Podcasts about Child Trends

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.Are you a professional working with kinship caregivers? You need to listen to this interview with Dr. Tyreasa Washington, is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar specializing in kinship care families (e.g., grandparents raising grandchildren). She is a Distinguished Senior Scholar for Child Welfare at Child Trends, the leading research organization in the United States focused solely on improving the lives of children, youth, and families.In this episode, we discuss:Advantages of keeping children with extended family when their parents are not able to raise them.How do kids who are raised temporarily or permanently by relatives fare compared to kids placed with unknown foster parents?One of the biggest questions we receive from professionals is how to engage kinship caregivers. They tell us that they set up programs to support kinship caregivers, but few show up. This seems universal. Why does this happen?We also hear about institutional trauma-(law enforcement struggles/foster care system struggles- leads to lack of trust--not feeling safe in their community, not trusting DSS.) How does this impact kinship caregivers? How does it impact those of us trying to serve them?What types of support are the most helpful?What are some cultural differences you've observed in Black relatives raising children within the family, and how do these differences impact how professionals interact with kin raising children?What have you found in your research on the impact of caregiving on the health of kinship caregivers?Need for training for kinship caregivers.How can professionals support self-care with folks who are so busy just getting by?Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcasts Weekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Public Health Careers podcast episode with Dr. Andra L. Wilkinson, PhD, MSPH

Why do so many promising solutions in education, medicine, and criminal justice fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code? SOURCES:Patti Chamberlain, senior research scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center.John List, professor of economics at the University of Chicago.Lauren Supplee, former deputy chief operating officer at Child Trends.Dana L. Suskind, professor of surgery at the University of Chicago. RESOURCES:“How Can Experiments Play a Greater Role in Public Policy? 12 Proposals from an Economic Model of Scaling,” by Omar Al-Ubaydli, John List, Claire Mackevicius, Min Sok Lee, and Dana Suskind.“The Science of Using Science: Towards an Understanding of the Threats to Scaling Experiments,” by Omar Al-Ubaydli, John List, and Dana Suskind (The Field Experiments Website, 2019).“Inconsistent Device Use in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users: Prevalence and Risk Factors,” by K.B.Wiseman and A.D. Warner-Czyz (U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 2018). EXTRAS:"Why Do Most Ideas Fail to Scale?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022)."The Price of Doing Business with John List," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).Child Trends.Oregon Social Learning Center.T.M.W. Center for Early Learning and Public Health.The Field Experiments Website.

Send us a textAs adolescents transition into adulthood and independence, their needs change. For Black History Month, Talking About Kids is looking at the specific needs of Black youth and young adults. My guest to help me do that is Mavis Sanders. Mavis is a senior research scholar at Child Trends who recently released a wonderfully insightful brief entitled, “Black Emerging Adults Identify Protective Community Resources That Promote Their Well-Being.” More information about Mavis and her research brief and a link to sign up for Child Trends' quarterly newsletter on Black children and families are at talkingaboutkids.com.

A 2015 Child Trends study found that one in 14 children in the US either has (or has had) a parent incarcerated.  That is more than 5 million kids. In […] The post Insights from Justice Impacted Teens appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Welcome to the third episode of the FCC's 2023 Conference Series, where host Kurt Kelly engages in a riveting conversation with the esteemed Kristina Rosinsky of Child Trends. Join us as we delve into the profound impact that Child Trends has had on enhancing the well-being of children across the United States. In this episode, Kristina Rosinsky, a research scientist II at Child Trends, takes center stage. She not only shares her wealth of expertise but also sheds light on the crucial work being done by Child Trends to improve the lives of children. Join us in expressing gratitude to Kristina Rosinsky for sharing her expertise and insights, as we continue our mission to foster a better future for children everywhere. Don't miss this opportunity to explore the intersection of research, policy, and practice with Kurt Kelly and Kristina Rosinsky in this enriching conversation. Are you impacting positive change for families in Florida or nationally and would like to be a guest on “Nurturing Well-Being with Kurt Kelly”? Contact us at Communications@FLChildren.org --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fl-children/support

On this week's podcast we discuss some of the figures in the biennial report on state-by-state child welfare spending from Child Trends. Also: looming deadlines on “Family Miranda” laws in two states and a Supreme Court case on ICWA, and more. Imprint reporter Michael Fitzgerald joins to talk about his investigative reporting looking into sexual and reproductive health policies for youth in foster care, an issue brought into sharp focus last year when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.Reading RoomChild Welfare Financing Survey SFY 2020https://bit.ly/43EVtHESan Bernardino Foster Youth File Class-Action Lawsuithttps://bit.ly/42rUp8OTexas Bill To Increase Rights for Parents Under Investigation Passes State House and Senatehttps://bit.ly/3qk9nR5Another Try for Legislation In New York Giving Parents ‘Miranda' Rights During CPS Investigationshttps://bit.ly/3oQZc5VCalifornia's Santa Clara County Aims to Keep Girls Out of Juvenile Lockupshttps://bit.ly/3Hh2lm3Four California Counties Join Effort to End the Incarceration of Girlshttps://bit.ly/43hWB42High Stakes, Silent SystemsA three-part investigation on sexual and reproductive health in foster care.https://imprintnews.org/special-series/high-stakes-silent-systems

National Adolescent Health Month™ (NAHM™) is a health observance that emphasizes the importance of building on young people's strengths and potential, encouraging meaningful youth engagement in adolescent health activities, and highlighting key topics in adolescent health.  Week 1: Expand sexual and reproductive health information and services. Better information and improved access to services will help adolescents make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. So in this episode we are going to go over 7 Tips for Youth-Supporting Professionals for Talking with Youth About Sexual and Reproductive Health provides tangible recommendations to promote effective and open conversations about sexual and reproductive health with young people. Resources from Activate: The Center to Bring Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Research to Youth-Supporting Professionals is a partnership between Child Trends and Chapin Hall and creates research-based resources for use by professionals who support young people experiencing the child welfare and/or justice systems, homelessness, and/or disconnection from school and work (i.e., opportunity youth).

