What We Do
We are working to drastically change the systemic challenges that youth who are or have been involved with the foster care system experience.
How It Started
Creating Actionable and Real Solutions (CARES) is an initiative of the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP). CSSP is a national, non-profit policy organization that connects community action, public system reform, and policy change to create a fair and just society in which all children and families thrive. Learn more about CSSP here.
Our Approach
On any given day in the United States, there are more than 400,000 children in the foster care system—and more than 82,000 are youth older than 14. These young people, specifically transition-age youth of color, are more likely to experience disparate treatment and outcomes. It is our belief that, with the right combination of innovation, authentic engagement of youth, and community collaboration, we can start to change that.
Learn more about our approach to the work here.
Continue scrolling for more detail on our specific areas of work.
Cultivate Youth Power
CARES Youth Ambassadors, selected in Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; and Atlanta, GA, function as advisors for this work. By working directly with them, we ensure that the work is both authentically youth-serving AND empowering. CARES Ambassadors are deeply involved in all steps of this work, and their advice, guidance, and experiences are centered in all parts of the co-design process. Their experiences with foster care is the most important resource we have to authentically proceed with policy and narrative change.
Identify Structural Challenges
Using an adaptation of CSSP’s Institutional Analysis methodology, CARES conducted a strategic analysis designed to understand how communities are able to affirm, include, and support youth transitioning out of foster care. Investigative teams applied qualitative tools and analysis to understand how communities are organized to support youth aging out of the child welfare system. As part of the analysis, teams also examined current concepts, theories, policies, initiatives, and accountability mechanisms that serve to create the current conditions youth are experiencing and provide the opportunities for improvement.
Read CARES: Understanding How Transition Age Youth Experience their Communities here.
Advance Anti-Racist Policies
Working directly with Ambassadors, we co-designed a national anti-racist and intersectional policy agenda: A Policy Agenda for a Nation that CARES for Young Adults. This agenda centers youth experiences and prioritizes the needs of youth currently in and previously involved with the child welfare system. Reflecting the goals and priorities of the Ambassadors, the agenda includes policies beyond child welfare as youth are impacted by multiple systems.
Read A Policy Agenda for a Nation that CARES for Young Adults here.
Disrupt Harmful Narratives
With help and guidance from the Ambassadors, we have co-designed a national narrative change campaign designed to address and change the existing negative narrative—or damage imagery—about youth who are or who have been involved in the foster care system. Visit our blog and follow us on Instagram to see the latest.
#CARES4Power
Follow us on Instagram to learn more about our work, the CARES Ambassadors, and the policies we are building to advance change for all transition age youth.
Join us on October 29 & 30! Tune into the "Policy in Action: Building a Community that CARES for Young Adults" discussion series, where we’ll explore innovative mental health and housing policies designed for and with young adults. Connect with national and local leaders and CARES Ambassadors to help build a brighter future. Register today! Link in bio. #Equity #YoungAdults #TAY #TransitionAgeYouth #CARES4Power #HousingSupport #MentalHealth #Wellbeing #ChildWelfare #AgingOut
Join us for a transformative discussion on youth-centered mental health and well-being policies. Discover innovative strategies co-created with young people, for young people. Engage with youth, national, and local leaders as we reimagine a future that truly supports, affirms, and uplifts young adults. Link in bio! #CARES4Power #MentalHealth #HousingSupport
Learn why empowering brown and Black youth through community building and mentorship is crucial. Los Angeles CARES Ambassador Santos shares how these spaces help young people thrive, heal, and grow, shaping a stronger, more resilient future.
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#CARES #CARES4Power #NationalPolicyAgenda #JuvenileJustice #MentalHealth #Wellbeing #FosterYouth #Policy #Youth #TAY #Community #Mentorship
Damage Imagery in the U.S. child welfare system often highlights the visible wounds, but it’s the invisible scars of systemic neglect that demand our urgent attention and reform.
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#classisinsession #KeyEquityTerms #CARES #CARESAmbassadors #Equity #DamageImagery #ChildWelfare
Swipe left to explore the importance of the Mental Health and Well-being policy principle featured in the National Policy Agenda, as perceived by Atlanta CARES Ambassador Jamie. These principles are vital for the progress and welfare of our community. @_jamiekelley_
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#CARES #CARES4Power #NationalPolicyAgenda #CARESNationalPolicyAgenda #JuvenilleJustice #CriminalSystem #Mentalhealth #Wellbeing #FosterYouth #Policy #Youth #YoungPeople #TAY #TransitionAgeYouth
Though we strive not to practice "color-blind" ideology, evidence shows that child welfare decision-makers often judge parents of color more harshly--one result being more children being removed from their families. Calls for systemic change to amend these barriers are growing at a rapid pace. In 2021, the "blind removals" program in Nassau County (New York) was created to address racial bias in decisions regarding the removal of a child from their caretakers. California – which has the most disproportionate share of Black children in foster care of any state in the nation, according to the National Center on Juvenile Justice – is considering a bill that would create blind removal pilot projects in several counties. @childcarenassau
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#Classisinsession #KeyEquityTerms #CARES #CARESAmbassadors #CARES4Power #Equity #Colorblind #ColorBlindRacialIdeology #ChildWelfare
See how Atlanta CARES Ambassador Aisha feels about being an ambassador for the past three years and her work on the National Policy Agenda featured in our Linktree!
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#CARES #CARES4Power #NationalPolicyAgenda #CARESNationalPolicyAgenda #FosterYouth #Policy #Youth #YoungPeople #TAY #TransitionAgeYouth
The Child Welfare League of America defines cultural competence as the ability of individuals and systems to respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and faiths or religions in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, tribes, and communities, and protects and preserves the dignity of each.
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#Classisinsession #KeyEquityTerms #CARES #CARESAmbassadors #Equity #CulturalCompetence #ChildWelfare
