Featured Grant OpportunitySchool Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) (Funding Opportunity) 

Featured Grant OpportunityShare with Youth: NOAA Student Opportunities Database

Featured Grant OpportunityShort Courses in Social Determinants of Health for Research Education in Nursing Research (Funding...

Featured Grant OpportunityResearch on Law Enforcement Responses to Opioid Overdoses (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityComprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (CPACHE) Program (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityRisk and Protective Factors of Family Health and Family Level Interventions (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityPersonnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities--Doctoral...

Featured Grant OpportunityStanding Announcement for Tribal Title IV-E Plan Development Grants (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityProviding Research Education Experiences to Enhance Inclusivity for a Diverse Substance Use and...

Featured Grant OpportunityFY 2024 Research on School-Based Hate Crimes (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityChallenge America (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityResearch and Evaluation on Firearm Violence and Mass Shootings (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityNational Juvenile Court Data Archive (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityGraduate Research Fellowship (Funding Opportunity)

Featured Grant OpportunityCommunity Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Youth and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk...

Featured Grant OpportunityPrint and Disseminate Child Victims and Witnesses Support Materials (Funding Opportunity)

## Other Youth Topics

## Breadcrumb

            -  Youth Topics 
            -           Special Topics      

# Special Topics

youth.gov strives to identify resources that families and agencies can use to build and strengthen family engagement in schools and communities. The resources featured below are organized according to key topics of special interest.

**Youth Experiencing Homelessness**

***Commentary: A Provider Perspective on Supporting Parents Who Are Homeless***This article provides insight from a nurse practitioner about engaging parents and children who are experiencing homelessness. The article also describes challenges and successes from work in the field and offers recommendations about supporting families who are homeless.

***Engaging Veterans and Families to Enhance Service Delivery: A Tool Kit for Community-Based Organizations* (PDF, 52 pages)**This tool kit from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Homelessness Resource Center provides tools, resources, best practices, and lessons learned to improve the effectiveness of community-based organizations’ staffing, program design, delivery, and outreach to and engagement of veterans — including homeless veterans — and their families and children.

**Family Acceptance Project**The Family Acceptance Project (FAP) is a community research, intervention, and education initiative to study the impact of family acceptance and rejection on the health, mental health, and well-being of youth who are LGBT. The project’s results are the basis for resources to help families provide support for youth who are LGBT. In addition, FAP is developing appropriate interventions, programs and policies; and will train providers to improve the quality of services and care that youth who are LGBT receive.

***Family Matters: Homeless Youth & Eva’s Initiatives Family Reconnect Program* (PDF, 7 pages)**This report from the Canadian Homelessness Research Network profiles the Eva’s Initiatives Family Reconnect Program’s, which seeks to reconnect youth with family help young people avoid long term homelessness.

***Planning the Housing Opportunity and Services Together Demonstration: Challenges and Lessons Learned* (PDF, 8 pages)**The multisite Housing Opportunity and Services Together (HOST) demonstration was developed to test strategies that use housing as a platform for services to improve the life chances of vulnerable children, youth, and adults. This brief from the Urban Institute provides an overview of the project’s early challenges and successes as a way to (a) offer insights from practitioners on planning and designing “dual-generation” family engagement interventions and (b) inform policies that support comprehensive place-based initiatives.

**STRIVE (Support to Reunite, Involve & Value Each Other)**STRIVE is a five-session family-based intervention from the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention intended to reduce sexual risk behaviors, substance use, and delinquency among youth who have recently run away from home. The intervention is grounded in cognitive-behavioral and family systems theories and stresses the importance of establishing a positive family climate to reduce the risk of chronic homelessness and associated adolescent risk behaviors.

***Unaccompanied Youth Toolkit for Shelters and Service Providers***This toolkit from the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) was developed to help McKinney-Vento liaisons, school counselors, and other school staff support unaccompanied youth in school and out. The toolkit contains briefs on issues such as identification, school enrollment, financial aid for college, accessing medical care and shelter, and food.

**Webinar:*Family Intervention: Building Relationships and Increasing Stability for Runaway and Homeless Youth***This archived webinar from the National Alliance to End Homelessness discusses the importance of family intervention, and practices used to reunify and connect homeless youth with their parents; and a model designed to decrease risky behaviors.

**Webinar: *Family Intervention Models for Homeless and At-Risk Youth***This archived webinar from the National Alliance to End Homelessness discusses two effective family intervention models implemented by youth providers, including one model that facilitates family reconnection for LGBT youth, many of whom become homeless as a result of their families rejecting them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

***What You Need to Know to Help Your Child in School: A Guide for Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers* (PDF, 4 pages)**This brochure from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Homeless Education explains the educational rights of children and youth who are experiencing homelessness and informs parents about ways in which they can support their children's education during times of mobility.

**Youth Experiencing Mental Health or Substance Use Challenges**

***A Family Guide: Integrating Mental Health and Pediatric Primary Care* (PDF, 40 pages)**This guide from the National Alliance on Mental Illness provides families with a roadmap to actively participate with primary care and mental health providers in care delivery.