Since 1993, child poverty has fallen 60% – according to a landmark 2022 report from Child Trends. And while the magnitude of this decline in child poverty is unequaled in the history of poverty measurement in the U.S., as Jason DeParle who covers poverty for the New York Times reminds us, “even if child poverty falls almost 60% as we found that it did, there's still 8 million poor children in the country.” Billy Shore sits down with the Times Jason DeParle and Child Trends Renee Ryberg who co-lead the study to explore it findings, what is shows about the impact of critical social safety nets like the Earned Income Credit and the school lunch program, and the work ahead to address racial disparities that persist in child poverty.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the first episode of our three-part series on the early childhood workforce, host Ciearra Norwood (SRI Education) speaks with national experts about the history, progression and evolution of the workforce, and a number of federal priorities and supports for the workforce in states across the country. Guests include Richard Gonzales, project manager of the Preschool Development Grants Birth Through Five at the Department of Health and Human Services, in the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Early Childhood Development; and Chrishana Lloyd, Research Scholar with Child Trends.Early Childhood Policy Matters is supported by the National Technical Assistance Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth through Five, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care. For episode transcripts and more information visit: https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/early-childhood-policy-matters-podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Thomson, a research scientist at Child Trends, which tracks many figures of child welfare, reports on a steadily dropping rate of child poverty since 1993.

A new report from the non-profit research center Child Trends shows that from 1993 to 2019, child poverty rates in the US decreased by nearly 60%. But there is still a lot of work to do. Jennifer Ng'andu is the Program Managing Director for the public health philanthropic organization the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She joins the pod to talk about what was behind the significant drop in poverty rates, what is still need to be done, and why some incredibly effective programs - like the Child Tax Credit - were allowed to disappear. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Childhood poverty is on the decline. New research shows that it  fell by 59 percent from 1993 to 2019. Despite this historic progress, disparities remain. Black and Latino children are about three times as likely as white children to be poor. Analysis from the non-partisan group Child Trends says the social safety net and a combination of economic factors were largely responsible for the decline. So what policies need to be put in place to maintain this progress? Our guest today is Dr. Renee Ryberg, a research scientist with Child Trends who says our work to end child poverty is far from over.

A recent study by Child Trends showed that government programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit reduced child poverty from 27.9% to 11.4% between 1993 and 2019. Since poverty is correlated with child maltreatment, this should have prompted a corresponding reduction in abuse and neglect. In fact it did. Join Rich for a full discussion and analysis on this in this week's podcast. =========== Join us for our annual fall breakfast on 10/13/22! In-person in St. Paul, MN or livestreamed to anywhere-- RSVP today! https://bit.ly/spbreakfast2022 Sign up for Minnesota's Inaugural Conference on Family Violence. It's free and virtual, here: https://safepassageforchildren.salsalabs.org/mnsinauguralconferenceonfamilyviolence/index.html =========== Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota's nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota's 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award." Read the blog's transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Reduction-in-Child-Poverty-Yields-Reduction-in-Child-Maltreatment-with-podcast-narrative.pdf Support Safe Passage's work for Minnesota's most vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate www.safepassageforchildren.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/safe-passage-for-children/message

Zu diesem Schluss kommt Child Trends, eine NGO, die zu Kinder- und Jugendbezogenen Themen forscht. Child Trends hat in einer groß angelegten wissenschaftlichen Erhebung den Zeitraum von 1993 bis 2019 untersucht und sagt: Die Kinderarmut in den USA ist in diesem Zeitraum um fast 60 Prozent zurückgegangen. Von Daily Good News.

Catching most experts by surprise, a census-based study by Child Trends shows that child poverty decreased by 59% between 1993 and 2019, from one child in four to one in 10. The authors attribute this largely to increased minimum wages, fewer teen births, low unemployment, single mothers entering the workforce, children living with grandparents on social security, and federal programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit and housing subsidies. BIPOC children benefitted similarly to White children. As caveats, most experts don't think the federal poverty level covers basic needs. Also, children in deep poverty, defined as less than 50% of the federal level, made fewer gains. Nevertheless, this appears to represent major progress. Since poverty is the biggest driver of child maltreatment, rates of abuse and neglect should also have declined. In fact they have. Join Rich for a full discussion and analysis on this in this week's podcast. =========== Join us for our annual fall breakfast on 10/13/22! In-person in St. Paul, MN or livestreamed to anywhere-- RSVP today! https://bit.ly/spbreakfast2022 Sign up for Minnesota's Inaugural Conference on Family Violence. It's free and virtual, here: https://safepassageforchildren.salsalabs.org/mnsinauguralconferenceonfamilyviolence/index.html =========== Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota's nonprofit mission is to strengthen the Minnesota child welfare system so children are safe and can reach their full potential. If you know someone who cares about children, be sure to share this podcast with them. Rich Gehrman is the founder and Executive Director of Minnesota nonprofit organization Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. He is the 2021 winner of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Minnesota's 2021 "Mark Proctor Hero for Children Award." Read the blog's transcript at https://safepassageforchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Podcast-script-analyzing-Child-Trends-report-on-the-dramatic-reduction-in-child-poverty-9-23-22.pdf Support Safe Passage's work for Minnesota's most vulnerable children at www.safepassageforchildren.org/donate www.safepassageforchildren.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/safe-passage-for-children/message

On this week's podcast we discuss a major drop in the use of powerful psych meds on California foster youth, and discuss how child welfare metrics behaved during the prolonged decline in child poverty that was recently analyzed by Child Trends.Jenny Harper joins to talk about the looming federal cliff facing a program aimed at supporting new and expectant mothers, and what advocates are hoping will happen in the near future. Reading RoomPrescribing Antipsychotic Drugs to California Foster Youth Declines Dramaticallyhttps://bit.ly/3BcmTaWPsych Meds in Jailhttps://bit.ly/3DDsKci Philly Took $5 Million in Foster Children's Social Security Payments Without Telling Themhttps://bit.ly/3BtH843Lessons From a Historic Decline in Child Povertyhttps://bit.ly/3Bo3ZOxExpanded Safety Net Drives Sharp Drop in Child Povertyhttps://nyti.ms/3f0SrcsMaternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Programhttps://bit.ly/3eXjDsHHome Visiting: MIECHV Delay Already Hurting State, Local Programshttps://bit.ly/3qN2tkd

