Making Extended Care Work for Foster Youth in Transition

NYU Silver Associate Professor Michelle R. Munson is partnering with University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration Professor Mark Courtney, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College Assistant Professor Colleen Cary Katz, and the Urban Institute to host a two-day working meeting of some of the field’s top researchers focused on advancing knowledge to improve the lives of older youth in foster care.

Federal and state policies in the last decade have enabled young people in many parts of the country to remain in the foster care system until age 21 instead of being abruptly severed from its supports at age 18. “While research helped inform these policy changes,” Dr. Munson said, “there are continued gaps in our knowledge, particularly on how to most effectively help older youth in extended care to prepare for and address common young adult challenges in areas including housing, employment, education, health, and social relationships.”

The meeting builds on the conference Making Extended Care Work for Foster Youth in Transition: The State of the Evidence that Drs. Courtney and Munson led in 2016. It will feature presentations on current research efforts, new federal initiatives, and emerging data and trends, as well as small group sessions in which participating researchers with similar interests explore areas of inquiry and opportunities for collaboration.

The meeting will be held January 10-11, 2018 in Washington, DC, where many of the world’s leading social work researchers will be gathering for the Society for Social Work and Research’s 2018 Annual Conference.