Safety Permanency & Wellbeing

Ensuring Educational Stability and Success for Students in Foster Care

Introduction Students in foster care represent one of the nation’s most vulnerable student groups. In addition to the social-emotional challenges and trauma that students in foster care experience, studies find that students in foster care are much more likely than … Read More

NSCAW III Baseline Report (2017-2022): Child and Family Involvement with the Child Welfare System

This report is part of a series describing findings from the third cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW III) baseline data collection. This report provides a summary of the characteristics of the index maltreatment report … Read More

Report to Congress on the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) authorizes community-based programs to provide temporary shelter, counseling, and aftercare services to runaway and homeless youth (RHY). 1 The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), an office of the Administration for Children and … Read More

2024 Report to Congress Progress Report: Federal Implementation of the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers

Supporting Family Caregivers: Addressing a Critical — and Growing — Public Health Issue The need for a robust, coordinated approach to supporting family caregivers has never been greater . Each year, at least 53 million people1 provide informal, usually unpaid, … Read More

Warm vs Harsh Parenting Alters Shape of Children’s Brains, Study Finds

The way you choose to parent your children may literally shape their brains, a new study by scientists in the U.S. and England has found. Neuroscientists tested the effect of warm parenting, compared to harsher styles—defined as responsive versus psychologically … Read More

A Proclamation on National Adoption Month

     Every child deserves to know the unconditional love of a permanent home.  During National Adoption Month, we honor all the wonderful families that grow through adoption, we remind our foster youth and adoptees that we are right by their … Read More

Tool Assesses Relational Culture in Organizations

Organizations with healthy relational cultures promote relationship-building with young people so they have the nurturing, support, and guidance they need to learn, grow, and thrive. Relational cultures are embedded in the core mindsets, skills, practices, and supporting structures present at … Read More

Sociodemographic Characteristics of LGBTQ Parents in the United States

Much of the existing research on parenting benefits, challenges, and demographics is focused on cisgender, heterosexual parents. A new report expands this research by compiling data from various sources to provide a sociodemographic portrait of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and … Read More

Exploring Shifts in Young People’s Racial and Ethnic Identities

A research brief from Child Trends explores how the racial and ethnic identities of adolescents and young adults may shift over time. Foster Care and the Development of Racial and Ethnic Identity delves into the experiences of young people in foster care … Read More

New Report Highlights Child and Family Development Research

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released its Child and Family Development Research: Fiscal Year 2023 report summarizing important research projects that seek to improve services for children and families. For … Read More