In a new report from the New York Times and non-partisan research group Child Trends, the number of children living in poverty in the U.S. dropped significantly from the early 1990s to just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Reset speaks with one of the authors of the report, a reporter from the New York Times and researcher at Northwestern University on the findings and their implications. GUESTS: Dana Thomson, senior research scientist at Child Trends Jason DeParle, reporter for the New York Times Christine Percheski, associate professor of sociology at Northwestern University. For more about Reset, go to wbez.org and follow us on Twitter @WBEZReset

The child poverty rate in the U.S. fell last year to the lowest level on record. Families were helped as cash benefits, tax credits and other types of non-cash assistance increased during the pandemic. Dana Thomson of Child Trends is one of the lead researchers on the analysis. She joined Judy Woodruff to discuss their study. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The child poverty rate in the U.S. fell last year to the lowest level on record. Families were helped as cash benefits, tax credits and other types of non-cash assistance increased during the pandemic. Dana Thomson of Child Trends is one of the lead researchers on the analysis. She joined Judy Woodruff to discuss their study. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Sarah Winograd's journey as a “professional volunteer” led to the realization that poverty was a driving factor in the child removals in the families she was working with. See how Sarah mobilized her community to address family poverty to help families stay together. Through the Together for Families program, Sarah lives out her vision of supporting families by helping them meet basic needs. Show Notes00:00:30  | Matt opens this episode reflecting on the child welfare system's association between poverty and neglect00:01:10  | Meet Sarah Winograd: Program Manager for Together for Families, Advocates for Children, and an adoptive mom. 00:05:05  | Back in the U.S. as an adult, Sarah dedicated herself to volunteering where she would begin spending a lot of her time working with youth formerly in foster care in New York and later in Georgia. 00:06:45  | Sarah talks about the first case she worked on as a CASA volunteer in Georgia. 00:10:37  | Who was representing and supporting the mom in Sarah's case?  00:11:28  | Sarah explains the “ah-ha” moment she experienced while talking to one of the children in the family. This helped her fill in gaps that were missing from the family's case file. 00:15:20  | Matt and Sarah discuss a shift in thinking around the reason Sarah became a CASA volunteer—from helping kids to helping the whole family.  00:17:38  | Sarah explains some of the support she provided to the family while staying within the boundaries of her role as a CASA volunteer.00:20:37  | Sarah shares how she received the reputation for the "resource queen” by helping families not on her case load meet their basic needs and stay in-tact. 00:22:59  | Sarah shares her findings  on poverty as a driver of child welfare involvements, as well as how her colleagues felt about the realities of the families they served. 00:25:10  | Sarah talks about the conversation with her CASA supervisor.00:30:54  | Matt reflects on the punitive structure of the child welfare system and Sarah's approach to seeing families for their strengths and with empathy, rather than defining them by their circumstances. 00:32:14  | What's next for Sarah after CASA?  00:41:14  | Sarah's vision of what's next for the Together for Families program. 00:44:40  | Advice for people seeing the same issues in their community who want to address the needs of families. 00:45:53  | Final thoughts from Matt Anderson. ResourcesTogether for Families | Advocates for Children Georgia ranks 38th in the Nation for Child and Family Well-Being | Georgia Family Connection Partnership One promise became a lifelong mission for this Atlanta family advocate | CBS46 Cobb County, GA Child Welfare Stats | Fostering Court Improvement A Key Connection: Economic Stability and Family Well-being | Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago Child Welfare: Purposes, Federal Programs, and Funding | Congressional Research Service Reports Child Welfare Financing SFY 2018: A survey of federal, state, and local expenditures | Child Trends 

Marjorie Lindner Gunnoe (PhD, University of Virginia) is professor of psychology at Calvin University. She teaches developmental psychology and conducts research on parent–child relationships. Previously she worked at Child Trends, Inc., in Washington DC, and served as a member of the design team for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth conducted by the US Department of Labor. Gunnoe lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, Charles. Episode Talking Points: What is psychology? How should Christians view psychology? How can psychology strengthen our faith? How does Christianity compare to the teachings of popular psychologists? Resources: The Person in Psychology and Christianity --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-monday-christian/support

