Search

The goal of this brief is to provide a summary of research from various scientific and educational fields on trauma informed care (TIC) for educators and administrators supporting the mental and physical health of youth experiencing homelessness (YEH), with specific recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to calls for TIC in schools to support students for whom the pandemic caused trauma or exacerbated prior trauma. Among those with preexisting trauma are YEH, an often-overlooked group of students who could potentially benefit from TIC. Over one million youth (under the age of 18) experience some form of homelessness during the school year in the United States. Within the state of Illinois, about 36,533 students are estimated to have experienced homelessness during the 2021-2022 school year. When these data are disaggregated by county, the highest numbers of YEH are in Cook County (Chicago metro area), but the highest rates of YEH are in several southern counties. YEH cite several reasons for experiencing homelessness, including family breakdown, economic problems, and residential instability, although systemic inequities in housing and employment can be pointed to as root causes. YEH also have many intersecting identities with other historically marginalized groups such as LGBTQ+, those experiencing low income, survivors of abuse, and those with experiences in the foster care system and juvenile justice system. Because of these intersecting identities and common reasons for becoming homeless, YEH are more likely to have experienced some form of trauma that can affect their physical and mental health. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated physical and mental health issues, which in turn can exacerbate existing trauma. This further highlights the possibility for schools to adapt TIC to help those students who need it most. YEH are at a higher risk of experiencing adverse physical health issues (e.g., higher risk for infections and diabetes) and mental health issues (e.g., psychiatric mood disorders, substance abuse and dependence, anxiety and depression, suicidal ideations and behaviors, and suicide attempts) compared to their peers who have stable housing. YEH also face high barriers to accessing necessary health resources, be they in school or other facilities. Because of the closures that occurred (or are still occurring) due to the pandemic, these barriers multiplied; YEH were left for prolonged periods of time without many needed resources (e.g., safe places, secured housing and food, counseling, vaccines, etc.). Key Takeaways: We provide recommendations for both educators and administrators on TIC that are tailored towards YEH against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. For educators, there are seven recommendations and examples of what these may look like in the classroom (see the table below). For administrators and individuals who are concerned with TIC for a larger system, there are four recommendations: (1) connect students to professionals and resources that can help; (2) work with YEH and other critical stakeholders to develop effective, empowering, and comprehensive services; (3) support YEH with other aspects of their identities; and (4) collaborate with community partners to address systemic causes of homelessness.

Young people across California are leading the way forward socially, culturally, and politically. They are organizing for racial justice, learning and working and caring for family members during a pandemic, and voting in record numbers. The past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic has been hardest on kids, particularly children of color, in poverty, or in the child welfare system. The California Children's Report Card grades the State on its ability to support better outcomes for kids, from prenatal to age 26. Each grade is based on the State's progress (or lack thereof) on passing and implementing state-level policies and making investments in the supports and services needed for all kids to reach their full potential. The Pro-Kid Agenda provides recommendations to the state's leaders on how to improve outcomes for kids in each section. This year's California Children's Report Card highlights some good news: key areas of improvement in the State's ability to meet the needs of California's children with increased funding and policy advances. Yet, in far too many areas, state leaders are failing to do enough to support kids. This lack of policy progress, along with unacceptable racial gaps highlighted in the data and the state's mediocre national rankings, contribute to the mostly low grades in this report. The report card is organized into the following sections: (1) Health; (2) Education; (3) Family Supports; (4) Child Welfare; and (5) Adolescents & Transition Age Youth.

The "2022 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda" for California is the comprehensive state-level roadmap to ensure that all children have the necessary services and supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to end systemic injustices that create barriers to kids of color, as well as kids living in poverty, undocumented kids, and kids in the foster care system, from growing up healthy and ready for college, career, and civic life. This work has only become more urgent as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a disproportionate impact on the lives of California's kids, especially children of color. Children and youth are increasingly experiencing stress, social isolation, and disconnectedness, and youth mental health issues have reached crisis proportions. In addition, the learning loss and lack of preventive health care because of the pandemic threatens this entire generation of children. Policymakers are urged to use the "Pro-Kid Agenda" as a guide to take long overdue action now to ensure California's systems for children are equitable, well-funded, high-quality, and accountable to kids' success. Doing right by all kids is not only the right thing to do, but it is also essential to California's future and ability to thrive. California's continued economic growth and strong democracy is dependent on a healthy and educated workforce. State policymakers need to make smart, strategic, and quality investments in California's children to address poverty and close the widening income divide. Working together, policymakers can build a California where all children have the chance to live out their dreams. The "Pro-Kid Agenda" can help get there. The "Agenda" was compiled by Children Now, California's whole-child research, policy development, communications, network building, and advocacy organization that covers the full range of children's issues prenatal to age 26, including early learning and development, K-12 and higher education, health, family and economic supports, and child welfare. The organization plays a lead role in more than 90 coalitions across the state and coordinates The Children's Movement of California, a network of more than 4,600 diverse organizations statewide, ranging from direct service, business, labor, youth, and parent organizations to civil rights- and community-based groups. [For "2021 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California," see ED610739.]

