Center for the Study of Social Policy

05/01/2026

This is what it looks like when young people are co-designing policy solutions! CSSP’s CARES initiative, a partnership with transition-aged youth, is proud to be advancing policy solutions that would better support young people in their community.

While Chafee reforms are one piece of the puzzle, CARES Ambassadors are reimaging how policy can support young people to achieve stable housing, ensure they are healthy, and have access to the resources they need to thrive in their communities.

Learn more about the CARES Initiative’s National Policy Agenda: https://lnkd.in/gCaCsxsc

04/30/2026

Yesterday, the House Ways & Means Committee held a Markup and passed out of committee six bills to support youth aging out of foster care, including the CONNECT Act. Together these bills represent crucial legislation that would help youth aging out of foster care to build meaningful connections and support networks they need to succeed by:

➡️ Expanding the purpose of Chafee to include mentoring and peer support as youth navigating the transition to adulthood
➡️ Promoting solutions to ensure young people can access housing supports
➡️ Extending eligibility for services to ensure young people have the supports needed while navigating the transition to adulthood
➡️ Removing barriers for young people working to achieve their education and career goals

As CSSP and the transition-age youth we work with to co-design and advance policy solutions that reimagine how systems and communities support young people, we're proud to support this bill and are grateful to Representative Gwen Moore for her leadership and unwavering commitment as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth.

Every young person deserves a support system to help them thrive.

04/14/2026

We believe in the promise of a healthy and thriving democracy.

We’re focused on advancing economic justice, health justice, and family autonomy, with an unwavering commitment to racial justice.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to follow our progress, and stay informed through our latest research, events, and resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001RitBbfaXOpk2T1NQBP8M5qumxJzdsxgD8wIN4vg9Fze0MeURNXXJ_i1g2X2MZzXHE-MAb4J52HDuRL-PkW1XinYxfs_4RfnEfvdIzSdLFEk%3D

Learn more about how we're translating ideas into action: https://youtu.be/7TnOlPvesrQ?si=FKRjgE4CdmyLcyG2

At CSSP, we work to transform systems and strengthen communities by developing and implementing policies and practices that promote justice, advance equity, ...

04/03/2026

In Tuesday’s Chiles v. Salazar decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a petitioner who challenged Colorado’s 2019 ban on "conversion therapy," a practice that undermines the healthy development of a child or youth who identifies as LGBTQIA+. “Conversion therapy” has rightly been rejected by major medical and mental health associations as unethical and harmful.

We are deeply disappointed by the ruling and concerned about the message this sends to states and LGBTQIA+ youth. As Justice Jackson shared in her dissent, the decision “ultimately risks grave harm to Americans’ health and wellbeing.”

Read our full statement here: https://cssp.org/conversion-is-not-care-a-response-to-the-supreme-courts-decision-in-chiles-v-salazar/

04/03/2026

As mission-driven leaders continue to face challenges, such as diminishing resources, increasing attacks on inclusivity and justice, and staff under growing restrictions, we turn to coaching as a sustainable way forward.

Working with one of our key partner organizations serving children and families, we saw firsthand how individual and group coaching supported leaders in:

- Finding clarity
- Deepening self-awareness
- Strengthening relationships
- Aligning around shared goals to advance justice.

Learn more from Senior Program Analyst, Danielle Marie Sherman, MPH, RCHES, about 1:1 or group coaching as a proven tool for stronger leadership: https://cssp.org/unlocking-the-power-of-leadership-coaching-to-advance-justice/

03/25/2026

Tomorrow, March 26 at 3:00 pm ET, join CSSP Senior Program Analysts Esther Hernandez and Arthur Argomaniz for our next interactive Strengthening Families webinar.

As an attendee of Parents Leading the Way: Lessons from Parent-Led Community Projects, you’ll discover how parent leadership drives action and learn how to meaningfully co-design projects and initiatives with the families you serve. 

After you register, please share the event with your networks. We hope to see you there!

https://ctfalliance.zoom.us/meeting/register/uWjNIjL0Qx6O6OuAOM4gUQ #/registration

03/25/2026

Senior Policy Analyst Esi Hutchful and CARES Ambassador Jada Brigman co-presented at the National Network For Youth’s annual National Summit on Youth Homelessness. Addressing agency staff, service providers, advocates, and transition-age youth, Esi and Jada highlighted how recent policy changes to SNAP and Medicaid, such as the expansion of work reporting requirements, will harm young adults.

Using CARES’ youth-centered and anti-racist policy framework, they shared how agencies and other stakeholders can protect food and health benefits for young people.

✔️Read more about the solutions that reimagine how policy supports transition-age youth here: https://cares4power.org/national-policy-agenda/

➕Review the steps states can take now to promote access to healthy food for young people in response to SNAP policy changes: https://cssp.org/protecting-access-to-snap-for-youth-aging-out-of-foster-care-critical-strategies-for-state-implementation/

03/24/2026

Every young person needs their community’s support during their transition to adulthood. For the 15 to 20 thousand young people that age out of foster care each year, system failures mean they are often left to navigate this critically important transition alone. They deserve better.

The John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (Chafee) was designed to support young people as they navigate the complex transition to adulthood by providing access to critical education and employment resources and support for expenses related to independent living. When young people are able to access Chafee-funded supports, research shows young people achieve long-term independence and experience positive wellbeing outcomes.

