Partner Research and Reports

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School Stability for California's Youth in Foster Care: A Review of Laws and Promising Local Practices

School Stability for California's Youth in Foster Care: A Review of Laws and Promising Local Practices

This review of available plans, policies, and data is undertaken to highlight agencies that are creating brightspot policies and practices to improve school stability and transportation for youth in foster care to their school of origin, and support those counties still striving to come into compliance with the federal and state requirements around school stability

This brief was funded in part by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and The Reissa Foundation.

Effects of Attorney Funding on Representation Quality for Children and Parents


Read the Full Assessment	Read the Executive Summary

ABA Center for Children and the Law, with Support from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation

This assessment looks at the impact of funding changes on quality legal representation in California child welfare cases between 2014-2018. It shares three key findings states and counties can look to when evaluating options for investing in high-quality legal representation. It also recommends how policymakers can improve child and family outcomes by investing in high-quality representation.

National Court Partners' Resources for Promoting Permanency During COVID-19 and Beyond

National Court Partners' Resources for Promoting Permanency During COVID-19 and Beyond

Casey Family Programs

Families, child welfare agencies and courts alike have raised concerns about children and youth who were scheduled to have permanency hearings and placement decisions during the COVID-19 timeframes and beyond. During the “stay in place” orders, some courts are identifying innovative and creative solutions to continue down the path of permanency for children involved in dependency court. This resource highlights some of the content that national court partners have rapidly developed to support Judges and court staff in undertaking the new reality of virtual hearings. Additionally, it highlights federal announcements to support technology needs and barriers that may exist.

Transforming Child Welfare Systems: What do we know about the impact of homelessness and housing instability on child welfare-involved families?

Transforming Child Welfare Systems: What do we know about the impact of homelessness and housing instability on child welfare-involved families?

Casey Family Programs

This evidence brief discusses the impact of housing instability on families in the child welfare system. Homeless children that come into contact with the child welfare system are about 34 times more likely to be placed in an out-of-home placement than children who have not experienced homelessness, and they have higher rates of child welfare involvement.

How does high-quality legal representation for parents support better outcomes?

How does high-quality legal representation for parents support better outcomes?

Casey Family Programs Strategy Brief

Quality legal representation in court is an essential safeguard to ensure that
pertinent information is conveyed to the court, all parties’ legal rights are well
protected, and the wishes and needs of all parties are effectively voiced.
In turn, this helps judges make the best, most informed decisions possible
in every case. In December 2018, the Children’s Bureau revised its Child Welfare Policy Manual to permit Title IV-E agencies to claim administrative costs for attorneys to provide legal representation for children and their parents. This strategy brief explores research on the effect on outcomes of high-quality representation for parents.

Working across Borders: Effective Permanency Practices at the Intersection of Child Welfare and Immigration

Working across Borders: Effective Permanency Practices at the Intersection of Child Welfare and Immigration

Child Welfare Journal

Casey Family Programs’ direct services arm has developed promising practices to effectively support legal and relational permanency work with families affected by immigration issues. Applying an implementation science framework, this article provides a descriptive case study of international immigration program implementation. Based on input from field office staff, we identified lessons learned from the common successes (e.g., relationship building, work with consulates, transnational practice) and challenges (e.g., detention and deportation, language barriers, workforce development) in implementing policies and practices aimed at improving outcomes for children and families at the intersection of immigration and child welfare.

The Dollars and Sense of Becoming a Medi-Cal Contracted Organization

The Dollars and Sense of Becoming a Medi-Cal Contracted Organization

First Place for Youth

In 2015, First Place for Youth initiated the process to obtain a contract to provide Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) Medi-Cal billable services to its program participants. This brief explores some of the challenges faced in this journey. The lessons we learned along the way can help other providers considering similar initiatives and spark a conversation with stakeholders and policymakers interested in system reform.

Funded in part by the Walter S. Johnson Foundation

Crossover Youth: Los Angeles County Probation Youth With Previous Referrals to Child Protective Services

Crossover Youth: Los Angeles County Probation Youth with Previous Referrals to Child Protective Services

Children's Data Network

The California State Los Angeles School of Criminalistics and Criminal Justice, in collaboration in the Children’s Data Network (CDN) at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, conducted a retrospective analysis of the timing and degree of previous involvement with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) for a recent cohort of Probation youth. The goal of this study was to examine the proportion of youth with intensive Probation involvement who had also touched the child protection system at an earlier point in their lives, but were not necessarily known to both systems simultaneously. It was designed to identify possible touch points when prevention-oriented family support and strengthening could have helped to resolve family problems at an earlier stage, potentially preventing later entry into the juvenile justice system.

