In this edition Forward to a Friend » Events July 15 Web Conference: Extending Foster Care to Age 21 Audio Recording: Monitoring Child Outcomes across Health, Education, and Child Welfare Research Study Presents a Framework for Monitoring Local Child Welfare Agencies Issue Brief Weighs Benefits and Costs for States Extending Foster Care to Age 21 Inside the Research: Educational Achievement Is Lower for Homeless Youth at All Grades Features Spotlight: Chapin Hall's International Network of Child Policy Research Centers Quick Links Events July 15, 2009 July 15 Web Conference: Extending Foster Care to Age 21: Benefits, Costs, and Opportunities for States Research conducted by Chapin Hall and others shows that foster youth who are allowed to stay care beyond age 18--when most states end guardianship--are more likely to go to college and derive other benefits.   On July 15, senior researcher Amy Dworsky and a panel of experts will examine this fast evolving area of child welfare policy and practice. Panelists will analyze short- and long-term financial implications of extending care to age 21 and will share research findings about what we know--and don't know--about programming designed to help foster youth make the transition to adulthood. Register for web conference. Read related Chapin Hall publications by Amy Dworsky: Extending Foster Care to Age 21: Weighing the Costs to Government against the Benefits to Youth, Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth, and Helping Former Foster Youth Graduate from College. June 4, 2009 Audio Recording:  Health, Education, and Child Welfare: Measuring Outcomes across Systems On June 4, this Thursday's Child policy forum and webcast explored the need to monitor outcomes for children and youth across the systems that serve them. Chapin Hall research fellow Fred Wulczyn and other experts from the education, healthcare, and child welfare fields examined differences and commonalities among the performance measures used by these sectors. Chapin Hall's executive director, Matthew Stagner, moderated the discussion. Listen to the recording at chapinhall.org. Read related Chapin Hall publications by Fred Wulczyn: Monitoring Child Welfare Programs and Getting What We Pay For. Research Study Presents a Framework for Monitoring Local Child Welfare Agencies In this Chapin Hall report, researchers present a framework that state and local child welfare agencies might use to monitor their return on investments in child welfare services. The study examines the complexities associated with understanding system performance and determining whether the improvements are connected to changes in how resources are invested. Read Finding the Return on Investment: A Framework for Monitoring Local Child Welfare Agencies by Fred Wulczyn, Britany Orlebeke, and Jennifer Haight. Issue Brief Weighs Benefits and Costs for States Extending Foster Care to Age 21 This Chapin Hall issue brief provides preliminary estimates of what the potential costs to government and benefits to young people would be for states that extend foster care to age 21. Researchers project increases in postsecondary educational attainment associated with allowing foster youth to remain in care until they are 21 years old, resulting in greater lifetime earnings. Researchers estimate that lifetime earnings would increase an average of two dollars for every dollar spent on keeping foster youth in care beyond age 18. This information can be useful for policymakers in light of the passage of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. Read Extending Foster Care to Age 21: Weighing the Costs to Government against the Benefits to Youth by Clark M. Peters, Amy Dworsky, Mark E. Courtney, and Harold Pollack. Inside the Research: Educational Achievement Is Lower for Homeless Youth at All Grades According to recent estimates, 1.35 million children in the U. S. experience homelessness each year. Yet very few studies describe these children and their educational experiences, and little is known that can inform the development of effective policies and programs. To begin to close this knowledge gap, Chapin Hall analyzed administrative data from the Chicago Public Schools and from Inner Voice, an agency that supports homeless Chicagoans. Read Educational Achievement Is Lower for Homeless Youth at All Grades by Amy Dworsky. Features Spotlight: Chapin Hall's International Network of Child Policy Research Centers Chapin Hall Research Fellow Robert Chaskin, director of the International Network, talks about providing a space for peer learning about policy and research issues that span political borders. Current member centers are based in Brazil, England, India, Ireland, Israel, Northern Ireland, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States. Read about the early and current work of the International Network of Child Policy Research Centers at chapinhall.org. Quick Links Visit the Chapin Hall website Register for a Chapin Hall event Browse Chapin Hall research Meet Chapin Hall researchers Subscribe to the Chapin Hall Alert For More Information Contact: Marc van Bree Public Affairs Associate mvanbree@chapinhall.org Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 1313 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 Phone: 773.753.5900 www.chapinhall.org

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