Supporting Transition-Age Youth with Foster Care Histories: From Evidence to Action

The Child Maltreatment Solutions Network is hosting a 1-day, in-person conference at The Nittany Lion Inn in State College, PA, located on the Penn State University Park campus on Friday, October 23 from 8:30-4:30 PM.  We hope you can attend in person!  A Zoom option is available for those unable to attend in person.

Each year, roughly 20,000 youth age out of foster care and about 2-3 times as many experience foster care placement during adolescence. These young people face elevated risks in housing and employment stability, as well as postsecondary access and completion, as they transition to adulthood. 

This conference will bring together researchers, youth-serving system partners, and youth with lived experience to highlight what we know and identify actionable strategies to better support successful transitions into adulthood through independent living services, post-secondary support programs, and related policies to highlight these important themes:

• Transition-Age Outcomes: Evidence, Gaps, and System Constraints
• Beyond Life Skills: Independent Living and Foundational Supports for Postsecondary Success
• Postsecondary Pathways: What Actually Moves the Needle?
• Panel on Lived Experience Navigating Systems and College

Registration (opening soon!) is required.  A minimal, tiered conference fee highlights the Network's desire to support and equip those working in Child Advocacy, learning, and research related to this topic:

• general registration - $50
• county and state welfare workers - $25
  (please contact us for complimentary registration if your agency is unable to cover this fee)
• students - free 

Breakfast, lunch, and refreshments will be provided throughout the day. 

Conference questions?  Reach out to solutionsnetwork@psu.edu