**Building Bridges Initiative**The Building Bridges Initiative is a national effort to identify and promote practices and policies that create partnerships and collaborations between families, youth, community- and residentially based treatment and service providers, advocates, and policy makers to ensure that comprehensive mental health services and supports are available to improve the lives of young people and their families. The initiative’s Resources section provides presentations, articles, and other documents that offer background information to advance partnerships.

***Closing The Gap: Cultural Perspectives on Family-Driven Care*(PDF, 39 pages)**This paper begins the discussion about the role of culture when working with families, describes family-driven care from four cultural perspectives, and discusses the role and importance of incorporating family culture, as defined by families, in outreach to, engagement, and involvement of families in care. The paper was developed by the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health through partial support from the Center for Mental Health Services’ (CMHS) Child, Adolescent and Family Branch within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

**Webinar: *Recovery-Oriented Practice: Person/Family-Centered Recovery Planning***This archived webinar from SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy presents the practice and philosophy of person/family-centered recovery planning. The webinar also discusses the range of services and supports that people and their families want to have available to them as they strive to accomplish their goals as well as discuss the roles peers and parents can play within each model.

***TIP 59 — A Treatment Improvement Protocol: Improving Cultural Competence* (PDF, 340 pages)**This guide from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration discusses racial, ethnic, and cultural considerations and the core elements of cultural competence and assists professional care providers and administrators in understanding the role of culture in the delivery of substance abuse and mental health services, including steps for culturally responsive evaluation and treatment planning with patients and their families.

***Unclaimed Children Revisited: Working Paper No. 1 — Challenges and Opportunities in Children’s Mental Health: A View from Families and Youth* (PDF, 44 pages)**This report from the National Center for Children in Poverty describes the status of family and youth support and advocacy systems from the perspectives of families and youth involved in the field of child mental health. The report also highlights selected current innovative interventions directed or heavily influenced by parents, youth, and community advocates that (a) strengthen family and youth influence in mental health policies and services planning and (b) advance improved mental health outcomes for children, youth, and families.

***Unclaimed Children Revisited: Working Paper No. 2 — Strengthening Policies to Support Children, Youth, and Families Who Experience Trauma* (PDF, 102 pages)**This report from the National Center for Children in Poverty reviews current policies and practices to support children, youth, and families who are exposed to trauma and highlights reasons for optimism and concern.

**You for Youth: Cultural Competence**This self-paced online tutorial from the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers’ You 4 Youth program outlines how to incorporate family involvement into programs by understanding the cultures of the families served, examining the views and assumptions held about those families and their cultures, and finding ways to recognize and incorporate families’ cultures into programs.

**Youth in Foster Care**

**Walking the Walk with Families**

**Family Engagement: A Web-Based Practice Toolkit**This toolkit synthesizes research and resources on family engagement in child welfare and foster care contexts. The toolkit results from a collaboration between the Hunter College School of Social Work and the Office of the Administration for Children & Families, Children’s Bureau’s National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections.

**Youth Involved With Multiple Systems of Care**

**Commonalities Across Family Engagement**To promote and support successful cross-discipline collaboration among agencies that often serve the same youth and families simultaneously, professionals must understand the similarities and differences in family engagement across the fields of practice. These documents from the Children’s Bureau discuss the common benefits, themes, and strategies of family engagement to help improve communication and collaboration with other disciplines to improve outcomes for families.

**Crossover Youth Practice Model**This model from Georgetown University’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform and Casey Family Programs describes the specific practices needed within a jurisdiction to reduce the number of youth who crossover between the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, the number of youth entering and reentering care, and the length of stay in out-of-home care. The model infuses into this work values and standards; evidence-based practices, policies, and procedures; and quality assurance processes.

**Webinar: *Expanding the Capacity and Impact of Family-Run and Family-Focused Organizations through Collaboration***This archived webinar from SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy presents collaboration in a new light: crossing sectors and prompting partnerships with other organizations, special interest groups, programs that serve similar populations, and even competitors. Research, collaboration models, and approaches to building collaboration capacity, as well as tools and strategies for safely collaborating with other groups, are offered to enhance the organizational capacity, reach, and program outcomes of family-run and family-focused organizations.

**Youth Involved With Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare**This webpage from the Child Welfare Information Gateway provides resources and information about serving youth who are involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. These include state and local examples as well as family and caregiver connection and engagement strategies. Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau.

**Youth Involved With the Juvenile Justice System**

***Facility Toolkit for Engaging Families in Their Child’s Education at a Juvenile Justice Facility* (PDF, 40 pages)**This toolkit is designed for juvenile justice facility and school administrators to promote family involvement in a facility school. The tools are intended to be used to help encourage families get more involved and to encourage staff to persist in their efforts to engage families. This toolkit serves as a companion to the guides: *Working with Families of Children in the Juvenile Justice and Corrections Systems: A Guide for Education Program Leaders, Principals, and Building Administrators* (PDF, 24 pages), and *Family Guide to Getting Involved in Your Child’s Education at a Juvenile Justice Facility* (PDF, 28 pages).

