The Foster Youth Initiative’s evaluation partner, Child Trends, conducts evaluation activities, elevates findings to inform Strategy25, and disseminates learning to the Initiative, its grantee partners, and the broader child welfare field. This report summarizes progress made in 2021 and 2022 toward the Foster Youth Initiative’s Strategy25 five-year goals in Los Angeles County and New York City. In 2022, the Foster Youth Initiative expanded its work to Atlanta, Georgia to support its national field-building efforts. Progress in this new jurisdiction will be included in future annual evaluation reports.
Youth- and caregiver-level outcomes are presented to assess whether the systems responsible for the care and education of transition-age foster youth have made improvements and where significant reforms still need to occur. Levers of systems change are used to provide context for the outcomes presented. The six levers include:
- System reform efforts
- Practice interventions
- Youth voice
- Strategies to improve outcomes for focal populations (youth of color, expectant and parenting youth, commercially sexually exploited youth, and LGBTQ+ youth)
- Research and evaluation
- Foundation leadership
In addition to the progress, barriers, and opportunities detailed in the report, Child Trends and its youth advisory board outlined recommendations for the Initiative’s continued implementation of Strategy25.