This report, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and other organizations, suggests how state policy makers in Maine could reform the child welfare or juvenile justice system for youth. It presents national research that identifies how a full continuum approach – covering prevention to reintegration – could help youth successfully transition to adulthood.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Family and Youth Services Bureau, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs, and SchoolHouse Connection, will host a webinar on May 7, 2019 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. ET which will focus on preventing homelessness and supporting homeless youth. The webinar will review intervention strategies and how to interact with communities and local homelessness systems. It will conclude with a Q&A session. This event will be moderated by Francis Mendez, Project Director, NTTAC, and will include the following presenters:

• Christopher Holloway, Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Manager, Family and Youth Services Bureau
• Patricia Julianelle, Director of Program Advancement and Legal Affairs, SchoolHouse Connection
• Norman Suchar, Director, Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, Division of Youth Services will hold a webinar on April 29, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. The webinar will cover technical assistance resources available to assist youth workforce development practitioners in delivering all-inclusive services to young people.

This Urban Institute study illustrates the financial costs and long-term effects of youth incarceration and suggests a new model to prevent and address illegal actions by youth. This new model calls for a continuum-based approach that includes restorative justice programming, family counseling and mentoring support, and interventions to address substance abuse. The brief reviews four areas to create this continuum, including: capturing and reinvesting savings resulting from youth detention facilities closures; repurposing youth detention facilities; maximizing existing state and federal funding sources; and identifying innovative funding strategies for opportunities for youth and their families.

This Brookings Institution study looks at youth financial literacy as a public policy issue. The comprehensive report presents a conceptual definition of financial literacy as well as state policies that incorporate financial education in the overall curriculum and course offerings to ensure that competency in basic financial literacy is attained upon graduation from high school. The report offers effective model programs and initiatives that have influenced the inclusion of financial education to K-12 students.

The U.S. Department of Labor convened a webinar on December 5, 2018 that outlined how to leverage free and open educational resources to design and implement training and workforce development programs targeted toward youth. These materials are useful to sustain trainee participation and engagement in youth workforce programs.

This Prosperity Now report provides lessons learned for enhancing credit building activities for youth leaving foster care. Beyond explaining the need for financial independence and credit’s role among this population, the report highlights five organizations that successfully integrate programs for youth and asset building: the Children’s Home Society of Florida, DePelchin Children’s Center, First Place for Youth, the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, and the RightWay Foundation.

This Annie E. Casey Foundation report examines young returning citizens’ complex set of needs upon reintegration from the juvenile justice system. The report offers model programs and anticipated outcomes, as well as systems that address health, housing, education, and employment needs of formerly incarcerated youth.

This Urban Institute study offers findings on how food insecurity impacts youth (ages 10 to 17), based on interviews and case studies of youth who participated in 20 focus groups in 10 communities. Discussion covers not only the data about food insecurity for teens, but also reflects the strategies that teens employ to mitigate or hide the effects of food insecurity.

Data analysis in this U.S. Government Accountability Office report shows that nearly 2 million at-risk college students did not report receiving SNAP benefits. The report also highlights the risk factors for food insecurity among this population. This analysis is based on survey results from 14 colleges and discusses resources that these higher education institutions provide to students to address food insecurity and help them apply for Federal food and nutritional assistance programs.