For more than 30 years, Rita Soronen has worked on behalf of abused, neglected and vulnerable children, providing leadership for local, state and national efforts, working to improve the juvenile justice and child welfare systems while striving to assure safe and permanent homes for North America's children.Leading the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a national nonprofit public charity, since 2001 and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption-Canada since 2004, Ms. Soronen works to find permanent families for the more than 135,000 waiting children in North America's foster care systems. Under her leadership, the Foundation has significantly increased its grant-making while developing strategic initiatives that act on the urgency of the issue. In 2021, the Foundation dedicated more than $40.9 million to grants and award-winning programs, such as Wendy's Wonderful Kids®, Adoption-Friendly Workplace™ and National Adoption Day. Additionally, through public service announcements, social media campaigns, articles, events, sponsorships and more, the Foundation is building awareness around the growing need for foster care adoption.Under Ms. Soronen's leadership, the Foundation created Wendy's Wonderful Kids in 2004 with seven pilot sites as a platform to engage more partners to transform failing child welfare practices and, most importantly, to aggressively find the right families for children waiting much too long to be adopted. In 2011, a rigorous, five-year national evaluation by Washington, D.C.-based Child Trends revealed that a child referred to the Wendy's Wonderful Kids program is up to three times more likely to be adopted. In 2017, with the support of the Blue Meridian Partners, the Foundation launched an aggressive, multi-year business plan to take Wendy's Wonderful Kids to scale in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. With support from the Foundation's partners and generous donors, more than 500 Wendy's Wonderful Kids recruiters have helped to find forever families for more than 12,000 children in foster care and counting across the U.S. and Canada.Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Soronen served as the executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Franklin County. During that time, she also served as the president of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio CASA/GAL Association and led the passage of specialty license plate legislation benefiting CASA programs throughout Ohio, as well as the design and implementation of model program standards assuring the consistent application of effective advocacy for children involved in court proceedings at the local and state levels.Ms. Soronen is a nationally recognized child welfare advocate. She has testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth on the importance of foster care adoption. A requested national speaker on the topics of children, the child welfare system and social innovation, Ms. Soronen has been a featured presenter at events for the Center for Adoption Support and Education, Children Need Amazing Parents, National Association of County Commissioners, the National Council for Adoption, North American Council on Adoptable Children, the Philanthropy Roundtable and at While House adoption events, among others. Ms. Soronen is a founding board member and past vice president of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and is a current member of the advisory board. She also serves as a member of Barco's Nightingales Foundation's advisory board and the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children's board of trustees.Ms. Soronen is a founding board member and past vice president of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and is a current member of the advisory board. She also serves as a member of Barco's Nightingales Foundation's advisory board and the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children's board of trustees. Ms. Soronen is a recipient of the Angels in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, the National CASA Association Kappa Alpha Theta Program Director of the Year Award, the Ohio CASA/GAL Association Statewide Leadership Award and was a 2013 recipient of WSNY's 20 Outstanding Women You Should Know. She is a fellow of the Jefferson Fellowship for Executive Leadership; was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Community Leadership from Franklin University in 2016; was named a YWCA Woman of Achievement in 2017; was named a National Number One by the Columbus Foundation in 2018; and was honored with Smart Business Network's 2019 Smart 50 Program Award for Impact, Giving Back to the Community.A graduate of the University of Louisville, Ms. Soronen resides in Columbus, Ohio.Ms. Soronen is a member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council and shares insights regularly through articles with fellow council members. Read Ms. Soronen's latest articles.The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is the only public nonprofit charity in the United States that is focused exclusively on foster care adoption. Through its signature program, Wendy's Wonderful Kids®, the Foundation funds adoption professionals, known as recruiters, who are dedicated to finding loving, permanent homes for children waiting in foster care.The Foundation works closely with child welfare advocates and policymakers, provides free resources about foster care adoption and raises awareness through social media campaigns, public service announcements and events.More at:https://www.facebook.com/DaveThomasFoundationforAdoptionhttps://twitter.com/DTFAhttps://www.instagram.com/dtfa/https://www.youtube.com/user/DaveThomasFoundationhttps://www.davethomasfoundation.org/

My guest for this episode is Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon. She is Iñupiaq and a research scientist in the Youth Development program at Child Trends. Heather's work focuses on Indigenous youth, families, and Elders and the topics of colonization, historical trauma, and culture as a protective factor. Together, we explore the what, why, and how of anti-racist approaches to supporting the Native and Indigenous kids in your lives. We also answer a listener's question about anti-racist approaches to researching Native and Indigenous kids. More information about Heather and her work can be found at www.TalkingAboutKids.com.

4 "EP4: Take That Chance (Part One), with Juliana Barton" About this episode: Juliana Barton, a foster care alumna with big dreams, has never wanted pity, she's only ever wanted to be seen for her talents, abilities and wholeness. In the face of childhood abuse, epic systemic injustice and heart-wrenching family tragedy, she epitomizes strength, resilience, grit and grace. Juliana's unbroken spirit echoes in her words, her commitments and her advocacy, and it will astound you. About our guest: Where to find online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianabarton/ (LinkedIn) Other Resources Mentioned: https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/children-services-transformation-advisory-council (OH Children Services Transformation Advisory Council)   https://www.ohiocasa.org/ (Ohio CASA) https://www.thehotline.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=domestic_violence (Domestic Violence Advocate) https://yr.media/news/emancipation-leaving-foster-care-own-terms/ (Emancipation in Foster Care) https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adoptuskids.org%2Fmeet-the-children%2Fchildren-in-foster-care%2Fabout-the-children%23%3A~%3Atext%3DEach%2520year%252C%2520approximately%252020%252C000%2520youth%2Cexperiencing%2520homelessness%252C%2520and%2520being%2520unemployed&data=04%7C01%7Cl.rogers%40uky.edu%7C19853e65b9d8437e420608d9fb00ad06%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637816802670128299%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=LprIRfNCcZM0T%2BRMzUoK4VGSrVnYmRIkqOAiWDB%2Fo%2Fg%3D&reserved=0 (Aging out of Foster Care) https://www.childtrends.org/ (Child Trends) https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/stigma-associated-youth-foster-care-system/20086 (Stigma in Foster Care System) https://www.familyfinding.org/ (Family Finding) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h3unfy25XM (TCOM YouTube Channel Heuristic of the Month: You Can't Manage What You Can't Measure) Additional Resources: https://tcomconversations.org (TCOM) https://praedfoundation.org (The Praed Foundation) https://iph.uky.edu (IPH Center) Become a Supporter: If you like what you hear, please consider making a donation on our https://www.patreon.com/shiftshiftbloom (Patreon) site! Credits: All content Copyright ActuallyQuiteNice, Inc & TCOM Studios, 2022 Cover art by https://twitter.com/jacksonfall (@jacksonfall) Music by https://www.youtube.com/user/hokeyproductions (Ray Wyssman), https://soundcloud.com/the-simoleons (The Simoleons), and https://open.spotify.com/artist/3tfRX0xkGOXY7AnwjHYmnI (Kristen Cerelli)