This report examines the importance and multidimensional nature of well-being, in general, and the well-being of Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian youth involved in systems of care, in particular. These young people must navigate three significant challenges: typical developmental issues and stressors associated with child and adolescent development; various difficulties associated with their experiences before and during their systems involvement; and experiences of racism and inequitable treatment in their daily living and in their involvement with different systems. For example, those who yield authority over Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian youth-- including educators, social workers, law enforcement, probation officers, prosecutors, and judges--may have explicit or implicit racial or ethnic biases that result in distorted perceptions and unjust treatment of these young people. Evidence underscores the need to strategically focus on fostering the well-being of youth served in systems of care--child welfare, courts, education, social services, juvenile justice, victim services, and health services systems--to increase the likelihood of more positive outcomes. A well-being frame is described that provides strategies to improve practice and policy that address the physical, social, emotional, intellectual, behavioral, and economic domains of well-being, as well as environmental and societal factors that contribute to youth's well-being. The well-being frame highlights the importance of employing diligent and consistent efforts at all levels of the social ecology--individual, interpersonal, community, and systemic--that will promote the equitable and just treatment of Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian youth across all systems of care. [This report is one in a series about improving outcomes for youth involved in systems of care. For three other reports in this series, see "Protective Factors for Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617197); "Breaking the Stigma and Changing the Narrative: Strategies for Supporting Expectant and Parenting Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617196); and "Shifting the Perceptions and Treatment of Black, Native, and Latinx Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617199).]

The healthy development and well-being of Black, Native, and Latinx youth are threatened when authority figures, decision makers, and other adult gatekeepers involved in systems of care perpetuate negative racial and ethnic stereotypes and/or hold implicit biases. Often, the outcomes of these perceptions are punishment-based systems that are weighted against Black, Native, and Latinx youth, employ unnecessarily harsh treatment, and contribute to racial and ethnic disparities. The purpose of this report is to examine the nature and impact of distorted racial perceptions of Black, Native, and Latinx youth involved in systems of care; identify the ways in which these systems are failing them due to distorted racial perceptions; and propose strategies that will mitigate the influence of racism in these systems and promote individual and systems decision making and practice that is developmentally appropriate, nurturing, and equitable for all youth. [This report is one in a series about improving outcomes for youth involved in systems of care. For three other reports in this series, see "Protective Factors for Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617197); "Breaking the Stigma and Changing the Narrative: Strategies for Supporting Expectant and Parenting Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617196); and "Promoting the Well-Being of Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617198).]

This report examines the importance of intentionally and actively targeting protective factors, in addition to risk factors, in an effort to promote healthy development and well-being in youth involved in systems of care. Protective factors are conditions and characteristics of individuals, interpersonal relationships, communities, and the larger society that are associated with decreased chances of negative outcomes and increased chances of positive outcomes. Key research- and practice-informed protective factors in each domain of the social ecology are described and recommended actions to build protective factors are provided. Individual domain protective factors of focus are resilience, social and emotional competencies, and character strengths. Core relational domain protective factors are positive peer connectedness, peer norms, connectedness with parents and other significant adults, and spiritual connectedness. Protective factors included in the community domain are safe, stable, nurturing, and equitable environments; engagement in social institutions; and the availability, accessibility, and provision of concrete supports. The societal domain protective factors refer to systems-level policies, priorities, and procedures that create and sustain the context for healthy youth development and well-being and the developmentally appropriate and equitable treatment of all youth. Strengthening protective factors of youth involved in systems of care is essential because protective factors help to mitigate the effects of youths' stressful life events and other risk factors, maximize their potential, better navigate difficult circumstances, and put them on a trajectory that leads to positive and productive life outcomes. [This report is one in a series about improving outcomes for youth involved in systems of care. For three other reports in this series, see "Breaking the Stigma and Changing the Narrative: Strategies for Supporting Expectant and Parenting Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617196); "Promoting the Well-Being of Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617198); and "Shifting the Perceptions and Treatment of Black, Native, and Latinx Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617199).]

