In this cross-sectional comparative study, the authors assess the outcomes of emancipated youth in the U.S. after the initiation of an extended after care program and compare the results with the outcomes drawn from a prior study conducted twenty years earlier. Overall, young adults in the 2021 study fared significantly better than their 2001 counterparts.

PASCUA YAQUI INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. — Victor Cortez was just 5 months old when he was brought here from California by a tribal social worker, who placed the baby in the care of a relative after his mother was jailed for drug trafficking. Today, 16 and soft-spoken, Victor is a rising star among the Pascua Yaquis’ traditional dancers and is still living with that guardian, the only mother he’s ever known.

This study represents a scoping review and narrative synthesis that sought to identify indicators used to measure the success of aging out youth in North America and their corresponding methods of assessment.

This chapter in the book "Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare and Foster Care Settings: Promoting Paternal Contributions to the Safety, Permanency, and Well-being of Children and Families" explores research on father engagement in child welfare services in the U.S., including studies on engagement activities, associations with child welfare outcomes, and barriers to engagement with the aim of assisting social workers and child welfare caseworkers in more fully engaging fathers.

Para garantizar que las personas que han vivido en cuidados alternativos puedan participar de los procesos y decisiones para mejorar los sistemas de cuidado, Doncel junto a la Red Latinoamericana de Egresados de Protección, Better Care Network y Cambiando la Forma en Que Cuidamos (Changing The Way We Care en inglés) llevaron adelante el primer mapeo regional de activistas que vivieron en cuidados alternativos en América Latina y el Caribe.

This is the first regional mapping of activists with care experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A team of professional researchers and young care leavers mapped the region to meet care experienced people engaged in improving alternative care in Latin America and the Caribbean and learn from their activism. They interviewed more than 60 care-experienced activists from 19 countries. On October 27 at 15.30 (EST) they will present the results of these efforts and dialogue with young activists to hear their recommendations to strengthen the participation of children, adolescents and youth in the issues that affect them.

In America, popular narratives about adoption tend to focus on happy endings. Poor mothers who were predestined to give their children away for a “better life”; unwanted kids turned into chosen ones; made-for-television reunions years later. Since childhood, these story lines about the industry of infant adoptions had gradually seeped into my subconscious from movies, books, and the news.

Rachel and her husband adopted Marcus out of Guatemalan foster care as a 7-month-old infant and brought him home to Lansing, Mich. With a round face framed by a full head of dark hair, Marcus was giggly and verbal — learning names of sea animals off flashcards, impressing other adults.