The Administration for Children and Families will host a webinar on December 13, 2021 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET as part of a series of webinars on topics related to implementation and coordination of early childhood programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This webinar supports participants in learning about approaches to building and improving facilities for early care and education in tribal communities. During the webinar, participants will hear an overview of issues related to building and improving facilities for early care and education, followed by a panel highlighting innovations and promising practices being implemented in tribal communities. Participants will discuss highlighted strategies with peers and hear about resources they can use in their own communities and programs.

The Dibble Institute will host a webinar on December 8, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET to introduce the Me & My Emotions website. Me & My Emotions supports teens’ social-emotional learning while increasing their resilience. Webinar objectives include supporting participants to understand who Me & My Emotions will benefit and ways to promote it; how the website is organized and what content is covered; and how Me & My Emotions can support teens individually as well as in classrooms and youth organizations.

The Urban Institute will host a webinar on December 14, 2021 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, which will discuss how to better understand the strengths of rural communities and to leverage their assets. The webinar will begin with remarks by Xochitl Torres Small, Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, followed by a demonstration of a new typology and dashboard with national data on rural census tracts and peer groups that support asset-based rural investments and capacity building. After the demonstration, a panel of rural stakeholders will discuss the opportunities and challenges of identifying rural assets and using an asset-based investment framework.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration has issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the YouthBuild program. The program funds organizations to provide a pre-apprenticeship program model that encompasses education, occupational skills training, leadership development, and high-quality post-program placement opportunities to opportunity youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who left high school prior to graduation and also have other risk factors. The YouthBuild program simultaneously addresses multiple core issues important to youth in low-income communities: affordable housing, leadership development, education, and employment opportunities in in-demand industries and apprenticeship pathways. Applications are due by January 21, 2022.

The National Association of Social Workers will host a webinar on November 30, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET with a focus on the emotional wellness of students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other trauma experiences. The discussion will include the presentation of analogies to help students learn to cope with issues of loss and grief, as well as school-wide activities that promote traumatic growth and resiliency. Participation in the webinar counts for one continuing education credit within the Social Work Online Continuing Education Institute. A participation fee is required.

The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), the Alliance National Parent Partnership Council (ANPPC), and the Children's Trust Fund Alliance will host a networking webinar on November 11, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. ET to share resources developed by and for parents. This webinar will include a discussion from ANPPC, which has developed a series of parent-to-parent infographics that share strategies on how they use strength-based protective factors in their everyday lives and how parent groups have defined the protective factors. In addition, the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance will discuss the Alliance Resiliency Project, a flexible funding model to support families during the pandemic, and CSSP will present new resources and opportunities related to Strengthening Families.

This bulletin briefly overviews racial disproportionality and disparity in the child welfare system and the factors that contribute to the problem. It then describes practices that child welfare caseworkers, administrators, program managers, and policymakers can implement to address these issues in general and at specific decision-making points along the child welfare continuum (such as prevention, reporting, screening and assessment, service delivery for children and affected families, and permanency for children in out-of-home care in a child welfare case). Further, the bulletin also stresses the importance for State and local child welfare agencies to understand Tribal sovereignty within the relationship between the two agencies. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) allows for the formation of Tribal-State agreements which often serve to improve ICWA compliance and outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native children, and to increase Tribal access to Federal child welfare funding.

This guide provides tools for case workers and other frontline staff to use in collecting demographic data from young people and families. Tools included are best practices for data collection, a sample script, and a list of questions to engage this population in discussions about their identities.

Jobs for the Future will host a virtual event on November 16, 2021 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET which will discuss the promise of apprenticeship for in-school and out-of-school youth. Participants will learn how apprenticeship is being advanced at the federal and state level, how states are using those opportunities to create and expand youth apprenticeship programs, and how partnerships help to build and sustain Registered Apprenticeship for young people.