Expectant and parenting youth involved in systems of care represent a unique intersection of developmental needs as adolescents, emerging adults, parents, and young people who come into contact with child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or other human services systems. Addressing these parallel roles and respective developmental needs is necessary to improve the health, well-being, and life outcomes of both young parents and their children. But expectant and parenting youth experience numerous challenges navigating their transition to adulthood and parenthood, including negative perceptions, expectations, and judgments about them as young parents. This report will provide an overview and critique of research findings about expectant and parenting youth and the stigma associated with young parenthood. It will also discuss four strategies to break the stigmatization of expectant and parenting youth, and thereby increase the likelihood of improved outcomes for young parents and their children. The strategies are: reframing the causes and outcomes of adolescent pregnancy and parenting, amplifying young parents' voices and positive outcomes, supporting dual transitions to adulthood and parenthood, and building young parents' protective factors. [This report is one in a series about improving outcomes for youth involved in systems of care. For three other reports in this series, see "Protective Factors for Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617197); "Promoting the Well-Being of Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617198); and "Shifting the Perceptions and Treatment of Black, Native, and Latinx Youth Involved in Systems of Care" (ED617199).]

Beginning in 2011, Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) started publishing the Paterson Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on the state's third largest city. Paterson Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, child health, child protection, child care, education and teens. [For "Paterson Kids Count 2015: A City Profile of Child Well-Being," see ED621566.]

For 25 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on the state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, child health, child protection, child care, education and teens. [For "Newark Kids Count 2020: A City Profile of Child Well-Being," see ED616481.]

On the brink of closure, California's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) requires critical attention. DJJ's inherent flaws and high costs led state leaders to heed long-standing calls for the closure of its youth correctional institutions in favor of local alternatives, a process known as juvenile justice realignment. DJJ stopped most youth admissions as of July 1, 2021 and will close its doors by June 30, 2023. California's counties must avoid replicating the state's problematic prison-like environment, lack of oversight, and disparate impacts on youth of color at the local level. DJJ's failures, and consequential downfall, should stand as a warning. Repeating these failures locally will endanger the most vulnerable youth. This investigation is part of a series of reports by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) to spotlight conditions at DJJ. The authors relied on publicly available data, data received by request, and conversations with youth who were recently confined in DJJ. This research provides information on: (1) California's shifting juvenile justice landscape; (2) The physical conditions of DJJ facilities; (3) DJJ's failing educational programs; (4) The culture of violence at DJJ; (5) Youths' isolation from their families; (6) DJJ's poor reentry outcomes; and (7) The state's harmful lack of oversight. The authors recommend a path forward to protect youth at DJJ and strengthen oversight of California's juvenile justice system: (1) Return youth to their home counties through legal procedures known as recall petitions; (2) Reinvest state funds in community-based alternatives to confinement and probation; and (3) Improve oversight by California's Office of Youth and Community Restoration to protect justice-involved youth.

The primary purpose of Title 1, Part D programs is to improve the educational outcomes for youth who are categorized as "neglected" (n), "delinquent" (d), or at-risk under the statute. This brief is designed to help State Coordinators, grantees involved in data collection or analyses, and personnel involved in the design of funded programs learn how to access, assess, and use their program data to achieve the outcomes that they have set for youth within their State or locality. Specifically, this resource will: (1) Introduce Title 1, Part D program data and how to access the data; (2) Illustrate how to use Title 1, Part D data to assess disparities in program outcomes, with a focus on juvenile justice education as an example, and (3) Explain the importance of data driven decision making and discuss strategies to achieve youth outcomes.

In the United States, more than 70 million students are enrolled in public elementary and secondary (K-12) schools or degree-granting postsecondary institutions. School and campus safety and security for these students encompasses many issues, including violence prevention and response, school climate, and the physical and mental health of the school community. Students' safety and security while in school is a paramount concern of the federal government and state and local governments, as well as school districts, institutions of higher education, students' families, and Members of Congress. The federal government's main avenue for supporting schools in general and school and campus safety specifically is through grant programs. This report provides an overview of grant programs at the U.S. Department of Education (ED), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that provide direct or indirect funding for school and campus safety and security initiatives. The report also provides an overview of programs and initiatives administered by these departments that support school safety and security efforts in other ways, such as through data collection and reporting and technical assistance.

