CASCW's new Minn-LInK brief, Child Protection and the Achievement Gap, details a recent study whose purpose was to evaluate the educational outcomes of youth involved in Child Protective Services (CPS) at varying levels, including involvement in an accepted case of child protection (CP) and involvement in out-of-home placement (OHP). Specifically, the study analyzed the achievement [...]
Our new Minn-LInK brief goes over findings in a study that assessed how students involved in child protection use Minnesota's Open Enrollment policy ("School Choice") and what impact, if any, this policy has on students' math and reading achievements. Open Enrollment policies are developed to give students access to educational settings and opportunities that may [...]
A Minn-LInK study conducted in partnership with the University of Minnesota Extension Youth Development on the Minnesota 4-H program is the subject of Minn-LInK's newest brief. This study sought to understand the influence of 4-H participation on youths' academic outcomes. The following questions were addressed: Do youth who participate in Minnesota’s 4-H program outperform matched [...]
Our colleague at the Department of Social Work, College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines, University of North Dakota is conducting research on social media use in child welfare. Dr. Melanie Sage's survey is open to child welfare administrators, workers, and interns. The survey will close this Friday, September 26, so if you haven't yet responded [...]
In July The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) issued the 25th edition of the KIDS COUNT Data Book. The KIDS COUNT Data Book takes a look at 16 indicators of well-being from 4 domains in order to observe state and national trends in child well-being. Data used are from 2012, which is the most recent [...]
Minnesota has had an extended foster care policy since October 1, 2010, meaning that youth can elect to remain in foster care beyond age 18 until age 21. Youth can opt for a traditional foster home placement or a supervised independent living setting. Funding for extended foster care benefits primarily comes from county and federal [...]
Last week the Donaldson Adoption Institute released its newest policy perspective titled, "A Need To Know: Enhancing Adoption Competency Among Mental Health Professionals. The report highlights the difficulty that adoptive families face when seeking clinical therapeutic services in finding practitioners who have a deep level understanding and training in permanency and adoption. While many therapists [...]
According to a study by researcher Alice Home, from the University of Ottawa School of Social Work, the major challenges for Canadian adoptive parents are finding and accessing post-adoption support and services, and getting a diagnosis and then understanding what that means for a child with special needs. Particularly challenging for parents who adopt internationally [...]
