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Pathways to Success

Pathways to Success is an intensive, youth-driven case management model with the long-term goal of preventing homelessness among youth with foster care experience. The model is built around case managers, called Navigators, who are trained in a case management approach called Engaging Youth in a Coach-Like Way. In this approach, Navigators develop a coaching relationship to support youth. Youth direct the intervention by setting goals related to the outcome areas of housing, education, employment, health and well-being, and permanent connections. Meanwhile, Navigators deploy an individualized services array tailored to each youth’s needs, strengths, and goals. In addition to Engaging Youth in a Coach-like Way, Navigators use a variety of tools and resources to support youth in these domains, such as flex funds and referrals to relevant resources.

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Topic Areas

Housing and Supportive Housing Interventions
Scientific Rating NR

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

High

Foster Youth to Independence Initiative

Public housing agencies (PHAs) administer FYI in partnership with Public Child Welfare Agencies (PCWAs). The PCWA initially determines if the youth/young adult meets the FYI eligibility requirements, certifies that they are eligible, and refers them to the PHA. Once the PCWA makes the referral, the PHA places the FYI applicant on its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waiting list and determines whether they meet HCV program eligibility requirements, including income eligibility. The PHA conducts all other processes relating to voucher issuance and administration. In addition to rental assistance, supportive services must be provided to FYI participants by the PCWA for the first 18 months that they participate in the program. Examples of the skills targeted by these services include money management skills, job preparation, educational counseling, and proper nutrition and meal preparation.

FYI vouchers used by participant are limited, by statute, to 36 months of housing assistance. Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities (FSHO) provides an FYI participant an extension of the 36-month time limit for up to an additional 24 months if they meet certain requirements.

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Topic Areas

Housing and Supportive Housing Interventions
Scientific Rating NR

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

High

Housing Outreach Program – Collaborative

HOP-C is a critical time intervention that was developed in response to research outlining the psychosocial challenges faced by youth in the transition out of homelessness. HOP-C involves wraparound supports (e.g., intensive case management, specialized mental health support, and peer workers) that youth can engage with flexibly throughout their time in the project. HOP-C workers also coordinate with other professionals/agencies (e.g., existing case workers, housing workers, employment workers, etc.) to provide individualized support to each youth. Furthermore, peer workers organize and facilitate social outings and drop-ins for youth. The desired outcomes of this program relate to maintaining stable housing, pursuing/maintaining school/employment, improving mental health outcomes and promoting greater well-being and quality of life.

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Topic Areas

Housing and Supportive Housing Interventions
Scientific Rating NR

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

High

Family Unification Program

Public housing agencies (PHAs) administer FUP in partnership with Public Child Welfare Agencies (PCWAs). The PCWA initially determines if the family or youth meets the FUP eligibility requirements, certifies that the family or youth is eligible, and refers those families and youth to the PHA. Once the PCWA makes the referral, the PHA places the FUP applicant on its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waiting list and determines whether the family meets HCV program eligibility requirements, including income eligibility. The PHA conducts all other processes relating to voucher issuance and administration. The program does not require PCWAs to provide supportive services for families; however, PCWAs may make them available to families as well. Examples of the skills targeted by these supportive services can include money management skills, job preparation, educational counseling, and proper nutrition and meal preparation.

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Topic Areas

Housing and Supportive Housing Interventions
Scientific Rating 3

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

High

PreVenture®

PreVenture® is a prevention and early intervention program for youth aged 12 to 18 years. The program offers brief, workshops that teach personality-specific cognitive-behavioral skills to youth to promote mental health and reduce the risk of substance use.

PreVenture® aims to promote self-efficacy and cognitive-behavioral skills among youth to help them cope with the numerous developmental challenges that many young people face, such as academic stress, peer pressure, interpersonal conflict, and identity development. This personalized approach aims to empower young people to build resilience and develop effective coping strategies to help them better manage their personality style. The program is delivered in two 90-minute personality-focused workshops (either online or in-person) either in a school or community setting and involves group and individual exercises, is manual-based, but guided by a trained facilitator.