Participatory research--the inclusion in research of members of a group being studied--is based on the idea that advanced degrees are not a requirement for conducting research, and that the people closest to a problem have knowledge that can lead to better, more accurate results. MDRC researchers worked with a group of youth fellows in Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential, an Annie E. Casey Foundation project for young people ages 14 to 25 who have been involved in the child welfare or justice systems or who have experienced homelessness. This brief describes the benefits of the collaboration to the research process, strategies used by the researchers to structure the collaboration, and the challenges they encountered.

The State Compensatory Education (SCE) program is designed to reduce dropout rates and increase academic performance of students identified as being at-risk of dropping out of school. SCE operates as a funding source to supplement instructional services and offer academic support to students who meet the SCE at-risk criteria established by the state. Funds allocated under SCE law are to be channeled toward programs and services that eliminate disparities in performance on assessment instruments administered under Texas Education Code. Further, programs designated for SCE funding should reduce disparities in the rates of high school completion between students who are at-risk of dropping out of school and all other students. In order for SCE funds to be allocated to a campus, the campus must not only meet the state criteria for percent of students at-risk of dropping out of school, but the services provided to students must also be described in the district and/or campus improvement plan. The annual budget for SCE programs in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) for the 2019-2020 academic year was $115,565,863.55. This figure included $41,891,879.07 of supplemental campus-based funds. These amounts are budgeted amounts and not final expenditures for 2019-2020. The purpose of this report is to describe and evaluate the SCE-funded programs in HISD as required by law.

Ongoing research and evaluation that produce actionable, widely disseminated evidence are central to the continuous improvement of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) programs. In addition, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA) requires DOL to conduct periodic, independent evaluations to inform the effective operation of WIOA programs and services. To support the development of DOL's research portfolio, this scan examines existing evidence on key topics related to WIOA programs and services. The scan focuses on four main topic areas, selected through a series of discussions with DOL's Chief Evaluation Office, Employment and Training Administration (ETA), and other DOL staff: (1) case management; (2) integrated service delivery; (3) training programs; and (4) youth services. Although the first three sections on service strategies focus on evidence from studies on adults or general populations, these services also relate to programs serving youth. However, because of the policy importance of identifying effective strategies for disconnected youth ages 16 to 24, the final section is devoted to research on youth, focusing on the many strategies offered by the WIOA Youth program. The scan describes strategies associated with each of the four topic areas, discusses existing evidence on the effectiveness of those strategies and evaluations currently under way, and summarizes the knowledge gaps in the existing evidence base. The scan prioritizes studies of strategies used in WIOA and by partner programs, but it also incorporates studies on related programs to increase the pool of studies from which to draw evidence. This research evidence scan is one of a pair of reports developed as part of DOL's WIOA Research Portfolio project. [For the companion report, "A Scan of Key Trends in the Labor Market and Workforce Development System. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Research Portfolio," see ED614790.]

School-age youth receive educational services while in juvenile detention facilities, but how these services reach students varies by state. Recent studies and surveys provide insight on juvenile justice systems and the complexities for delivering educational services in detention facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified persistent inequities in the juvenile justice system and how services, like education, reach youth. This brief provides an overview of how the education services in juvenile detention facilities are administered and overseen, and provides state examples of each model.

This pilot study builds on national literature by describing the characteristics of Colorado youth who were formerly in foster care and later accessed homeless services as young adults. State-focused data are important as youth experiencing homelessness typically stay in their state of origin. It was not possible in this study to estimate the total percentage of youth who experienced foster care and later accessed homelessness services due to the limited number of signed Release of Information forms needed to access services through Metro Denver Homelessness Initiative. However, informed by this study, Continuums of Care across the state have already begun to update their privacy notices and a next phase of research will examine this more fully. The study identified three groups, each with a collection of attributes that characterize the former foster youth experiencing homelessness, including: youth with differing levels of Division of Youth Services involvement, specific challenges (behavior, substance use, family-based, poverty) and emancipation or reunification with family. Findings also show that female and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) youth formerly in foster care accessed homeless services at disproportionately high rates. The descriptive characteristics groupings and identification of disproportionate representation among these youth by race, gender or child welfare history can be cross-walked with existing policies and practices to identify policy and services gaps and opportunities to prevent and lessen the duration of homelessness for youth formerly in foster care across Colorado.