**Family Guide to Getting Involved in Your Child's Education at a Juvenile Justice Facility** (PDF, 28 pages)When youth are placed into an out-of-home justice facility, that facility becomes responsible for carrying out their education for the duration of the youth’s placement. This guide - from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk—is written for parents and family members of youth who have been placed in such juvenile justice correctional facilities. It provides evidence-based recommendations and insights to help parents stay involved in their child’s educational career, as much research has shown familial involvement is critically important to a child’s educational success.

***Safety, Fairness, Stability: Repositioning Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare to Engage Families and Communities* (PDF, 78 pages)**This monograph outlines a vision for fostering the interpersonal connections of youth and families so that significant relationships are maintained or restored. The monograph results from the efforts of a federal workgroup comprised of staff from the U.S. Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and Education in collaboration with Georgetown University's Center for Juvenile Justice Reform.

**Literature Review: Family Engagement in Juvenile Justice (PDF, 15 pages)**This literature review of current evidence and research provides a foundation of knowledge and information regarding the importance of family engagement in the juvenile justice system. It synthesizes findings on the role of family engagement, describes specific policies that jurisdictions have implemented to enhance engagement, and presents outcome evidence on recommended approaches toward improving familial involvement with youth in the juvenile justice system.

**The Crossover Youth Practice Model**This model describes the specific practices needed within a jurisdiction to reduce the number of youth who crossover between the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, the number of youth entering and reentering care, and the length of stay in out-of-home care. The model infuses into this work values and standards; evidence-based practices, policies, and procedures; and quality assurance processes.

**The Family Engagement Inventory: A Brief Cross-Disciplinary Synthesis**This document takes a cross-disciplinary approach to defining and implementing family engagement. The brief provides professionals in juvenile justice, child welfare, behavioral health, education, and early childhood education with information on best practices to improve family engagement in their respective fields and across disciplines.

**Youth Who Identify as LGBTQI2-S**

**Family Acceptance Project**The Family Acceptance Project (FAP) is a community research, intervention, and education initiative to study the impact of family acceptance and rejection on the health, mental health, and well-being of youth who are LGBT. The project’s results are the basis for resources to help families provide support for youth who are LGBT. In addition, FAP is developing appropriate interventions, programs and policies; and will train providers to improve the quality of services and care that youth who are LGBT receive.

**getR.E.A.L**The getR.E.A.L (Recognize. Engage. Affirm. Love) initiative of the Center for the Study of Social Policy is designed to help transform child welfare policy and practice to promote the healthy development of all children and youth. It focuses on sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (along with race, ethnicity, and disability) are part of the identity formation that occurs in adolescence. The getR.E.A.L name was crafted as a challenge to public systems working with children. It also provides lessons, implications, and a process for parents, caregivers, and all system-involved youth. The acronym is directed at all these stakeholders—and many others—as a means of meeting the initiative’s primary goal to improve the healthy sexual and identity development of all children and youth in child welfare systems.

***A Practitioner's Resource Guide: Helping Families to Support Their LGBT Children*(PDF, 18 pages)**This resource from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offers information and resources to help practitioners throughout health and social service systems implement best practices in engaging and helping families and caregivers to support their LGBT children.

**Webinar: *Family Intervention Models for Homeless and At-Risk Youth***This archived webinar from the National Alliance to End Homelessness discusses two effective family intervention models implemented by youth providers, including one model that facilitates family reconnection for LGBT youth, many of whom become homeless as a result of their families rejecting them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

**Youth With an Incarcerated Parent**

**A Toolkit for Working with Children of Incarcerated Parents**This web-based training toolkit from the Children’s Bureau provides practitioners with the skills required to respond to the needs of children whose parents are in prison or have a history of incarceration.

***Best Practices Toolkit: Family Involvement During Incarceration and Reentry* (PDF, 12 pages)**This Toolkit aims to systematically identify empirical evidence regarding strategies, programs, and practices geared toward involving offenders’ families during incarceration and reentry. It highlights practices and program strategies that are proven, promising or exemplary best practices and provides references for more extensive reading. The toolkit is published by the Institute for Excellence in Justice, a collaborative partnership between the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Institute on Correctional Best Practices and the Ohio State University’s Criminal Justice Research Center.

**Children of Incarcerated Parents: Services and Supports for Children and Families**This section of a larger article about children of incarcerated parents discusses the importance for communities to create a coordinated system of supports for children of prisoners and their incarcerated parents and provides resources for addressing engagement. The full article and subsection are from the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs.

***Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry* (PDF, 28 pages)**This Coaching Packet is one in a series designed to assist jurisdictions in the implementation of effective practices that will support successful offender outcomes. The series was developed for the FY 2007 Prisoner Reentry Initiative Grant Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance and administered by the Center for Effective Public Policy.

**Family Resource Center**The Family Resource Center was created by the Osborne Association in 2001 to respond to the needs of families and friends an incarcerated loved one. The center provides support and assistance to help people cope with traumatic changes, including negotiating the intricacies of the criminal justice system, maintaining contact with an incarcerated person, and addressing the challenges that occur during the period of reentry.

**FamilyWorks Program**The FamilyWorks Program utilizes a strengths-based, family-focused approach to enable incarcerated parents to make, mend, and maintain relationships with their children. The program is administrated by the Osborne Association and operates in eight New York State prisons.

