The following resources present information on effective programs and promising strategies for working with youth transitioning to adulthood. Resources include State and local examples.
Community Solutions for Opportunity Youth: Final Report (PDF - 4,895 KB)
The White House Council for Community Solutions (2012)
Identifies elements of successful community solutions; highlights best practices, tools, and models of cross-sector collaboration; and makes recommendations on how to continue elevating the national awareness of the issues facing opportunity youth.
Transitional Youth Services: Practice Implications From a Systematic Review
Naccarato & DeLorenzo
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 25(4), 2008
View Abstract
Summarizes 19 studies of Independent Living programs and provides evidence-based implications for each in an effort to begin to fill the gaps between research, policy, and practice when serving transitioning youth.
Transitions to Adulthood: Programs That Work
Promising Practices Network, New York Office of Children and Family Services
Describes promising programs that serve youth transitioning to adulthood and links to reports addressing data, research, and implementation.
Youth Aging Out of Foster Care: Identifying Strategies and Best Practices: 2007-2008 Presidential Initiative (PDF - 396 KB)
National Association of Counties (2008)
Outlines the current Federal framework addressing youth aging out of foster care, identifies general outcomes for this population, and highlights model programs and best practices that are addressing their needs in an innovative way.
Youth Conferencing: Implementation Experiences and Future Directions (PDF - 689 KB)
Howard (2013)
Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
Provides information about youth conferencing and how it can help youth aging out of foster care forge or renew effective and enduring connections with caring adults; the youth conferencing process; family involvement in a youth led process; and phases of the conferencing process. Youth conferencing models are presented and challenges and opportunities inherent in youth conferencing are also explored.
State and local examples
Adult Services Plan: Serving 18-25 Year-Olds: Best Practices (PDF - 1,223 KB)
Chief Probation Officers of California (2007)
Offers a strategic approach to meeting the needs of youth on probation. Appendices include evidence-based practice models, research references, and a logic model.
An Examination of Theory and Promising Practice for Achieving Permanency for Teens Before They Age Out of Foster Care (PDF - 255 KB)
Avery
Children and Youth Services Review, 32(3) 2010
Examines the efficacy and appropriateness of Independent Living services, reviews permanency that focuses on lifelong connections, and reports on a program for youth in residential treatment facilities and group homes in New York City aging out of care. The paper examines elements of the project model that were highly successful in achieving family-based permanency.