Recent Releases

This new report by First Focus calls on Congress to reinstitute and expand child welfare demonstration waivers. The report also outlines a number of recommended modifications to improve the waiver program and ensure that it meets the needs of children, families, and states.

"The number of youth aging out of foster care has increased every year since 2001.  In the past five years alone, more than 100,000 youth left the foster care system because of age limits or because they ‘aged out’.  This population, although small in number, has a high economic cost to state governments and society as a whole.”

Read more in this compelling article on the effects that this population segment has our economy and promising approaches to improving outcomes for foster youth.
 

This report, from the NGA Center for Best Practices, highlights effective state strategies and promising approaches aimed at improving outcomes for foster youth in the following five areas: Education, Employment, Housing, Health Care, and Relationships. The report shows that successful state supports not only improve the outcomes for youth in foster care, but reduce costs to states that result from negative outcomes such as criminality, low educational attainment, lack of medical insurance, homelessness and an increased need for public assistance like food stamps.

VOICE 3:  Discussing Issues and Concerns of Michigan Youth in Foster Care is the third of a series of advocacy documents composed by and for young people in foster care.  It discusses the progress that has been made over the past few years, and addresses additional priorities, such as the need to access for youth in foster care to acess their medical history, and the need for tuition waivers.  It also addresses funding priorities for DHS with independing living and the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative, reconnecting with birth families, and giving young people a voice in court.