**Little Children Big Challenges: Incarceration**This bilingual (English/Spanish) initiative from Sesame Workshop was designed to support, comfort, and reduce anxiety, sadness, and confusion that young children may experience during the incarceration of a parent; provide at-home caregivers with strategies, tips, and age-appropriate language they can use to help communicate with their children about incarceration; and inform incarcerated parents that they can parent from anywhere, and provide them with simple parenting tips highlighting the importance of communication.

***Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents* (PDF, 63 pages)**This report summarizes the research and stakeholder input from the Listening Session on Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents held by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office Of Juvenile Justice And Delinquency Prevention and the White House Domestic Policy Council And Office Of Public Engagement in September 2013 in Washington, D.C.

***When a Parent Is Incarcerated***Developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and featured on the Children's Bureau's website, this guide provides information to public child welfare agencies and caseworkers on working with incarcerated parents and their children. Goals of the guide include familiarizing child welfare professionals with the impact of incarceration and providing information to child welfare and correctional systems to help improve permanency outcomes for children.

**Youth With Disabilities**

***Family Engagement and Children with Disabilities: A Resource Guide for Educators and Parents***This guide from the *Harvard Family Research Project* helps parents and special educators establish a comfortable and effective partnership in service of promoting successful outcomes for children with disabilities. The guide highlights research reports, journal articles, examples of best practices, and tools that suggest methods for developing productive collaborations so that educators and families can, together, ensure better services for children in their care.

**Family Rights, Privacy, Procedural Safeguards and Complaint Resolution under IDEA**This online section of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs’ Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center describes the procedural safeguards required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that art intended to protect the interests of families and children with special needs, as well as the special education and early intervention systems.

**The Short-and-Sweet IEP Overview**An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a written statement of an educational program designed to meet a child’s individual needs. Every child who receives special education services must have an IEP. This web page — developed by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs’ Center for Parent Information and Resources — provides an overview for educators, administrators, and families on the process of developing this vital document.

