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Crosswalk: Youth Thrive & Healing Centered Engagement

May 2021

This resource is for those who work with and support young people and are interested in exploring how to apply healing centered engagement and build the Protective and Promotive Factors with young people to help them heal and thrive. This resource draws upon and applies Dr. Shawn Ginwright’s concept of healing centered engagement to youth serving systems.

(14 pp)

Crosswalk: Youth Thrive and Healing Centered Engagement thumbnail.
Report

Implementing System Wide Policy and Practice Improvements to Support LGBTQ+ Youth

May 2021

This report describes the processes and outcomes associated with implementing Guidelines for Managing Information Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression and Identity in Child Welfare Systems in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The Guidelines outline ways in which child welfare jurisdictions can implement system wide innovations to better serve LGBTQ+ youth and their families.

(44 pp)

Tags: LGBTQ+, Youth, getREAL
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Report

Welcoming, Affirming, Supporting: Child Welfare Systems Must Honor the WHOLE Child

May 2021

This report summarizes the lessons learned and resources from six years of work with the getREAL initiative. Understanding and acting on these lessons can help changemakers to create a welcoming and affirming child welfare system to support these youth and their families. We detail critical components to supporting system change and provide an extensive list of resources from the getREAL initiative and our partners in the field.

(20 pp)

Brief

The Opportunity is Now: Five Ways to Better Serve Adolescents and Young Adults through the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)

May 2021

This brief highlights opportunities within the Families First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) for states to build a prevention continuum that includes a focus on healthy adolescent development and that recognizes and helps rectify disparate opportunities and outcomes for Black, Latinx/e, and Native American youth, and youth who identify as LGBTQ+.

(7 pp)

Report

What We Owe Young Children: An Anti-Racist Policy Platform for Early Childhood

December 2020

Early childhood is a crucial period of growth and learning that can influence children’s opportunities well into adulthood and can shape the future of families and communities. This new resource urges policymakers to enact policies that root out systemic racism and ensure all children can have a happy and healthy start to life.

In addition, read our one-pager, Principles for Anti-Racist Policymaking.

(30 pp)

Video

upENDing the Child Welfare System: the Road to Abolition Day 2

October 2020

The inaugural convening of the newly launched upEND Movement took place over two days and featured organizers, activists, scholars, and community leaders discussing abolition theory and innovative ways to create a society in which the forcible separation of children from their families is no longer an acceptable solution for families in need.

Watch Day 1 here.

Video

upENDing the Child Welfare System: the Road to Abolition Day 1

October 2020

The inaugural convening of the newly launched upEND Movement took place over two days and featured organizers, activists, scholars, and community leaders discussing abolition theory and innovative ways to create a society in which the forcible separation of children from their families is no longer an acceptable solution for families in need.

Watch Day 2 here.

Video

Supporting Permanency for LGBTQ+ and Gender Expansive Youth

October 2020

This session is one of six in the CASCW Fall Webinar Series "Supporting Permanency and Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care." Presented by Vida K. Khavar, MA, LMFT, getREAL Project Director and Bill Bettencourt, Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Social Policy.

Brief

Advancing Healthy Outcomes: Eight Ways to Promote the Health and Well-Being of LGBTQ+ Youth Involved with Child Welfare through FFPSA

August 2019

This brief outlines how child welfare systems can implement these eight strategies to address existing disproportionalities and disparities for LGBTQ+ children, youth, and families, promote optimal well-being, and recognize and affirm the multidimensional identities of youth and families including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and immigration status.

Report

Progress Towards Building an Affirming and Supportive Child Welfare System: getREAL in Allegheny County

April 2019

This report details an Institutional Analysis conducted by CSSP in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, PA) and examines institutional changes that have occurred on the county's journey to better support LGBTQ+ children in care. The IA also captured some of the current experiences of LGBTQ+ children, youth, and families who interact with the child welfare system since the implementation of getREAL.

(12 pp)