Did you know that nearly 3 in 10 girls in the United States get pregnant by age 20? Although the national rates for teen births and pregnancies are down by about a third since the 1990s, the U.S. still has the highest rates in the industrialized world. To assist state policymakers PolicyforResults.org has been expanded by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, in partnership with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The site now offers policymakers strategies to reduce teen and unplanned pregnancies in their states and includes data, research, state examples, links to materials, and recommendations for policy options that have demonstrated results.

This is a discussion paper jointly authored by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) and PolicyLink. It describes how a focus on results would contribute to the Promise Neighborhoods Initiative, from the planning, design, startup activities and program implementation through the evaluation of the individual sites.

This was produced by Child Trends and is a companion piece to the Focusing on Results paper. It is a synthesis of research about the factors contributing to children’s healthy development, academic success, and college graduation. It also contains a literature review and a list of references that supports the research.

This newly released report is based on a case review of child abuse and neglect investigations completed during the period of September 21 to October 16, 2009. The review was conducted by the Court appointed Monitor for LaShawn A. v Fenty, with assistance from the District Child and Family Service Agency (CFSA). The record review found that important improvements have been made in investigations practice since similar reviews conducted by the Monitor in 2006 and 2007.