## Other Resources on this Topic

### Announcements 

                          - 2022 National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW)
                          - 2023/2024 Prevention Resource Guide
                          - Archived Webinar: Innovative Practices to Promote Reunification
                          - Archived Webinar: Leveraging Partnerships in Planning/Hosting a Communities Talk Event
                          - Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Expands School Safety Programs and Funding
                          - Brief: Discriminatory Transgender Health Bills Have Critical Consequences for Youth
                          - Building Staff Co-Regulation to Support Healthy Relationships in Youth: A Guide for Practitioners
                          - Bullying Prevention Awareness Month
                          - Children’s Bureau Express Survey
                          - Department of Justice Awards Nearly $105 Million to Protect Children from Exploitation, Trauma, and Abuse
                          - Disrupting Stigma: How Understanding, Empathy, and Connection Can Improve Outcomes for Families Affected by Substance Use and Mental Disorders
                          - Event: National Conference on Juvenile Justice
                          - First Annual National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day
                          - Healthy and Safe Swimming Week is May 23-29, 2022
                          - HHS Awards $256.6 Million for Equitable and Affordable Title X Family Planning Services Nationwide
                          - June is Internet Safety Month
                          - Justice Department Announces $21.72 Million to Reduce Sexual and Domestic Violence on Campus, Support Children and Youth, and Engage Men and Boys as Allies
                          - National Adoption Month 2022
                          - National Adoption Month 2022
                          - National Crime Victims’ Rights (NCVRW) Week
                          - National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims
                          - Novavax Approved by CDC as an Additional COVID-19 Vaccine for Adolescents
                          - Observance: 2023 National Adoption Month
                          - Observance: 2023 National Veterans and Military Families Month
                          - OJJDP Seeking Nominations for National Missing Children’s Day Awards
                          - Permanency for Youth on Their Own Terms
                          - Redesigned National Adoption Month Website
                          - Report: A Guide to Effective Collaborations with Community-Based Organizations to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness
                          - Report: Building Co-Regulation Capacity to Support Positive Development for Youth with Foster Care Experience
                          - Report: Lessons from a Historic Decline in Child Poverty
                          - Report: School Health Profiles
                          - Report: Supporting Tribal Youth Attendance Achievement
                          - Report: Take Action for Adolescents: A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being
                          - Report: The Condition of Education 2023
                          - Report: The State of Family-School Partnerships: Findings from a Survey of Public-School Parents
                          - Reproductive Rights Task Force
                          - Resource: 2022 Adoption Month Outreach Toolkit
                          - Resource: 2023 Red Ribbon Rally
                          - Resource: 9/11 Service Day Public Service Announcement
                          - Resource: A Handbook for Military Families: Helping You with Child Support
                          - Resource: A Look Inside Sharing Power in Child Welfare: A Podcast
                          - Resource: A Starter Kit on Engaging People with Lived Experience in Child Support Programs
                          - Resource: Addressing the Long-Term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families
                          - Resource: Addressing Trauma and Mass Violence
                          - Resource: Advances in Supporting Kinship Caregivers – Part 3
                          - Resource: Advances in Supporting Kinship Caregivers — Part 5  Agencies and departments: Department of Health and Human Ser
                          - Resource: Advances in Supporting Kinship Caregivers Podcast Series
                          - Resource: AFFIRM Caregiver: Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Caregivers of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning (LGBTQ+) Populations
                          - Resource: Affirming and Supporting LGBTQ Children and Youth in Child Welfare
                          - Resource: All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
                          - Resource: AMBER Advocate – Issue 4, 2022
                          - Resource: AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program Fact Sheet
                          - Resource: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Heritage Month Fun Facts
                          - Resource: Astronomy & Astrophysics for the Classroom
                          - Resource: Back to School Checklist for Parents
                          - Resource: Back to School Resources for Success
                          - Resource: Barriers to Authentic Youth Engagement in Permanency Planning
                          - Resource: Behavioral Health Beneficiary Survey
                          - Resource: Beyond the ACE Score: Perspectives on Child Trauma and Adversity Screening and Impact
                          - Resource: Blue Campaign College and University Toolkit on Human Trafficking
                          - Resource: Broadband Access Landscape
                          - Resource: Building Educator Pipelines Through Service 
                          - Resource: Building Multi-Disciplinary Core Planning Teams
                          - Resource: Building Partnerships with Organizations
                          - Resource: Bullying Prevention for Parents of Middle School Students
                          - Resource: CFSR Round 4 Planning and Implementation Tools
                          - Resource: Change and Implementation in Practice: Teaming Worksheets
                          - Resource: Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) Webpage
                          - Resource: Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) Webpage
                          - Resource: Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice System Involvement
                          - Resource: Children In Disasters Emergency Kit Checklists
                          - Resource: Children on the Autism Spectrum: Search Protocols and Questionnaire for First Responders
                          - Resource: Choose AmeriCorps Public Service Announcement
                          - Resource: Co-Regulation in Human Services
                          - Resource: Co-Regulation in Practice Series -- Strategies for Practitioners Who Serve Youth Aged 14-24
                          - Resource: Co-regulation: What It Is and Why it Matters Video
                          - Resource: Common Problems, Common Solutions: Looking Across Sectors at Strategies for Supporting Rural Youth and Families Tool-Kit
                          - Resource: Communities Talk to Prevent Underage Drinking: Success Stories
                          - Resource: Community Violence Intervention: The Chicago Story
                          - Resource: Connecting Conversations
                          - Resource: Court Improvement Programs: Collaboration Between Child Welfare Agencies and Legal and Judicial Communities
                          - Resource: Cultural Responsiveness Overview
                          - Resource: Culturally Responsive Pathways to Peer Programming in Tribal Communities
                          - Resource: Dear Colleague Letter on Addressing the Impacts of Parent and Caregiver Loss on Children
                          - Resource: Defining Child Exposure to Domestic Violence: Lessons From a Historical Review of the Literature
                          - Resource: Department of Defense School Liaison Program
                          - Resource: Department of Justice Awards Nearly $105 Million To Protect Children From Exploitation, Trauma and Abuse
                          - Resource: Determining Youth and Young Adult Eligibility for Services: Grantee Tools and Processes
                          - Resource: Determining Youth and Young Adult Eligibility for Services: Grantee Tools and Processes
                          - Resource: Developing a Graduate Mental Health Internship Program