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Topic Areas

Substance Abuse Prevention (Child & Adolescent) Programs
Scientific Rating 1

Mental Health Prevention and/or Early Intervention (Child & Adolescent) Programs
Scientific Rating 1

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

Medium

Be Strong Families (BSF) Parent Café Program

The Be Strong Families’ (BSF) Parent Café Program is designed to provide a space for parents and caregivers to engage in facilitated, peer-driven discussions that foster self-reflection and strengthen protective factors for families. The program is built around the Strengthening Families Protective/Promotive Factors Framework and focuses on building connections between parents, promoting resilience, and developing strategies for addressing the challenges parents face. The Parent Café model is flexible and can be implemented in various settings, including schools, community organizations, and child welfare systems. Facilitators lead discussions, offer resources, and guide parents through topics that enhance parenting skills, create safer home environments, and support positive child outcomes.

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Topic Areas

Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (Primary) Programs
Scientific Rating NR

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

High

EQ2: Empowering Staff to Build Trauma-Informed Communities for Youth

EQ2: Empowering Staff to Build Trauma-Informed Communities for Youth is a 6-module, workforce self-regulation and support program that integrates cognitive-behavioral skills, mindfulness approaches, and restorative practices including Circles to support the delivery of trauma-informed care. The program is designed to builds staff’s awareness of their triggers, build the self-regulation skills that underlie the capacity to co-regulate with youth, cultivate reparative relationships, and model self-regulation skills for youth. The program also increases staff knowledge of trauma, including its impact on brain structure, behavior, and the brain’s neurobiological capacity to heal through relationships with regulated adults. The content of EQ2 is primarily disseminated and processed through restorative-based Circles which reduce the hierarchical structure implicit in most trainings, amplify the transmission of relational knowledge that many direct care staff possess, increase feelings of belongingness, and provide an opportunity for staff’s experiences to be acknowledged and validated, thereby reducing the impact of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and turnover. Mindfulness training builds staff’s capacity to identify triggers earlier in the stress-response cycle, while also building distress tolerance and acceptance skills shown to be associated with trauma-responsive behaviors.

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Topic Areas

Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs
Scientific Rating NR

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

High

Wysa

Wysa is an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven mental health support program designed to provide anonymous, 24/7 access to mental health care through conversational AI that guides users through exercises, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. The program is structured to help individuals manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other common mental health challenges.

Wysa is designed to create a supportive and nonjudgmental environment, offering personalized tools such as thought reframing, relaxation exercises, and goal setting to promote emotional well-being. The desired outcome after the usage of the app is the reduction of symptomatology linked to these common mental health concerns, and the improvement of well-being and resilience.

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Topic Areas

Digital Mental Health Interventions (Youth/Young Adult)
Scientific Rating NR

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

Low

moodgym

moodgym provides training in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. It was designed for, and in collaboration with, young people aged 16-25 years, and is delivered in five sequential modules which include quizzes, interactive exercises, and workbooks

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Topic Areas

Digital Mental Health Interventions (Youth/Young Adult)
Scientific Rating 2

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

Medium

Calm Health

Calm Health, Calm's enterprise offering, is a mental healthcare tool sponsored by employers to support their employees with a broader solution across their entire mental health journey. Calm Health is a cloud based mobile and web application and is available for groups of 100 and above within the United States. This mental health tool is designed to bridge the gap between mental and physical health. Calm Health’s services are available to individuals 16 years or older.

Calm Health is an application-based mental health care tool designed to engage users with a variety of programs. Users engage in the Patient Health Questionnaire and General Anxiety Disorder. (PHQ-9 and GAD-7) anxiety and depressing screening and through those results will receive recommendations based on their results, goals, and conditions. Clinical programs are written by licensed psychologists and specific to life and life stage, chronic conditions, and industry. As a HIPAA compliant, HITRUST certified solution, Calm Health is able to offer advanced analytics and individualized reporting.

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Topic Areas

Digital Mental Health Interventions (Youth/Young Adult)
Scientific Rating NR

Child Welfare System Relevance Level

Low