Funded in part by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Validation of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation - Identification Tool (CSE-IT)

Validation of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation - Identification Tool (CSE-IT)

WestCoast Children's Clinic

Commercial sexual exploitation of children in the U.S. is recognized as a child welfare, mental health, and public health crisis. Despite growing awareness of the problem, it is poorly understood and difficult to recognize. The lack of a standard, validated screening tool for use in settings where vulnerable youth are served severely hampers the ability of public agencies to identify victims early and provide targeted services. To address the need for early identification, credible prevalence estimates of children who experience CSE, and improved response and protection for exploited youth, WestCoast developed, pilot tested, and validated a screening tool to identify exploited youth. This report describes the development of the screening tool — called the Commercial Sexual Exploitation–Identification Tool (CSE-IT) — and the pilot test results and validity evidence for the CSE-IT.

Ensuring Long-Lasting Permanency and Well-Being

Casey Family Programs (April 2017)

The purpose of this brief is to draw attention to the issue of post-permanency with its focus on the family, and move attention away from re-entry, which focuses on the system. Addressing the gaps in post-permanency practices will strengthen families and prevent children from re-entering care. There are many ways to support families after exiting foster care, including establishing clear funding streams for the most effective post-permanency supports, standardizing data elements to examine who does and does not re-enter care, and conducting rigorous research to identify what has helped support permanency after exiting care.

California's Children and Youths' System of Care: An Agenda to Transform Promises into Practice

California's Children and Youths' System of Care: An Agenda to Transform Promises into Practice

Young Minds Advocacy (2017)

The report highlights why children’s mental health is important and why California needs a distinct children-and-youth-focused mental health policy. The report also provides a brief overview of California’s publicly funded mental health system for children and youth; what it has accomplished; and the challenges that remain, including limited access to community-based services, a lack of coordinated care, inadequate data on quality of services, and insufficient system accountability. The report then sets forth a series of recommendations that stakeholders may pursue to overcome the existing challenges and ensure that all young people in California receive the mental health care they need and deserve to live happy successful lives.

The Economic Well-Being of Kin and Non-Kin Caregivers: Comparing Financial Resources, Payment Levels, and Service Supports

University of California , Berkeley (2016)

to examine the economic well-being of kin and non-kin caregivers in select California counties prior to the implementation of the ARC, to understand caregiver characteristics, and the characteristics of the children in their care. The study also included a follow up with caregivers who had indicated at initial contact that they were receiving no funding or TANF funding for the care of their child. We anticipated that some or all of these caregivers would be folded into the ARC over the study period and receive the higher payment rate.

Study Webinar

From Research to Practice: What Research Tells Us About the Needs of Relatives and How to Translate Findings into Effective Practice.

Visit the link above to view a recording of a webinar that provides an overview of the study: The Economic Well-Being of Kin and Non-Kin Caregivers

Hear from providers and advocates on model programs and practices, as well as new state policies, that are responsive to these findings and will ultimately help practitioners better support and engage kinship families.

Elements of Effective Practice for Children and Youth Served by Therapeutic Residential Care

Elements of Effective Practice for Children and Youth Served by Therapeutic Residential Care

Casey Family Programs (2016)

Historically, group homes and residential treatment centers have been an important but controversial part of the child welfare continuum of services — part of a larger cluster of services called “congregate care.”

Group homes and residential treatment centers have been challenged to better define their intervention models and the youth they are best suited to serve within a context of child welfare values that include serving children in the least restrictive alternative settings with the most effective interventions. They have been asked to “right size” lengths of stay, to involve family members more extensively in treatment, to do more than manage problem behaviors by helping youth heal and learn skills for managing their emotions and behaviors that they can use in the community, and to conduct more extensive evaluation studies. States vary substantially in how extensively they use congregate care and for which groups of children and youth.

This research brief summarizes research that identifies key elements of effective practice that are based on the needs of children and youth referred to therapeutic residential care. It also describes how certain interventions and broader systems reforms, when implemented together, can help ensure that the right service, at the right dosage and at the right time, are provided — and for the shortest amount of time necessary — to achieve key therapeutic and permanency planning goals.

Charting the Course: Using Data to Support Foster Youth College Success

Charting the Course: Using Data to Support Foster Youth College Success

California College Pathways (2015)