Shelby Cooley, PhD, is a senior research scientist for the Seattle Public Schools, where she works to better understand student needs and experiences pertaining to racial identity, school climate, academic engagement and more.  In the past, she has worked as the research director at a Seattle-based nonprofit called Community Center for Education Results, focused on improving student achievement and educational equity. Shelby received her B.A. from Scripps College in psychology and Black studies, and  her PhD from the University of Maryland in Developmental Science    where she examined the emergence of anti-Black racism in childhood, how environments shape children's perceptions of fairness and justice, racial identity, and contexts that enable all youth to challenge negative group norms. Her prior professional work focused on early learning access and quality instruction at New York University's INSIGHTS to Children's Temperament Lab, and at Child Trends in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit research center focused on  children, families, and wellbeing.In this episode, we discuss:What do you do as a senior research scientist for the Seattle Public Schools?How does this research get used to improve the learning experiences of students?Where does policy come into play, and are you involved in this step?What are your primary research interests as they pertain to education?When trying to make the education system more equitable, is the agent of change bottom up or top down?What role does research play in systems change?What types of conversations move us closer to antiracism in education, and what conversations have become unproductive?Why did you major in psychology?Why was a PhD a logical step for you?How did your mentors shape you?Why were you interested in identity development, particularly in people of color?Can you describe any experience in grad school that helped you solidified what you wanted to do with your research?Why did you not want to be a professor?Her roles at nonprofit organizationsWhere does change happen?Is it becoming more common for folks with psych backgrounds to enter the education space?What advice do you have for the Psych Mic audience?To submit questions for future speakers and to get even more career tips, follow @psych_mic on Instagram and visit psychmic.com to sign up for the newsletter, where you'll get career tips, grad school resources, and job opportunities straight to your inbox.Music by: Adam Fine 

How can we best instill confidence in our children? How can stressed out parents take care of themselves? What's the connection between our emotions and our confidence? Find out in this week's episode of The Learn to Love Podcast, where your host Zach Beach interviews educator, author, and illustrator, Jennifer Miller, M.Ed. about Raising Confident Kids Learn more about your guest below: For twenty-five years, Jennifer Miller, M.Ed. has worked with educators and families to help them become more effective with children through social and emotional learning (SEL). She is author and illustrator of the blog, “Confident Parents, Confident Kids” with more than 22,000 followers in 152 countries world-wide. She is the author of Confident Parents, Confident Kids: Raising Emotional Intelligence In Ourselves and Our Kids. She serves as a regular expert contributor to the Webby Award-winning site, NBC Universal's Parent Toolkit. She writes and offers expertise for numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Parent Magazine and Edutopia. She serves on the Tauck Family Foundation's Advisory Committee along with members from Child Trends, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and Harvard's School of Education. She consults with schools, conducts research and creates tools on parenting and SEL with partners at the University of Pittsburgh, Montana State University, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). In 2018, she was the national spokesperson for Highlights Magazine's State of the Kid Report. She frequently speaks at conferences, offers coaching, and conducts workshops in Ohio and nationally. Past roles were with the Ohio Department of Education, CASEL, the Center for Peace Education, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. She has her master's degree in Instructional Leadership with a focus on social and emotional development. Learn more at  - https://confidentparentsconfidentkids.org/ - https://twitter.com/JenniferSMiller - https://www.facebook.com/confidentparentsconfidentkids/ - https://www.instagram.com/jennifersmithmiller1/ Learn more about your host and the show at: www.zachbeach.com www.the-heart-center.com Support The Show: If you like the show there are many ways you can support it, such as, - Register for Relationship Mastery, a 6-week self-guided course to take your relationship to the next level. https://www.the-heart-center.com/relationship-mastery-landing-page/ - Check out one of our sponsors, Listenable and use the discount code “zachbeach” for the first seven days on the platform for free. There you can find Zach's How To Be a Better Partner Course. https://frstre.com/go/?a=76205-87a7d9&s=1256514-e13191&p_affiliate.referral_code=zachbeach - Purchase The Seven Lessons of Love: Heart Wisdom for Troubling Times on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Love-Heart-Wisdom-Troubling/dp/1983940704/ - Purchase a love shirt and show the world your love of love https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-heart-center/ - Review, Like, and Subscribe to the show on iTunes. - Like us on Facebook facebook.com/learntolovenow - Join the  Facebook Community Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1428012130828678/

What can families do to address bullying and how can schools act proactively to prevent bullying altogether? We talked with Dr. Deborah Temkin, the vice president VP Youth Development & Education Research at Child Trends to get answers. She shares strategies for supporting children who are bullied and offers advice to parents who have learned that their child is doing the bullying. Resources: Visit StopBullying.gov for resources related to bullying, including cyberbullying and bullying prevention. Read “Life Lessons: How to Stand up to Bullying with Books” and “Helping Your Child Understand Cyberbullying” in PTA’s Our Children online magazine. Follow Deb Temkin on Twitter @DrDebTemkin 

The coronavirus pandemic has changed every aspect of society, including education. Classes have moved online, and parents have become responsible for their children's schooling. In this episode, we’re exploring how this sudden shift in routine might affect a child's development, and asking what families can do to make kids feel safe and supported. In this episode: Dr. Jessica Dym Bartlett (@dymbartlett), director of early childhood research at Child Trends. For more: Children facing 'devastating' effect of coronavirus: Report Coronavirus fallout triggers human development crisis: UN New normal awaits US college students returning to campus Connect with The Take: Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod).

