced foster care, reflecting a growing recognition of the importance of assets during the transition to adulthood.

On Tuesday, July 21st from 2:00-3:00 pm ET we had a timely discussion of what this new opportunity could mean for young people and examined key implementation questions, including eligibility, administration, and access.

Todd Lloyd of the Annie E. Casey Foundation moderated a conversation with Dr. William "Willie" Elliott III, Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan and founding director of the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion (AEDI); Ray Boshara, Senior Policy Advisor at both WashU's Center for Social Development and the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program and a nationally recognized expert on asset building and financial security; and Beadsie Woo, Director of Family and Youth Financial Stability at The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Speakers explored the opportunities and challenges these accounts present for advancing economic mobility and long-term financial security, as well as the role philanthropy can play in supporting equitable implementation, complementary investments, and policy innovation.

Across the country, lawsuits against social media companies are advancing, raising the possibility of significant settlement funds intended to address harms experienced by young people. How those resources are ultimately invested will shape whether they create meaningful opportunities for youth or are absorbed into broader public budgets.

Join YTFG's Policy Action Table for a conversation with leaders from Fund IRL, a national coalition working to ensure that any future social media litigation payouts are directed toward programs and services that support youth well-being and healthy development. Coalition leaders will share their vision for investing in the kinds of "in real life" opportunities that help young people thrive—including mentoring, afterschool and summer programs, mental health supports, youth development initiatives, and other experiences that foster connection, belonging, and resilience.

Learn more about the emerging policy landscape, the coalition's advocacy strategy, and the opportunities for philanthropy to help shape this potentially once-in-a-generation funding opportunity. The discussion will also explore what these potential investments could mean for transition-age youth and how our network can support efforts to ensure resources reach the young people and communities most affected.

This YTFG webinar explored the rewards and risks of funding impact litigation to advance policy change across child welfare, youth justice, education, and economic well-being systems. As legislative pathways stall and political pushback intensifies, litigation is playing an increasingly pivotal role in influencing policy change and driving system reforms. 

This session demystified impact litigation within the broader philanthropic and policy advocacy landscape and highlighted concrete examples aligned with YTFG priority areas. Designed to support peer learning, the conversation featured YTFG members Casey Trupin (Raikes Foundation) and Sarah Chiles (Redlich Horwitz Foundation & The Insita Group), who examined philanthropy’s unique role, key legal considerations, and opportunities for collaboration—helping funders assess how this strategy can strengthen their work in the current policy climate.  For those of you who are new to these issues, we also provided an impact litigation 101 to provide additional context for the conversation.

Join YTFG on September 16th at 2:00 pm EST / 11 am PST for a policy action table conversation about the impact of deportations and ICE immigration enforcement activities on systems-involved young people, their families, and communities.

Across the country, the threat of deportations and other immigration enforcement activities are threatening the well-being of young people and their families. Increasingly, young adults are afraid to go to school for fear that a family member will be deported while they're away, hesitant to participate in services they are eligible for due to fear of being asked about immigration status, and reluctant to engage in community organizing due to ICE presence in their communities. At the same time, foundations are wondering what they can do to support communities during this frightening time.

Three speakers representing three of the systems of focus for YTFG – child welfare, education and youth justice – will share what they are doing to support young people during this time and their best ideas for how philanthropy can play a role.

Speakers:

• Viridiana Carrizales - Co-Founder and CEO, ImmSchools

• Frankie Guzman - Managing Director of Youth Justice and Equity, National Center for Youth Law

• Kelly Albinak Kribs - Co-Director, Young Center's Technical Assistance Program

Join us for an intimate conversation with Celia Sims. Throughout her career, Celia has worked on an array of child and family policy issues and held several key advisor roles, including as the Senior policy adviser in the U.S. Senate to HELP Committee Chair, Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and before that in the U.S. Department of Education during the George W. Bush Administration. Today she serves as the founder and president of the Abecedarian Group, which provides national and state organizations with strategic advice for advancing their public policy agendas, including for K–12 education, higher education, workforce training, and child welfare and family policy.

Join us for the latest on where the Congressional budget reconciliation process stands and in particular, the implications of potential cuts to Medicaid for older youth. We’ll be joined by several experts focused on populations of interest to YTFG.

On March 20 from 2-3pm YTFG will co-host with the Child Welfare Funders Collaborative a special session examining recent federal actions on immigration and their impact on children and youth.

We will be joined by Jeremy Kohomban, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Children's Village and Kelly Kribs, Co-Director of the Technical Assistance Program at the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights for this intimate conversation.

This session is being planned in response to member interest and is open only to YTFG and CWFC members.

This meeting will be aimed at finalizing the key priorities to uplift in a transition memo, and planning for 2025 with the ever-evolving political landscape in mind.

During this meeting we will debrief the election, reflect back the policy discussion from Detroit and cross-cutting priorities emerging in the network, and invite feedback and additions. This is a “Part 2” discussion from Detroit, but suitable for other YTFG members who couldn’t join us for the discussion in Detroit.

Join the YTFG Policy Action Table for a discussion with key Congressional Staff about active and upcoming reauthorization bills relevant to the network. We will be hearing from those at the center of discussions and negotiations around the reauthorization of Title IV-B, the Workforce, Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The desire for this deeper dive to learn more about upcoming opportunities at the federal level to improve policies that can directly support youth well-being and success was a direct result of our conversations at the Spring meeting in Seattle.

After the panel discussion and Q&A, we will have some time for members to process the conversation and discuss opportunities for network engagement.

Please contact Kathleen King or Rebecca Robuck with any questions.

YTFG members had the opportunity through our Policy Action Table to hear from Bolder Advocacy and learn about the kinds of advocacy activities they can safely engage in and best practices for grant making to provide grantees with flexibility under the law for their advocacy efforts. The session covered the definitions of lobbying, why public and private foundations should support advocacy, and why different types of foundations must follow different rules. If you missed the session or would like to go back to review it, we have access to the recording until August 2024. Passcode: 3gOe?+r.

YTFG invites you to join—and help shape—a new Policy Action Table. Launching this fall, the YTFG Policy Action Table will establish standing cross-systems capacity within YTFG to strategize as a philanthropic network around policy change and implementation.

Many YTFG members have long been interested in working to improve policy at the national, state, and local levels. This policy action table will offer a regular space for members to learn about policy developments and explore strategic ways to invest time, talent, and funding in policy efforts, both individually and collectively. Rebecca Robuck and Kathleen King of YTFG’s consulting team will provide staff support and Casey Trupin of the Raikes Foundation is serving as Action Table Chair.

Please join us for the kickoff call for this exciting new YTFG initiative on October 17 at 2pm ET / 11am PT.