Author Archives: Jamar Little

The Unintended Consequences of“Lack of Supervision”Child Neglect Laws: How Developmental Science Can Inform Policies about Childhood Independence and Child Protection

Policies and programs designed to serve children and families are built upon a general understanding of child development. Developmental research has tried to expand that understanding and determine the typical ages at which children acquire certain skills and capabilities, while … Read More

Discrimination In Multi-Phase Systems: Evidence From Child Protection

Introduction Large racial disparities have been documented in many high-stakes settings—such as employment, healthcare, housing, and criminal justice—raising concerns of discrimination by individual decision-makers. At the same time, there is growing understanding that a focus on individual decisions can yield … Read More

Prenatal Drug Exposure: CAPTA Reporting Requirements for Medical Professionals

Why use this fact sheet? As medical professionals who work with pregnant patients, you face numerous medical, legal, and ethical decision points when treating a patient for substance use during pregnancy, and when providing care to a neonate with drug … Read More

Recommendations for Regulating Artificial Intelligence to Minimize Risks to Children and Their Families

From January 2023 to March 2024, multiple entities have published guidance on artificial intelligence (AI), underscoring growing public concerns regarding AI governance. Meanwhile, as federal and state legislators weigh the need for AI regulations to safeguard the public from various risks, recent discourse … Read More

Using Personal Experience To Improve Human Services

PER­SON­AL EXPE­RI­ENCES OF PRO­GRAMS AND POLICIES The move­ment toward employ­ing pro­fes­sion­als with per­son­al expe­ri­ences with sys­tems is root­ed in both moral argu­ments and prac­ti­cal considerations: “Our take­aways from this paper are straight­for­ward: When you bring per­son­al expe­ri­ence into pro­gram design, … Read More

Connecting Sex Trafficking Survivors To Education And Jobs

Well­spring Liv­ing, a grantee of the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, is a non­prof­it that serves sur­vivors of sex traf­fick­ing and those at risk for exploita­tion. Based in Metro Atlanta, a city with one the high­est rates of human traf­fick­ing in the Unit­ed States, the orga­ni­za­tion … Read More

Using Strength And Challenges To Measure Youth Well-Being

WHAT IS STRENGTH-BASED MEASUREMENT? A Land­scape Scan includes back­ground on the move­ment toward adopt­ing more strength-based approach­es in the field of psychology. Tra­di­tion­al­ly, researchers have focused on the neg­a­tive forces youth face. This is a holdover from health research, built around mit­i­gat­ing … Read More

Learn The Basics Of Juvenile Justice

UNDER­STAND­ING JUVE­NILE JUSTICE JUVE­NILE DETENTION DIVER­SION, RESTORA­TIVE JUS­TICE AND YOUTH PROBATION READ MORE

Creating Equitable Ecosystems of Belonging and Opportunity for Youth An Action Guide for Cross-System and Sector Leaders and Practitioners

Ecosystem for Youth Belonging and Opportunity The concept of a youth development ecosystem, builds from and expands upon Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, which views child development within the context of the system of relationships that form their environment. Broffenbrenner, … Read More

State Strategies To Mitigate The Impact Of Housing Instability On Child Welfare Involvement

Introduction Each year, the National Governors Association (NGA) welcomes the nation’s Governors to Washington, D.C., for the annual NGA Winter Meeting. During the three-day meeting, Governors discuss issues most pertinent to the states and territories and connect with national experts … Read More