Child Trends

05/13/2026

Adolescents have competing priorities during their after-school time, so program developers and evaluation researchers sometimes struggle to maintain consistent participant attendance. Child Trends’ new blog shares strategies that youth-serving adults can use to keep young people engaged throughout the duration of a voluntary after-school program. These strategies are drawn from the evaluation of Many Ways of Being, an innovative s*x education curriculum—developed by Equimundo and delivered by the Latin American Youth Center as an after-school program to adolescents ages 15-19—that has maintained an attendance rate of 73 percent.

Although our focus was on the MWB s*x education program, we think these strategies are more broadly applicable to youth-serving programs and evaluations and hope they can help other researchers and practitioners develop and refine strategies for keeping youth engaged in after-school curricula.
https://www.childtrends.org/publications/5-lessons-engaging-youth-participants-education-program

05/11/2026

Child Trends and RAND analyzed nearly 30 years of data following young adults from low-income backgrounds and examining how public benefit programs and financial aid shape their college experiences and long-term economic well-being. Based on our analyses, we recommend five actions that higher education practitioners can take to support sustained economic mobility for students from low-income backgrounds.

1. Actively connect students to public benefits.

2. Structure financial aid and communicate aid packages transparently to make sustained full-time enrollment financially feasible.

3. Invest in work experiences that build students’ credentials and careers.

4. Expand support for students pursuing education part-time.

5. Reduce administrative barriers to continuous enrollment.
https://www.childtrends.org/publications/public-benefits-financial-aid-support-education-low-income-young-adults

05/08/2026

A Child Trends blog post shares lessons from Phase 1 of Generation Work, an Annie E. Casey Foundation initiative that aimed to connect more of America’s young adults with meaningful employment by changing the ways public and private systems prepare them for success in the workplace.

Read Lessons From Generation Work on Incorporating Positive Youth Development Into Employment Training from Child Trends.

05/07/2026

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) implemented nearly 30 initiatives and distributed more than $2 billion in relief funding from March 2020 to April 2024 to stabilize the early care and education (ECE) industry and support young children and their families. Child Trends’ recent evaluation of the DECAL program found that stabilization funds helped programs remain open, that most teachers used workforce bonus payments for necessities, and that expanded child care subsidy eligibility and the temporary removal of family fees increased access to free child care. Relief funds also helped providers retain staff, avoid layoffs, delay or prevent closure, make facility repairs and improvements, and continue quality improvement activities.

Learn about Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning Research, a Child Trends research project.

05/06/2026

According to recent Child Trends analysis, in state fiscal year (SFY) 2022, child welfare agencies across the country reported spending a collective $1.2 billion in federal Medicaid funds for child welfare activities. Child welfare agencies use Medicaid—which covers health-related services for millions of individuals with low incomes to fund the treatment portions of child welfare programs, targeted case management, and services for children in treatment or therapeutic foster homes.
https://www.childtrends.org/publications/child-welfare-agencies-use-of-medicaid-has-increased-since-2012

05/05/2026

Nearly half of U.S. child welfare agencies’ spending is on out-of-home placements, according to new Child Trends analysis. This category includes costs associated with family-based foster care, congregate care placements, services for children in out-of-home placements and their families, and associated administrative costs. While this distribution of spending has held relatively steady over recent years, child welfare agencies have been trying, when possible, to prioritize prevention more than out-of-home placements.
https://www.childtrends.org/publications/the-largest-share-of-child-welfare-spending-is-out-of-home-placements

05/04/2026

The federal A Home for Every Child initiative has already moved from concept to implementation, with at least 17 states having officially joined so far. Renewed attention to prevention, kinship placement, and timely permanency has highlighted gaps between what existing federal data can tell us and what federal, state, and Tribal decision makers need to understand to act effectively and be able to demonstrate their progress toward the initiative's goals.

Our experts present a framework for measuring progress toward A Home for Every Child, including important data considerations, organized around key decision points. We also outline several action items for strengthening measurement and collaborating across the child welfare field.
https://www.childtrends.org/publications/current-data-help-measure-progress-home-for-every-child

05/04/2026

Researchers need strong enrollment numbers to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of their programs, but they often face challenges in recruiting youth into voluntary after-school programs. Child Trends’ new blog post shares five key lessons for recruiting and enrolling adolescents in voluntary programs, drawn from our evaluation of Many Ways of Being (MWB)—an innovative s*x education curriculum developed by Equimundo and delivered by the Latin American Youth Center as an after-school program to adolescents ages 15-19.

Although MWB is a s*x education program, the following strategies are more broadly applicable to youth-serving programs and evaluations, particularly in after-school settings. We hope they can help other researchers and practitioners develop and refine effective strategies for youth recruitment.

Read Strategies for Recruiting Youth for After-School Programs from Child Trends.

05/01/2026

Young adult workers bring unique and valuable perspectives to challenges that employers face in attracting and retaining young workers, but many employers don’t effectively include their voices in decisions that impact the workplace. Child Trends’ resource provides strategies for workforce development program staff to help employers have open and productive conversations with young adult workers.

The Generation Work™ initiative—launched by the Annie E. Casey Foundation—aimed to connect America’s young workers with meaningful employment. One strategy Generation Work partnerships used was to facilitate opportunities for employers to connect with young adult workers to better understand their needs and perspectives.

Read Tipsheets for Workforce Development Program Staff to Prepare Employers and Young Workers for Conversations from Child Trends.

04/30/2026

Child Trends' and RAND Corporation’s comprehensive study of a cohort of youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds reveals how major public benefit programs and financial aid shape educational decisions and long-term earnings for this population. We analyzed data across nearly three decades, from young adulthood through approximately age 40. We found that:

1. Public benefits—specifically the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—increase the likelihood that young adults from low-income backgrounds enroll in education beyond high school.

2. Public benefits and financial aid shape educational pathways in distinct but complementary ways.

3. Receiving public benefits and financial aid while enrolled strongly predicts degree completion.

4. Facilitated by public benefits and financial aid, degrees deliver substantial mid-life economic returns.

Read Public Benefits and Financial Aid Support Education Beyond High School and Long-Term Economic Well-Being for Low-Income Young Adults from Child Trends.