                          - Resource: Direct Service Providers for Children and Families - Information for Home Visitors
                          - Resource: Distracted Driving
                          - Resource: Diversity & Inclusion Activities Under Title VI Fact Sheet
                          - Resource: Diversity, Racial Equity, and Inclusion in Child Welfare: Our Shared Vocabulary 
                          - Resource: Domestic Violence, Child Welfare, and the School System
                          - Resource: Encouraging Families to Visit a Literacy Website: A Randomized Study of the Impact of Email and Text Message Communications
                          - Resource: Encouraging In-kind Contributions for Communities Talk Activities
                          - Resource: Engaging People with Lived Experience: Resources from Division X Technical Assistance
                          - Resource: Engaging Survivors of Human Trafficking
                          - Resource: Engaging Youth and Young Adults in Community-Based Strategies to Improve Health Literacy
                          - Resource: English Learner Family Toolkit
                          - Resource: Essentials for Parenting Teens
                          - Resource: Establish an Emergency Action Plan
                          - Resource: Establishing Rules – Tips for Talking to Your Child about Appropriate Digital Behavior and Content
                          - Resource: Extended BMI-for-Age Growth Charts
                          - Resource: Families and Caregivers as Partners in School Emergency Management
                          - Resource: Family-Based Justice Center
                          - Resource: Family-Based Justice Center
                          - Resource: Federal Funding to Support LGBTQIA2S+ Children, Youth, Young Adults, and Families
                          - Resource: Flu Vaccine Social Media Toolkit
                          - Resource: Fostering Financial Empowerment for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities
                          - Resource: From Complaint to Resolution: Understanding the Child Welfare Grievance Process
                          - Resource: From Crisis to Care: Building from 988 and Beyond for Better Mental Health Outcomes
                          - Resource: Future Self Tool
                          - Resource: Gathering and Using Family Input to Improve Child Support and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Services: Approaches from the Human Services Field
                          - Resource: Getting Ahead of a Problem
                          - Resource: Going to a Public Disaster Shelter During the COVID-19 Pandemic
                          - Resource: Guidance for Immigrant and Refugee Families: Parenting in a New Country
                          - Resource: Guidance for Immigrant and Refugee Families: The Child Welfare System
                          - Resource: Guides for How to Incorporate Coregulation with Older Youth in Foster Care
                          - Resource: Having the Normalcy Conversation
                          - Resource: Health-Care Coverage for Children and Youth in Foster Care—and After
                          - Resource: Helping Victims of Mass Violence & Terrorism: Planning, Response, Recovery, and Resources
                          - Resource: Housing Services
                          - Resource: How Schools Can Combat Human Trafficking in Partnership With People With Lived Experience
                          - Resource: How to Help Children and Teens Manage Their Stress
                          - Resource: How to Talk About Bullying
                          - Resource: Human Trafficking Implications for Adolescent Health Outcomes Tip Sheet
                          - Resource: Improving Mental, Behavioral and Academic Supports to Students and Families
                          - Resource: In-Home Services to Strengthen Children and Families
                          - Resource: Infographics on Trauma-Informed Advocacy for Survivors of Human Trafficking at Points of Contact
                          - Resource: Integrating Effective Practices to Identify Youth Victims of Human Trafficking
                          - Resource: Intergenerational Engagement
                          - Resource: Intra-Agency Task Force on Reproductive Health
                          - Resource: It’s All Relative: Supporting Kinship Care Discussion Guides and Video Series
                          - Resource: Judicial Leadership for Community-Based Alternatives to Juvenile Secure Confinement
                          - Resource: Key Considerations for Applying an Equity Lens to Collaborative Practice
                          - Resource: Key Topics for Families
                          - Resource: Letter to State Directors of Special Education on Ensuring a High-Quality Education for Highly Mobile Children
                          - Resource: LGBTQ+ Youth Engagement Virtually and In-Person
                          - Resource: LGBTQIA2S+ Youth Experiencing Homelessness
                          - Resource: Maltreatment in Foster Care
                          - Resource: Mapping Community Resources
                          - Resource: Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for LGBTQIA2S+ Youth
                          - Resource: Monkeypox Guidance
                          - Resource: Move Your Way Campaign
                          - Resource: Multilingual Learner Toolkits: Find What Works for You
                          - Resource: National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide
                          - Resource: National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS) Aligned Programs in all 50 States
                          - Resource: National School Breakfast Program
                          - Resource: National School Lunch Program
                          - Resource: National Teen Driver Safety Week Materials
                          - Resource: National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC)
                          - Resource: National Veterans and Military Families Month Fact Sheet
                          - Resource: National Veterans and Military Families Month Toolkit
                          - Resource: One Pill Can Kill Campaign
                          - Resource: Our Goals, Our Lives Video Series
                          - Resource: Parent Engagement
                          - Resource: Parent Partner Program Navigator
                          - Resource: Parenting Your Adopted Teenager
                          - Resource: Partnering With Parents for System Change
                          - Resource: Permanency Planning with Youth
                          - Resource: Placement Stability
                          - Resource: Planning Tool for Youth Engagement
                          - Resource: Prescription for Disaster: How Teens Misuse Medicine
                          - Resource: Prevent Unsafe Drinking on Campus
                          - Resource: Preventing ACEs Training Module for Educators
                          - Resource: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Online Training for Faith, Spiritual, and Religious Communities
                          - Resource: Preventing Childhood Adversity Through Economic Support and Social Norm Strategies
                          - Resource: Preventing Youth Hate Crimes & Identity-Based Bullying Fact Sheet
                          - Resource: Prevention Matters Multimedia Gallery
                          - Resource: Prevention Profiles: Take Five - Jeff Coady, Psy.D.
                          - Resource: Prioritizing Youth Voice: The Importance of Authentic Youth Engagement in Case Planning
                          - Resource: Private Schools: Emergency Management Planning for All Settings
                          - Resource: Probation Reform: A Toolkit for State Advisory Groups (SAGs)
                          - Resource: Productive Partnerships with Youth and Families: Commitment to Lived Expertise
                          - Resource: Racial Equity Reflection Videos
                          - Resource: Raise the Bar: Resources for Parents and Families
                          - Resource: Recovery Planning for Schools and Institutions of Higher Education in the Immediate Aftermath of a Significant or Federally Declared Natural Disaster 
                          - Resource: Recruiting and Supporting Resource Families in Tribal Communities
                          - Resource: Recurrence of Maltreatment
                          - Resource: Recursos en Español
                          - Resource: Red Ribbon Patch Program
                          - Resource: Reducing Homelessness Among Young People Transitioning from Foster Care
