Annie E. Casey Foundation

How can nonprofits become healthier, more collaborative organizations? A recent webinar explored how nonprofits are adopting shared leadership models to ease burnout, strengthen teams and help organizations thrive. Watch the recording to learn how nonprofit leaders in Baltimore are putting these models into practice.

Child poverty in the United States swung from historic lows to troubling highs in just a few years. In 2021, with pandemic relief and an expanded child tax credit, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) showed child poverty at 5% — the lowest rate on record. By 2024, it had nearly tripled to 13%, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Without key economic policies like tax credits, housing assistance and SNAP, child poverty would have reached 25%, adding 8.5 million more children in poverty. Read the full KIDS COUNT® Data Snapshot to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eYWxgE3G

Nearly 1 in 4 students nationwide now miss more than 10% of school days, a sharp increase since the COVID-19 pandemic. This has raised questions among educators, districts and policymakers: Do students really need to be in school every day? Early findings from a University of Chicago Consortium on School Research study show the answer is yes. The link between attendance, grades and test performance is just as strong as it was before the pandemic. Regular attendance remains critical to student success at every age.

Earlier this month, 22 young leaders with foster care experience joined us in Baltimore for the Youth Leadership Institute. Young advocates from around the country met to build their skills and connect with others working to improve opportunities for young people. They spent the week learning about using data, telling their stories and engaging in systems change, as well as how to take care of themselves while doing this work.

Young people are ready to work. Are we ready to help them thrive? Unemployment has risen sharply for workers in their late teens and 20s, a troubling trend driven by fewer openings, limited turnover and rapid changes in technology. Too often, though, the conversation focuses on what’s wrong with Gen Z instead of what we can do to unlock their potential. Brain science tells us ages 14–24 are prime years for learning and growth. Lisa Lawson shares that young people are crave responsibility and the chance to prove themselves, and with the right support, they can contribute to a successful workplace.

Public assistance programs help families with low incomes cover basic living costs and give children the resources and opportunities they need to grow. Children in families that benefit from these supports are more likely to do well in school and have better health. See more data in our KIDS COUNT® Data Center: https://lnkd.in/eWnPGMD7

How can child welfare leaders work side by side with young people who have been in foster care? A new curriculum — Elevating Youth Engagement (EYE) — gives child welfare leaders, youth-serving organizations and communities practical tools to build stronger, more authentic partnerships with young adults with foster care experience. EYE also helps young people build the skills and confidence to take part in shaping the policies and services that affect their lives. The curriculum was created by the Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative® and partner Cetera, Inc. Learn more in this video from Casey’s Alex Lohrbach, and access the full curriculum today: https://lnkd.in/eQBif6Vz

The child welfare system is complex and often hard to navigate. For reporters, the challenge is clear: how do you write about such an opaque system responsibly? Training from Poynter Institute offers advice for journalists covering their local child welfare agencies.

In search of "skills for thriving" for young people? Many of those are found outdoors! See this new study -- The Nature of the Outdoors: Stronger Youth Development Through Exploration -- produced by the YMCA of the USA with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The study features data from Hello Insight, an online platform that can help youth-serv­ing orga­ni­za­tions assess out­comes and adapt pro­grams to bet­ter sup­port young people’s well-being. #Evidence #PositiveYouthDevelopment https://lnkd.in/eWp-UWeT