Historic and ongoing inequities in people's ability to access infrastructure--including differential access to services and supports that advance health outcomes and differential exposure to challenges that threaten well-being--reinforce disparate health and economic outcomes by race. Such inequities begin prenatally and accumulate over the course of a child's early years and through adolescence. Schools play a critical role in either perpetuating or interrupting these inequities, as they are both a venue for children and youth to receive the supports needed for healthy development and for encountering various health risks. Creating healthy schools, then, is one strategy to disrupt ongoing racial health inequities and broader societal inequities. The National Healthy Schools Collaborative defines a healthy school as one that "recognizes and advances the mental, physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of students and educators as a fundamental strategy to effective learning." This brief examines how healthy schools may help address racial inequities across five key areas: health systems, public education, juvenile justice, environmental conditions, and family income. For each area, the brief reviews related racial inequities and, most importantly, describes how healthy schools may contribute to community efforts to dismantle such inequities.

In September 2020, local education agencies ("LEAs") in California adopted Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans ("Learning Continuity Plans"). These plans included key information on how LEAs were preparing to provide instruction, programs and services to their students during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Among other requirements, LEAs had to include information in their Learning Continuity Plans about: (1) their engagement of important stakeholders; (2) additional supports for certain students with unique needs (students in foster care, students in the juvenile justice system, students experiencing homelessness, students who are English learners, students in low-income families, and students with disabilities); (3) planning for in-person instruction; and (4) how they would identify and mitigate instructional loss that their students would likely experience due to disruptions in education during the pandemic. This report provides a snapshot of LEA planning during COVID-19. The authors reviewed Learning Continuity Plans adopted by 48 LEAs across the state. They analyzed these plans not only to determine whether LEAs met legal requirements, but also to find out how these LEAs were planning and investing funds to support all students and especially students with unique needs and students of color, who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The authors identify in this report a multitude of promising practices that LEAs planned to implement. LEAs can draw on these promising practices as they develop their Local Control and Accountability Plans ("LCAPs") for the 2021-22 school year and make plans for serving students with unique needs. [Laura Flores, Maen Bin Said, and Nicole Gon Ochi provided support for this report. This report was written with Californians Together and Public Advocates.]

With the philanthropic support of the Art for Justice Fund and Michelson 20MM Foundation, the Campaign for College Opportunity produced this research brief that provides an overview of the current state of higher education for currently and formerly incarcerated students. This brief provides descriptive demographics on California's incarcerated and paroled populations, a policy landscape analysis detailing the environment in which higher education is made accessible to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, and the voices of formerly incarcerated students from all three segments of California's public higher education system describing the barriers and opportunities they encounter in California's public colleges and universities. Finally, the brief includes a series of recommendations for campuses and California to dismantle post-incarceration barriers and create more opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students to improve their lives and the economic health of California. [Funding for this report was provided by the Art for Justice Fund and the Michelson 20MM Foundation.]

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 8% of youth in grades 9-12 reported being in a physical fight one or more times in the 12 months preceding the survey, with more than 7% reporting being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24, and is the leading cause of death for African Americans in this age range. Data from 2014 show that 501,581 young people ages 10 to 24 were treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained from physical assaults. Needless to say, youth violence is a serious problem that can have lasting harmful effects on both the perpetrator, the victim, and their family, friends, and communities. Studies have shown that mentoring can serve in both prevention and intervention roles in addressing youth violence. This document discusses these findings and provides examples of successful program models from across the country.

"The 2021 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California" is the comprehensive state-level roadmap to ensure that all children have the necessary supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to end systemic injustices that create barriers to kids of color, as well as kids living in poverty and undocumented kids, from growing up healthy and ready for college, career, and civic life. This work has only become more urgent as the COVID-19 pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on the lives of California's kids, especially Black and brown children, and other children of color. Children and youth are increasingly experiencing stress, social isolation, disconnectedness and serious mental health issues. And the learning loss and lack of preventive health care because of the pandemic threatens this entire generation of children. Policymakers are urged to use the "Pro-Kid Agenda" as a guide to take long overdue action now to ensure California's systems for children are equitable, well-funded, high-quality, and accountable to kids' success. "The Agenda" was compiled by Children Now, California's whole-child organization focused on the range of issues critical to improving children's well-being, including early learning and development, K-12 and higher education, children's health, family and economic supports and foster care. The organization plays a lead role in more than 90 coalitions across the state and coordinates The Children's Movement of California, a network of more than 4,100 diverse organizations statewide, including direct service, business, civil rights, youth, parent, faith-based, and community groups. "The Agenda" reflects the top priorities of each of those coalitions and members. [For "2019-20 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California," see ED593288.]