This episode of the Making Afterschool Cool Podcast focuses on strategies parents and caregivers can use to inspire confidence in kids during the pandemic.  Building youth’s self esteem and resilience has never been more important as they confront issues related to the coronavirus. Consequently, the lessons we learn during this new normal can assist parents and out-of-school time (OST) professionals with new innovative methods to teach youth. Our guest, Jennifer Miller is a published author, writer of the Confident Parents Confident Kids blog and sought after expert contributor on national news outlets regarding promoting social and emotional learning at home. During this this podcast you will learn how: Youth serving institutions and school programs are changing and adapting to this new normal Parents can promote youth resiliency and social emotional skills at home      Parents can be be a role models to keep kids calm or decrease their fear Adults can help youth express their thoughts and feelings regarding the pandemic Guest For twenty-five years, Jennifer Miller has worked with educators and families to help them become more effective with children through social and emotional learning (SEL). She is author and illustrator of the new book “Confident Parents, Confident Kids: Raising Emotional Intelligence In Ourselves and Our Kids” and her blog has more than 23,000 followers in 152 countries world-wide. She serves as a regular expert contributor to NBC TODAY Parenting and to PBS Kids. She writes and offers expertise for numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and Parent Magazine. She serves on the Tauck Family Foundation’s Advisory Committee along with members from Child Trends, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and Harvard’s School of Education. She consults with schools, conducts research and creates tools on parenting and SEL with partners at the University of Pittsburgh, Montana State University, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. She frequently speaks at conferences, offers coaching to parents one-on-one, and conducts workshops in Ohio and nationally. She has her master’s degree in Instructional Leadership with a focus on social and emotional development and lives with her husband and twelve-year-old son in Columbus, Ohio. Resources Confident Parents Confident Kids webpage https://confidentparentsconfidentkids.org/ CASEL CARES: SEL Resource During COVID-19 https://casel.org/covid-resources Harris County Department of Education https://hcde-texas.org CASE for Kids https://hcde-texas.org/afterschool-zone    

Once an optional, preschool-like addition to elementary school programs, kindergarten has come a long way. For years, most kindergarten classes offered a half-day introduction to life in school, with plenty of time for free play, snacks, and even naps. Today, however, parents have a hard time finding anything other than the full-day option, let alone one that comes stocked with blocks, nap time, and unstructured lesson plans. In fact, more than 75 percent of all kindergartners now attend full-day programs, according to a 2015 study by nonprofit research group Child Trends.To view the original blog, visit: Full-Day Kindergarten: Pros, Cons, and State Requirements

With a Gross Domestic Product of over $21 trillion, the United States is one of the richest nations on earth. Yet, to our eternal shame, more that 13 million children in the United States - nearly 1 in every 5 children – live in poverty. Living in poverty means that regardless of their intelligence, aptitudes and talents, 13 million children are unlikely to have a sound education or adequate healthcare.  13 million children, will more than likely be exposed to violence, and the gravitational pull of powerful negative influences, to which many unfortunately will fall prey. 13 million children who will ultimately be unprepared and unable to thrive, to help themselves, their country, and the world. Using a model that focuses intensely on the health, social and educational development of children, including wrap-around programs that improve the family life and community of those children, Harlem Children’s Zone, in the words of President Obama “is an all-encompassing anti-poverty, effort that is literally saving a generation of children in a neighbourhood where they were never supposed to have a chance”. With its roots in Central Harlem going back to the 1970s, Harlem Children’s Zone has saved and continues to save generations of children. It also provides a blue print for what communities can do to reclaim the future for all their children. Anne Williams-Isom, mother to three incredible children and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone is my guest today. Anne found her calling to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families when she was still a child herself, growing up with a single mother and witnessing firsthand the many challenges confronting kids in struggling communities. That calling was cemented during her time at Columbia Law School, where she began to appreciate the critical role played by communities in finding lasting solutions to social problems. Before she joined Harlem Children’s Zone, Anne served as Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Community and Government Affairs at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services. When she first joined Harlem Children’s Zone, she did so as its Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all the programs in its cradle-through-college pipeline, leading its 2,000+ staff, and strengthening the organization’s use of data to improve services and outcomes for the over 25,000 children and families it serves. Anne serves on the board of directors of several organizations, including: Child Trends, Columbia Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Design and Central Park Conservancy. She is sought after for her expert guidance on child welfare and community development, by media houses like The New York Times, Barron’s, Crain’s New York, Essence and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Gordon Byrd speaks with Lina Guzman and Dana Thomson of Child Trends about the effect of a 2020 Census undercount of Hispanics on the money Florida receives from the feds for child health and other programs.

Bob Taibbi discusses how to get motivated, Jacqueline Whitmore explains when not to use your phone, Carl Pickhardt talks about raising an only child, Alexandria Hudson discusses current trends in stand up comedy, Shandley McMurray teaches how to help kids protect the environment, Barbara Hemphill gives advice for keeping your work station organized.

Many young children of immigrants and refugees are affected by trauma, whether directly or through their parents or other family members. Early childhood programs have the potential to play an important role in identifying and addressing infant and early childhood mental-health challenges for immigrant families that may result from exposure to trauma and other stressors. However, their capacity to take a trauma-informed approach in their services and provide appropriate support and referrals—especially with regard to immigrant, refugee, and other culturally and linguistically diverse families—is limited. During this webinar, speakers discuss the intersection of trauma and early childhood development, exploring how migration-related trauma and stressors can influence the wellbeing of young children of immigrants. Researchers, Maki Park and Caitlin Katsiaficas, from MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy provide an overview of a MPI policy brief that seeks to raise awareness of this issue and points to key opportunities for states to support, through early childhood and other programs, the healthy socioemotional development of young children of immigrants and refugees who have experienced trauma. Jessica Dym Bartlett, Co-Director of Early Childhood Research at Child Trends, discussed efforts to integrate trauma-informed approaches into early childhood systems, with a focus on opportunities to expand access and quality of these services specifically for immigrant and refugee families with young children. Aimee Hilado, Wellness Program Senior Manager at RefugeeOne, the largest refugee resettlement agency in Illinois, discusses how home visiting services can effectively address trauma and mental health through a two-generation approach.