                          - Resource: Reducing Homelessness Among Young People Transitioning from Foster Care
                          - Resource: Reentry Matters: Voices of Experience
                          - Resource: Reentry to Foster Care
                          - Resource: Reflections – Stories of Foster Care
                          - Resource: Relationships as a Support for Reunification
                          - Resource: Relationships First: Creating Connections that Help Young People Thrive
                          - Resource: Responding to Human Trafficking Through the Child Welfare System Training
                          - Resource: Responding to Types of Child Abuse or Neglect
                          - Resource: Reunification
                          - Resource: SAFE Family Support Locator
                          - Resource: SAMHSA's National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification (Spanish Version)
                          - Resource: SchoolSafety.com Communications Center
                          - Resource: Screening and Assessment Tools
                          - Resource: Secure Our World
                          - Resource: September 2022 Spotlight on Kinship Care
                          - Resource: Service and Advocacy Organization Leaders Share Insights for an Applied Research Agenda on Black Children and Families
                          - Resource: Services to Support Children Living in Kinship and Nonrelative Foster Care 2008-2009
                          - Resource: Social Influencers of Health and Education Needs Assessment: A Pathway for School Health and Mental Health Professionals
                          - Resource: Social-Emotional Learning and Mental Health Toolkit: Support for Systems and Programs
                          - Resource: Stability of Mental Disorder Prevalence Estimates Among School-aged Children and Adolescents: Findings from the Community-based Project to Learn about Youth
                          - Resource: Standing Together to Prevent Bullying
                          - Resource: State Kinship Care Contacts and Programs
                          - Resource: State Survey Analysis
                          - Resource: Stop Bullying on the Spot
                          - Resource: Stop Overdose
                          - Resource: Strategic Planning in Child Welfare: Agency Process Alignment Toolkit
                          - Resource: Strategies for Involving Parents in School Health
                          - Resource: Strategies to Help Parents and Families Create Healthy and Supportive School Environments
                          - Resource: Strengthening Kinship Care and Prioritizing Equitable Support for Kinship Caregivers
                          - Resource: Study of State Policies to Prohibit Aiding and Abetting Sexual Misconduct in Schools
                          - Resource: Suicide Prevention Resource for Action
                          - Resource: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
                          - Resource: Supporting Families with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
                          - Resource: Supporting the Health and Well-Being of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth
                          - Resource: Thanksgiving Day Fun Facts
                          - Resource: Thanksgiving Impaired Driving Prevention
                          - Resource: The AMBER Advocate, Issue 3, 2022
                          - Resource: The Impact of COVID-19 on College and University Students Who Self-Injure: Risks and Strategies for Mitigation
                          - Resource: The National Partnership for Student Success
                          - Resource: The Power of Partnerships: What Fatherhood Programs Can Learn from Child Welfare
                          - Resource: Tip Sheets on Everyday Parenting Topics
                          - Resource: Tourette Syndrome Education & Training
                          - Resource: Transition to Adulthood & Independent Living Outreach Toolkit
                          - Resource: Transporting Students Experiencing Homelessness
                          - Resource: Trauma-Informed Practice Strategies (TIPS) for Supporting Caregivers of Native Youth in Out-of-Home Care
                          - Resource: Tribal Customary Adoption
                          - Resource: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health
                          - Resource: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection
                          - Resource: Use of Data in Child and Family Services Reviews
                          - Resource: Using the Summer and Afterschool Needs Assessment to Drive Program Quality: A Companion Guide
                          - Resource: Vaping Prevention and Education: Resources for Talking with Students
                          - Resource: Voices of Youth
                          - Resource: What Does an Effective Support System Look Like?
                          - Resource: What Works Fact Sheet: Violence Prevention
                          - Resource: Why Some Youth Bully
                          - Resource: Working Virtually With Families of LGBTQ+ Youth.
                          - Resource: Working with Immigrant and Refugee Families: A Guide for Child Welfare Agencies
                          - Resource: Working with Immigrant and Refugee Families: A Guide for Child Welfare Caseworkers
                          - Resource: Youth Advisory Councils
                          - Resource: Youth Human Trafficking Scenario Animated Series
                          - Resource: Youth Justice Action Month (YJAM) Toolkit
                          - Resource: Youth Justice Action Month: A Message from John Legend
                          - Resource: Youth Mental Health Report
                          - Resource: Youth Voices
                          - Resource: Youth Voices
                          - Resources for American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN)
                          - Second Chance Month: April 2023
                          - Social Media Campaign: Teen Tuesdays
                          - Social Media Toolkit: National Reunification Month 2022
                          - Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: A Guide for Foster Parents
                          - Toolkit: National Foster Care Month 2022 Outreach
                          - Toolkit: Preventing Mass Attacks, Saving Lives
                          - U.S. Department of Education Creates National Parents and Families Engagement Council to Help Ensure Pandemic Recovery Efforts Meet Students’ Needs
                          - U.S. Department of Education Disperses Funds to Support Parents of Children with Disabilities
                          - Virtual Training: Preventing Mass Attacks in Our Communities
                          - Webinar Archive: Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Meeting
                          - Webinar Recording: Building Parent Leadership and Power to Support Faster, Lasting Reunification and Prevent System Involvement
                          - Webinar Recording: Elevating the Leadership of Students and Families with Lived Expertise
                          - Webinar Recording: Empowering Youth Finding Points of Connection
                          - Webinar Recording: Enhancing Professional Competencies for Preventing Drug and Alcohol Misuse Among College Students: Strategic Planning
                          - Webinar Recording: Providing Emergency Preparedness Supports for Students Experiencing Homelessness
                          - Webinar Recording: Public Health and STEM with the CDC
                          - Webinar Recording: Social Science Research and the Mental Health Crisis in Minority Youths and Adolescents
                          - Webinar Series: Community of Practice with Healthy Native Youth Part 2
                          - Webinar Series: Rooting Young Adult Mental Health Services in Culturally Sustaining Values & Practices
                          - Webinar Series: Supporting Gender Diverse Indigenous Youth
                          - Webinar: College Planning Made Easy
                          - Webinar: Evidence Innovation: How AmeriCorps Investments are Addressing the Opioid Crisis
                          - Webinar: Participatory Systems Change for Equity: Centering Community Wisdom and Collective Action to Transform Child-, Youth-, and Family-Serving Systems
                          - Working With LGBTQ+ Families in Foster Care and Adoption
                          - Youth Partnership: A Call to Action for State Advisory Groups (SAGs)
                          - Youth Voices Have Moved to YE4C

