In an effort to redefine engagement of children and youth, the Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanence is guided by the four following principles.
Children and youth must be embraced as experts on their own lives, a source of solutions, and as partners in decision-making.
To respect, value, and prioritize the engagement of children and youth, intentional policy, practice, training, evaluation, and infrastructure supporting such engagement is required of both child welfare agencies and courts.
A culture of equity and inclusion must be cultivated to ensure that children and youth of all ages, races, ethnic backgrounds, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities can safely and effectively partner in shared-decision making.
Permanency for children and youth must be legal, relational, and cultural; all three are critical and interconnected.
This website is supported by the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $5,645,000 million with 100 percent funded by ACF/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, ACF/HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements, at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements.