March 2012Vol. 13, No. 2NRCYD Resources for Professionals, Youth
The National Resource Center for Youth Development (NRCYD) provides training and technical assistance (T&TA) to help States and Tribes meet the needs of youth (ages 14–26) in foster care. Funded by the Children's Bureau as part of its T&TA Network, the NRCYD collects and disseminates information on youth in foster care, offers targeted peer-to-peer dialogues, and provides intensive TA with States and Tribes. The website offers an array of resources and tools for both professionals working with youth and for youth who are in care, about to transition, or have transitioned out of care.
For child welfare professionals, individual State webpages are full of State-specific information, including State agency coordinator and contact information, annual Chafee and Educational Training Voucher (ETV) allocations, AFCARS data, and answers to frequently asked questions. Tribal pages highlight Tribe-specific information on the four Tribes that administer their own Chafee and/or ETV programs, information on independent living programs for Tribal youth, and other resources for Tribes and those who work with Tribes.
The Fostering Connections web section highlights specific elements of the Fostering Connections Act that pertain to or affect older youth. The LGBTQ Youth web section offers facts and statistics about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning youth (LGBTQ) and an online toolkit for working with this population.
NRCYD's web section, Youth Port, utilizes the "youth voice" by sharing stories of young people who make positive changes in their communities. Young people with foster care experience made suggestions and recommendations for the name, the look-and-feel, and the content of the site, and youth who have transitioned out of foster care contribute timely information and resources.
The NRCYD's Youth Development eUpdate incorporates the youth perspective while providing professionals with quarterly updates on best practices for permanency planning, youth engagement, and positive youth development. A 2011 NRCYD summer intern who spent 12 years in foster care before being adopted wrote the current article in eUpdate's Youth Corner, "Financial Capability Map." The article addresses financial principals, provides financial management advice, and introduces the Financial Reflection Tool. The reflection tool provides youth with prompts to help them reflect on their personal finances before using the tips on creating a personal finance map to improve money management habits.
These tools and more are available on the NRCYD website:
Related item
In April 2011, CBX covered the NRCYD's Youth Port in the story "Youth Port Is By, For, and About Youth in Foster Care."
