Through a novel integration of child welfare data, policy analysis, and evidence-informed youth permanency practice, the essays in this volume show how to achieve and sustain family permanence for older children and youth in foster care. Researchers examine what is known about permanency outcomes for youth in foster care, how the existing knowledge base can be applied to improve these outcomes, and the directions that future research should take to strengthen youth permanence practice and policy. Part 1 examines child welfare data concerning reunification, adoption, and relative custody and guardianship and the implications for practice and policy. Part 2 addresses law, regulation, court reform, and resource allocation as vital components in achieving and sustaining family permanence. Contributors examine the impact of policy change created by court reform and propose new federal and state policy directions. Part 3 outlines a range of practices designed to achieve family permanence for youth in foster care: preserving families through community-based services, reunification, adoption, and custody and guardianship arrangements with relatives. As growing numbers of youth continue to "age out" of foster care without permanent families, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have increasingly focused on developing evidence-informed policies, practices, services and supports to improve outcomes for youth. Edited by leading professionals in the field, this text recommends the most relevant and effective methods for improving family permanency outcomes for older youth in foster care.

Adolescenceâ€"beginning with the onset of puberty and ending in the mid-20sâ€"is a critical period of development during which key areas of the brain mature and develop. These changes in brain structure, function, and connectivity mark adolescence as a period of opportunity to discover new vistas, to form relationships with peers and adults, and to explore one's developing identity. It is also a period of resilience that can ameliorate childhood setbacks and set the stage for a thriving trajectory over the life course. Because adolescents comprise nearly one-fourth of the entire U.S. population, the nation needs policies and practices that will better leverage these developmental opportunities to harness the promise of adolescenceâ€"rather than focusing myopically on containing its risks. This report examines the neurobiological and socio-behavioral science of adolescent development and outlines how this knowledge can be applied, both to promote adolescent well-being, resilience, and development, and to rectify structural barriers and inequalities in opportunity, enabling all adolescents to flourish.

Stories of Hope & Healing for Children, Youth and Families WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY: Celia Anthony, Kristie Esquivel, Laura Hutchinson, Lacy Kendrick, Garry Krentz, Angela Look, Tammy Lundgren, Lynn Radcliff Macadangdang, Gregory Manning, Tina Moore, Marta Smith, Carol Steffen, Lorraine Viade, Stephanie Wolfe Contents: Chapter 1: A Beginning I Want to Tell a Story New Hampshire Delaware Pennsylvania California Endings are Beginnings Chapter 2: The Hope for Belongingness: Actualizing a Vision for Permanency using the 3-5-7 Model The 3-5-7 Model Practicing the 3-5-7 Model Life Books and Life Line/Loss Line Thoughts and Observations about the Work The Heart of the Work Notes Suggested Readings Chapter 3: A Personal Story of Clarification, Integration and Actualization by Stephanie Wolfe Chapter 4: A Mult-Agency Team Approach: A Case Study Illustration by Gregory Manning Chapter 5: Applications of the 3-5-7 Model: Pilot Project with W.R.A.P. Providers in Los Angeles County by Lorraine Viade Chapter 6: Stories of Working Through Grief & Building Relationships by Laura Hutchinson Chapter 7: Lifebooks and Adolescents by Lynn Radcliff Macadangdang and Marta Smith Chapter 8: Play Therapy and the 3-5-7 Model by Tina Moore Chapter 9: New Morning Grief Camp and the 3-5-7 Model by Carol Steffeb and Tammy Lundgren Chapter 10: Kern County, California: A Pilot Project to Implement the 3-5-7 Model by Kristie Esquivel and Angela Look Chapter 11: My Personal Mission: A Safe Place for Every Child to Call Home, A Resource Parent's Experience by Garry Krentz Chapter 12: A Common Language of Loss and Grief by Celia Anthony Chapter 13: Finally Getting Adopted by Lacy Kendrick

Written in an accessible Q&A format, here, finally, is the go-to resource for parents hoping to understand and communicate with their gay child. Through their LGBTQ-oriented site, the authors are uniquely experienced to answer parents' many questions and share insight and guidance on both emotional and practical topics. Filled with real-life experiences from gay kids and parents, this is the book gay kids want their parents to read.

Originally published: Indianapolis, IN: Perspectives Press, 1991.