December 2016Vol. 17, No. 9Learning Collective for Expectant, Parenting Youth in Foster Care

In March 2015, after several years of working with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to shed light on the varied and unmet needs of expectant and parenting youth in foster care and their young children, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) established the Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care Learning Collective (the Collective). Following CSSP's examination of research, conversation with national and local experts, and working directly with jurisdictions to serve this population of youth, CSSP identified a number of policy and practice proposals (see Twice the Opportunity: Policy Recommendations to Support Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care and Their Children) necessary to improve outcomes for these young families.

The CSSP awarded grants to two agencies to implement and test specific approaches: (1) the Sacramento County Expectant and Parenting Youth Collaborative within the Child Protective Services Division of the Sacramento County (CA) Department of Health and Human Services and (2) the Office of Older Youth Services and Residential Care Monitoring – Teen Specialist Unit within the New York City Administration for Children's Services. To view grantees' key strategies, results, and data, visit the Collective's website at http://www.cssp.org/reform/child-welfare/expectant-parenting-youth-in-foster-care/meet-the-grantees.

The Collective's website, housed on the CSSP webpage, also provides a section on Tools & Resources to assist child welfare systems, including issue briefs and factsheets offering information related to expectant and parenting youth in foster care, such as parental and youth resilience, parenting, child and adolescent development, effective programs and curricula aimed at serving young families in foster care, quality legal representation, and more.

The website also provides several policy resources, such as Improving Outcomes for Pregnant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care: Federal Policy Recommendations, which proposes ways to more effectively address the complex needs of youth who are in or transitioning out of the State's care. The Research & Data page includes the 2015 CSSP report Expectant and Parenting Youth in Foster Care: Addressing Their Developmental Needs to Promote Healthy Parent and Child Outcomes, as well as other reports intended to help inform child welfare policy and practice.

Join the Collective, view webinars, access the Quarterly Connections newsletters, and more by visiting the CSSP website at http://www.cssp.org/reform/child-welfare/expectant-parenting-youth-in-foster-care.