The Colorado Lab is guiding and coordinating the ongoing rigorous evaluation of evidence-based services that are part of Colorado’s Family First Prevention Services Plan, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Human Services. In our October newsletter, the Colorado Lab released a call for external research partners to support us in executing our evidence-building work […]
Youth
Building an Evidence Base for Family First Prevention Services
The Family First Prevention Services Act incentivizes state systems and local agencies to move intentionally toward child welfare approaches that prioritize keeping kids safe and families together. This legislation authorizes federal reimbursement to states for the delivery of evidence-based services aimed at preventing the need for foster care. Eligibility for these federal funds requires ensuring […]
School Counselor Corps Grant Program Evaluation
Nationally, COVID-19 has highlighted the instability of relying on a small number of school counselors to guide hundreds of students through changing academic hurdles, prepare them for an uncertain future, and triage increasing mental health challenges. Colorado has one of the lower students-per-counselor ratios nationally—with 295 students per counselor in the 2019-20 school year—in part […]
Fostering Opportunities: Closing the High School Graduation Gap for Youth Who Experience Foster Care
Only one in four Colorado students who experience foster care during high school graduate with their class. Most interventions aimed at improving the graduation rates of youth who experience foster care are spearheaded by child welfare agencies or the judicial system with services typically ending when students exit the foster care system. Yet there is evidence […]
Barriers to Higher Education: Learning from the Experience of Foster Youth in the Time of the Pandemic
As the pandemic challenges all students seeking to succeed in college, a new study examines the barriers that young people in foster care have long faced, and the supports that make a difference for them. These findings guide the way to the policies and practices that will benefit all youth in these difficult times. From […]
Fostering Opportunities: Stories of Success
As the nation celebrates the class of 2020 and the resilience of graduates during a worldwide pandemic, it can be easy to forget that some students face huge challenges to high school graduation even in “normal” times. Living in foster care can make school feel like a perpetual marathon. In Jefferson County, a program called […]
Chronicle of Social Change: A Philanthropic Partner for Building the Family First Arsenal
The Chronicle of Social Change featured an article on the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), a 2018 act aimed at expanded Title IV-E prevention services to strengthen families. The Colorado Lab’s Deputy Director, Dr. Elysia Clemens, and a member of our University of Denver community, Dr. Heather Taussig, shed light on FFPSA. Article: A Philanthropic […]