“I don’t want to play with you.” “You’re not my friend.” “We’re playing families.  If you want to play, you have to be the dog.” Seems like everyone can remember a time when something like this happened to them as a child, and how much it hurt.  Children still say these things to each other – and we see how much it hurts them, too.  When researchers ask them, every child can remember a time when they were excluded – yet no child ever reports being the excluder! One of my listeners recommended that I read the book You Can’t Say You Can’t Play, in which the author (who is a teacher) proposes and then introduces a rule that you can’t say “you can’t play.”  A few researchers (including Professor Jamie Ostrov, with whom we’ll talk today) have since tested the approach: does it work?  If not, what should we do instead? Since most of these situations occur in preschool and school, teacher Caren co-interviews Professor Ostrov with me: we have some great insights for teachers as well as lots of information for parents on how to support both children and teachers in navigating these difficult situations.   References Allen, S.S. (2014). Narratives of women who suffered social exclusion in elementary school. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation. Antioch University, Culver City, CA DeVooght, K., Daily, S., Darling-Churchill, K., Temkin, D., Novak, B.A., & VanderVen, K. (2015, August). Bullies in the block area: The early childhood origins of “mean” behavior. Child Trends. Retrieved from https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-31BulliesBlockArea.pdf (https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-31BulliesBlockArea.pdf) Haney, M., & Bissonnette, V. (2011). Teachers’ perceptions about the use of play to facilitate development and teach prosocial skills. Creative Education 2(1), 41-46. Helgeland, A., & Lund, I. (2016). Children’s voices on bullying in kindergarten. Early Childhood Education Journal 45(1), 133-141. Ostrov, J.M., Gentile, D.A., & Crick, N.R. (2006). Media exposure, aggression and prosocial behavior during early childhood: A longitudinal study. Social Development 15(4), 612-627. Ostrov, J.M, Godleski, S.A., Kamper-DeMarco, K.E., Blakely-McClure, S.J., & Celenza, L. (2015). Replication and extension of the early childhood friendship project: Effects on physical and relational bullying. School Psychology Review 44(4), 445-463. Ostrov, J.M., Murray-Close, D., Godleski, S.A., & Hart, E.J. (2013). Prospective associations between forms and functions of aggression and social and affective processes during early childhood. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 116(1), 19-36. Perry, K.J., & Ostrov, J.M. (2017). Testing a bifactor model of relational and physical aggression in early childhood. Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment. Online first. doi 10.1007/s10862-017-9623-9 Swit, C. S., McMaugh, A. L., & Warburton, W. A. (2017). Teacher and parent perceptions of relational and physical aggression during early childhood. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1-13. DOI:  10.1007/s10826-017-0861-y (http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0861-y) Werner, N. E., Eaton, A. D., Lyle, K., Tseng, H., & Holst, B. (2014). Maternal social coaching quality interrupts the development of relational aggression during early childhood.  Social Development 23, 470-486.  doi: 10.1111/sode.12048 Weyns, T., Verschueren, K., Leflot, G., Onghena, P., Wouters, S., & Colpin, H. (2017).  The role of teacher behavior in children’s relational aggression development: A five-wave longitudinal study.  Journal of School Psychology 64, 17-27.  doi: 10.1007/s10826-017-0861-y   (#) Transcript Jen:...

It's already proven, there is really no debate....affection is crucial for a child's well being. The truth is we all want love and affection. Dads often have a harder time providing affection than moms do. Whether it was the fact that their dad was not affectionate, it feels awkward, or you just don't know. In episode 141 we discuss affection and it's importance for both you and your child. Psychologist Dr. Daniel Singley told us in our interview with him that touch literally changes the neural pathways in the brain. There is a research firm called Child Trends and they provided some insight on warmth and affection expressed by parents to their children: Overall it results in life-long positive outcomes for those children. Here are a couple of things they say it improves: Higher self-esteem Improved academic performance Better parent-child communication Fewer psychological and behavior problems On the other hand, children who do not have affectionate parents tend to have: Lower self-esteem Feel more alienated Are more hostile and aggressive And are more anti-social Seems like a pretty good argument for providing your child affection. So what can dads do to be more affectionate: Babies Give them a massage Hold them more Use a baby holder or harness on your body Tickling Simple kisses and hugs As they get older: Hold hands - Toddlers will allow it but as they get older they may not want to Sit on the couch watching TV with your arm around them Hugs and kisses Sit on lap Lie in bed reading Older Kids Hugs Kisses if they will still let you Hand on their shoulder Sit on lap Lie in bed I notice times when I will consciously make more effort to be affectionate, my kids are in turn more affectionate. I think that happens with the wife too. Here is also a couple of tips: Go slow - you may overwhelm them if they are not used to too much affection. Model the behavior - you should also be affectionate with your wife.

It's already proven, there is really no debate....affection is crucial for a child's well being. The truth is we all want love and affection. Dads often have a harder time providing affection than moms do. Whether it was the fact that their dad was not affectionate, it feels awkward, or you just don't know.  In episode 141 we discuss affection and it's importance for both you and your child. Psychologist Dr. Daniel Singley told us in our interview with him that touch literally changes the neural pathways in the brain. There is a research firm called Child Trends and they provided some insight on warmth and affection expressed by parents to their children: Overall it results in life-long positive outcomes for those children. Here are a couple of things they say it improves: Higher self-esteem Improved academic performance Better parent-child communication Fewer psychological and behavior problems On the other hand, children who do not have affectionate parents tend to have: Lower self-esteem Feel more alienated Are more hostile and aggressive And are more anti-social Seems like a pretty good argument for providing your child affection. So what can dads do to be more affectionate: Babies Give them a massage Hold them more Use a baby holder or harness on your body Tickling Simple kisses and hugs As they get older: Hold hands - Toddlers will allow it but as they get older they may not want to Sit on the couch watching TV with your arm around them Hugs and kisses Sit on lap Lie in bed reading Older Kids Hugs Kisses if they will still let you Hand on their shoulder Sit on lap Lie in bed I notice times when I will consciously make more effort to be affectionate, my kids are in turn more affectionate. I think that happens with the wife too. Here is also a couple of tips: Go slow - you may overwhelm them if they are not used to too much affection. Model the behavior - you should also be affectionate with your wife.

Frank Walter is the Vice President for Strategic Communications for Child Trends, a locally-based, national organization that works to improve the lives of all children and their families. As a data and research-driven organization, they work to disseminate information that can benefit children and families and dispel information that is incorrect or leads to harmful practices. While many organizations and publications are reluctant to publish negative findings, Child Trends is working to democratize the process and they make all of their findings available to their thousands of followers and supporters. We address the challenges of coming from a PR background and being a guest on a podcast with little idea what the hosts may ask.  Child Trends is the nation’s leading nonprofit research organization focused exclusively on improving the lives and prospects of children and youth; is #18 and #39 in the country for best places to work for recent grads and women (http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/child-trends); and is growing so check the website for job postings http://www.childtrends.org/careers.