Unfortunately, the program does not currently meet young people’s clear needs as many states underutilize these federal funds, and are then forced to return their unused allocation to the federal government. These Chafee dollars are left unspent not because young people do not need support, but because there is a disconnect between what young people need and the requirements of the various programs available to them.

Opportunities exist to modernize and leverage Chafee to promote wellbeing and success. To ensure policy effectively supports young people policymakers should amend Chafee to:

1. Extend Chafee support for young people through age 27
2. Promote connections to community-based resources through creating a navigator program
3 Amend ETV program requirements to promote long-term goals identified by young people
4. Support wellbeing for young people by investing in responsive community-based supports
5. Guarantee a strong foundation through providing direct cash assistance
6. Leravage technology to provide real-time support while ensuring privacy
7. Strengthen accountability to young people in structure and implementation

Download the brief: https://cssp.org/resource/aligning-chafee-funding-to-support-wellbeing-and-success-for-young-people-during-their-transition-to-adulthood/

03/23/2026

Earlier this month Alex Citrin, Director of Family Autonomy and Child Welfare Policy and Esi Hutchful, Senior Policy Analyst, facilitated a learning session to members of the judiciary, attorneys, and social workers offered through the Judicial Council of California’s Center for Families, Children, and the Court.

The learning session focused on providing participants with strategies grounded in cultural values to better support children and families involved with the child welfare system.

Alex and Esi provided an overview of the child welfare system, reviewing current national and state-level child welfare data contextualized within the historical roots of the child welfare system, to support participants in understanding how the system’s racist roots are driving the inequities experienced by families.

Importantly, the learning session provided an opportunity to discuss systems-level strategies to promote child wellbeing and support for families in their communities, including around family-centered, culturally responsive practices in court proceedings.

In the session, Alex and Esi highlighted findings from CSSP’s research, as represented in the reports:

- Entangled Roots: The Role of Race in Policies that Separate Families: https://cssp.org/resource/entangled-roots/

- Systemically Neglected: How Racism Structures Public Systems to Produce Child Neglect: https://cssp.org/resource/systemically-neglected/

- Culture is Healing: Removing the Barriers Facing Providers of Culturally Responsive Services: https://cssp.org/resource/culture-is-healing/

By examining the roots of policies that separate families and their entanglement with racial prejudice and discrimination, this report makes the case that we must embrace an alternative path. (26pp)  

03/23/2026

For 15 years, First 5 LA's Best Start initiative has been one of the largest and longest-running place-based investments in young children and families in Los Angeles County. The CSSP team had the wonderful privilege of exploring its evolution and impact.

Last month, Aurea Montes-Rodriguez, Vice President of Community Engagement and Policy; Juanita Gallion, Director, Capacity Building & Leadership Development, and Liz Squibb, Senior Associate, Center for the Study of Social Policy presented key findings to the First 5 LA Board of Commissioners:

🌀 Best Start evolved from coordination and direct services into a regional, systems-change approach rooted in equity. Authentic partnerships were built with community voices at the center, even through COVID, wildfires, and immigration raids.

🌀 More than 90 people joined virtually and over 50 joined a standing-room-only space.

🌀 Mothers, community leaders, regional organizations, and even a 4th grader shared how Best Start positively shaped their lives.

Best Start's work is an illustration of a model that works, and offers a roadmap for funders and policymakers everywhere.

💡 Read more in our blog: https://cssp.org/reflecting-on-first-5-las-15-year-best-start-investment-lessons-for-place-based-change/
📩 Download the full report: https://cssp.org/resource/best-start-insights-from-a-15-year-investment-in-communities-to-inform-future-direction/

03/23/2026

Tomorrow! Join a virtual, parent-led workshop hosted by the ABC Coalition's parent advisory board. This is a workshop for parents, by parents, to share what is new with the Child Tax Credit, answer questions, and discuss how to make the most of the benefits you may qualify for.

📅 Tuesday, March 24
🕕 6 - 7 pm ET
💻 Zoom

https://cssp.zoom.us/meeting/register/mjm0a2-xSHyyexwqrdMDlQ?_x_zm_rtaid=grY9rHmIQTKhzECpGxvcRA.1771868800829.2dc4683fe82f9241207cb467d009c9a5&_x_zm_rhtaid=966 #/registration

03/20/2026

Yesterday, Alexandra Citrin, Director of Family Autonomy and Child Welfare Policy and Jada Brigman, CARES Ambassador, met with co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, Representative S. Moore’s office to discuss opportunities to strengthen the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood.

Alex and Jada shared specific recommendations to promote long-term success and wellbeing through:

1) Extending and aligning all Chafee supports for youth through their 27th birthday.

2) Amending ETV requirements to ensure financial support is meaningful and reflects the increase in cost for attending school and removing administrative barriers to allow young people to pursue their educational and career goals.

3) Providing states with flexibility to implement strategies and supports that promote youth wellbeing as they transition to adulthood.

As Jada shared, “it’s about making the available supports meet our needs – we need to be speaking the same language.”

Supported by the N. Hilton Foundation, CSSP and the CARES Ambassadors are reimagining a society where policy supports the wellbeing of transition-aged youth.

For more details on CSSP and CARES recommendations to leverage Chafee to support young people transitioning from foster care, please read our brief here: https://cssp.org/resource/aligning-chafee-funding-to-support-wellbeing-and-success-for-young-people-during-their-transition-to-adulthood/