### Briefs 

                          - Strategic Planning in Child Welfare: Strategies for Meaningful Youth, Family, and Other Partner Engagement

### Collaboration Profiles 

                          - Program Components
                          - Promising Practices/Accomplishments
                          - Y2CONNECT.org

### Data Sources 

                          - 2011-2021 YRBS Data Summary and Trends Report

### Feature Articles 

                          - Healthy Youth Development through Self-Regulation and Co-Regulation
                          - Just Launched! Redesigned YE4C
                          - Resources to Support Youth Who Have Lost a Caregiver

### Programs 

                          - John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood

### Resources 

                          - Webinar Recording: Helping the LGBTQIA+ Community Before Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation Considerations
                          - Youth Advisory Councils

### Youth Topics 

                          - Family Engagement

## Youth Briefs

How Individualized Education Program (IEP) Transition Planning Makes a Difference for Youth with Disabilities
Youth who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) and especially young adults of transition age, should be involved in planning for life after high school as early as possible and no later than age 16. Transition services should stem from the individual youth’s needs and strengths, ensuring that planning takes into account his or her interests, preferences, and desires for the future.

Youth Transitioning to Adulthood: How Holding Early Leadership Positions Can Make a Difference
Research links early leadership with increased self-efficacy and suggests that leadership can help youth to develop decision making and interpersonal skills that support successes in the workforce and adulthood. In addition, young leaders tend to be more involved in their communities, and have lower dropout rates than their peers. Youth leaders also show considerable benefits for their communities, providing valuable insight into the needs and interests of young people

How Trained Service Professionals and Self-Advocacy Makes a Difference for Youth with Mental Health, Substance Abuse, or Co-occurring Issues
Statistics reflecting the number of youth suffering from mental health, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders highlight the necessity for schools, families, support staff, and communities to work together to develop targeted, coordinated, and comprehensive transition plans for young people with a history of mental health needs and/or substance abuse.

Young Adults Formerly in Foster Care: Challenges and Solutions
Nearly 30,000 youth aged out of foster care in Fiscal Year 2009, which represents nine percent of the young people involved in the foster care system that year. This transition can be challenging for youth, especially youth who have grown up in the child welfare system.

Coordinating Systems to Support Transition Age Youth with Mental Health Needs
Research has demonstrated that as many as one in five children/youth have a diagnosable mental health disorder. Read about how coordination between public service agencies can improve treatment for these youth.

Civic Engagement Strategies for Transition Age Youth
Civic engagement has the potential to empower young adults, increase their self-determination, and give them the skills and self-confidence they need to enter the workforce. Read about one youth’s experience in AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC).

## Main navigation

- Family Engagement
- Service Level: Engaging Families as Partners in Decision-Making
- System Level: Engaging Families as Partners in System Improvement
- Impact of Family Engagement
- Components
- Policies
- Strategies
- Special Populations
- References

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## Latest Resources

### Announcements

Webinar: College Planning Made Easy

Event: National Conference on Juvenile Justice

Resource: Change and Implementation in Practice: Teaming Worksheets

### Briefs

Strategic Planning in Child Welfare: Strategies for Meaningful Youth, Family, and Other Partner Engagement

Strategic Planning in Child Welfare: Strategies for Meaningful Youth, Family, and Other Partner Engagement

### Collaboration Profiles

Promising Practices/Accomplishments

Program Components

Y2CONNECT.org

### Data Sources

2011-2021 YRBS Data Summary and Trends Report

2011-2021 YRBS Data Summary and Trends Report

2011-2021 YRBS Data Summary and Trends Report

### Feature Articles

Healthy Youth Development through Self-Regulation and Co-Regulation

Resources to Support Youth Who Have Lost a Caregiver

Just Launched! Redesigned YE4C

### Resources

Webinar Recording: Helping the LGBTQIA+ Community Before Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation Considerations

Youth Advisory Councils

Webinar Recording: Helping the LGBTQIA+ Community Before Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation Considerations

### Youth Topics

Family Engagement