At the dawn of a new Congress and presidential administration, Child Trends On Topic discusses a topic that has dominated recent discussions around school safety: bullying. Our guest is Dr. Deborah Temkin, program area director for Education at Child Trends and a nationally recognized expert on bullying prevention. Here, she discusses the past, present, and future of this hot-button topic, including recommendations for incoming policymakers.

On Through the Noise, we've have the opportunity to engage Executive Directors, COOs, Communications Directors, In-field Staff, and neary every staff position essential to running an effective non-profit organization. Though we've recorded over 200 episodes with different non-profit guests, we have never hosted a Board member. Until now. Please welcome Fred Bollerer, Treasurer of the Board for Child Trends, an organization we're pleased to welcome back to the show. This is an excellent opportunity to hear from the perspective of someone so deeply committed to the mission of the organization that they donate their expertise for free. Mr. Bollerer has worked in the financial sector for most of his career and thrives most when he is fixing organizations that are floundering. He points out that non-profits are currently providing 85% of social services in the U.S. -- so how can we make them most effective? Is your organization ready to hire a new Executive Director or other members of the Executive Team? You won't want to miss this episode to hear from a seasoned Executive on what qualities are most essential for good leaders and the changing nature of funding. "Fred had 32 years in banking with the last position of President and CEO of Riggs Bank until 1997. Then very active in running and serving on the boards of several non-profits and for-profits retiring for the fifth time as Executive Director and President of the Corcoran Museum of Art and the Corcoran College of Art and Design in July, 2013. " Child Trends is the nation’s leading nonprofit research organization focused exclusively on improving the lives and prospects of children and youth; is #18 and #39 in the country for best places to work for recent grads and women (http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/child-trends); and is growing so check the website for job postings www.childtrends.org/careers.

Today we're joined by Natalia Pane of Child Trends who manages to make even the Government Accoutability Movement sound compelling. As Senior Vice President for Research and Operations, Ms. Pane has her hand in many facets of running the nonprofit Child Trends -- a research organization focused on improving the lives of children and their families. As a research organization, their work can be considered successful even when they discover that something is not working -- when they can prove a program or strategy is ineffective or even harmful and eliminate it. This can have positive impacts for children, families, and other organizations by publishing the results and making them widely available, although as Ms. Pane points out, many publications are loathe to publish findings that are negative so they make their research known to their 25,000 subscribers and other followers. Beyond the research, Natalia Pane walks us through some of the ways Child Trend is succeeding on the human resources front and how they became listed as 39th best employer in the country for women.  For more than 20 years, Natalia Pane has worked closely with the leadership of government agencies, foundations, and nonprofits to collect and use better data—from federal statistics to performance measures—to improve children’s lives. Her work and commentary has appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribute, CNN, NBC News, and Huffington Post Parents amo­­­­­­­­ng others, and she now oversees about 110 research staff and is responsible for ensuring the effective management, strategic growth, and quality of research and workplace at Child Trends Child Trends is the nation’s leading nonprofit research organization focused exclusively on improving the lives and prospects of children and youth; is #18 and #39 in the country for best places to work for recent grads and women (http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/child-trends); and is growing so check the website for job postings www.childtrends.org/careers.

Why do we separate teens from adults so much? Is it the sheer fact of age and experience or the negative connotation of the word? Tonight we are going to see why teenagers have gotten such a bad rap and inform our audience that our youth is going in the right direction. Stats (Teens Today Are Actually Good – 7 Positive Trends Prove It) Teens are typically characterized as self-involved, reckless, and only interested in “sharing” on their phones, but the youth of today, in reality, are actually behaving more virtuously than they have in a long time. Statistics tell an optimistic story. From smoking and drug use to unwanted pregnancies and abortions, the trends today show most teenagers making good choices. They are even volunteering in their communities more than ever before. =>Smoking has become uncool. According to national CDC statistics, cigarette smoking among high school students is at the lowest level in 22 years. The rate was cut almost in half, leaving just 15.7 percent of teens smoking in 2013. =>Drunk driving is far less common. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey has revealed that at half as many high school students say they got behind the wheel drunk in 2011 compared to 1991. =>Drug abuse is down. Recreational use of prescription pain relievers continue a three year decline, part of an overall two-decade trend. The number of high school kids using was 33% lower than a decade ago, according to a recently released national survey, Monitoring the Future. The survey noted that marijuana use remained stable, even with the increase of states allowing recreational use. =>Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion has plummeted. Teen pregnancy has declined almost continuously for more than two decades, plummeting from 61 to 26 births per thousand girls, according to federal health statistics. Also, the rate of abortions among women under 20 has fallen since it peaked in the early 1990s, according to 2014 research by the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute. =>Kids are hanging in there until graduation. Efforts to keep teens in school are paying off. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported the high school dropout rate has decreased from 12 percent in 1990 to 7 percent in 2012. Today’s teens regularly volunteer more. A higher number of teens in twelfth-grade are volunteering at least once per month. The proportion rose from 24 percent in 1991 to 37 percent in 2012, according to Child Trends. The nonprofit research center that tracks youth trends says it is an encouraging trend, “Teens who volunteer are more likely to have positive academic, psychological, and occupational well-being.” Armed with these positive trends, the next time you hear complaints about “today’s youth” you can inject the conversation with a few rays of hope.

New research points to soft skills as an important indicator for success in the workplace. Jonathan Finkelstein, founder and CEO of Credly, and Laura Lippman, senior fellow at Child Trends, discuss digital badging as a way to document these currently amorphous workplace skills in this Economic Development podcast.

Unrestrained, Episode 8 – Deborah Temkin, child development research scientist and bullying prevention advocate, talks about her work with Child Trends and stopbullying.gov.