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Hidden in Plain Sight

PAST EVENT
February 6, 2025

On Feb 6 2023, GTY and Youth Transition Funders Group talked with the authors of a newly released research scan commissioned by The Annie E. Casey Foundation on the education of students experiencing homelessness, foster care, and/or incarceration.

Watch recording

Top Takeaway

Research Gaps

Very significant gaps exist in the research base examining K-12 education of young people experiencing homelessness, foster care, and incarceration, especially when experiences are combined or rotational.

More takeaways from our conversation—including ideas for philanthropic action—are listed below.

More Takeaways

  1. Research Findings: Studies showed that comprehensive wraparound services, trauma-informed practices, and policies promoting educational stability can be effective intervention and prevention strategies for young people having these experiences.
  2. Undercount: The number of affected youth (1.6 million) is likely an underestimation due to counting challenges and inconsistent definitions, resulting in a group of young people not identified as at risk who, therefore, do not receive the attention and support needed.
  3. Bright Spots: Cross-sector research partnerships provide strong thought leadership and cohesiveness in an otherwise fractured field, including: The National Conference for Hidden Populations, The Juvenile Justice Multi-Institutional Consortium, the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools, and the National Research Collaborative for Foster Alumni and Higher Education.

Resources

Full Report

Executive Summary

Airtable

PPT Deck: A Landscape Scan of Research on the Education of Young People in the United States Who Experience Foster Care, the Juvenile Justice System, and/or Homelessness

What Can Philanthropy Do?

The report identified 7 priorities for philanthropy and the field:

  1. Invest in Prevention and Early Intervention Research
  2. Prioritize Intersectional and Longitudinal Research
  3. Improve Cross-System Collaboration and Data Sharing
  4. Sustain and Expand Research Partnerships and Centers
  5. Translate Research Findings into Implementation Tools
  6. Elevate This Issue in Federal Clearinghouses
  7. Establish Common Measures and Definitions

Memorable Quotes

The path forward requires sustained commitment, funding, and elevated visibility from decision-makers so emerging and established researchers can continue to build evidence for improving educational experiences and outcomes for young people most harmed by systems that should support them.

—Maddy Day and Stephanie Malia Krauss

Contact the Speakers

Speakers

Ilene Berman

Evidence-Based Practice Group Director, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Ilene Berman is the Evidence-Based Practice Group director at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where she works to help public systems, schools and communities partner to improve child well-being. She also oversees grants that expand the availability and use of evidence-based programs and practices.

Before joining the Foundation in 2011, Berman was program director at the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices Education Division and led projects on policy issues, including Common Core State Standards, high school redesign, school choice and literacy. Besides authoring publications on these topics, she has been a member of national advisory boards dedicated to advancing education reform. Berman has also served as a director at the Council for Basic Education and the National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform. She taught high school English for eight years in Washington, D.C., and graduate courses at George Washington University. Berman holds B.A. and M.S. Ed. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. degree from St. John’s College and an Ed.D. in education policy and administration from George Washington University.

Maddy Day

Founder, Maddy Day, LLC, and Associates

Maddy believes that all students have the right to equitable resources and support to help them reach their education goals. In 2010, Maddy co-founded the University of Washington Champions Program, from 2012-2018 she directed the Fostering Success Michigan statewide initiative at Western Michigan University and since 2018 has served as a consultant to nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and state agencies focused on improving the lives of young adults who have experience in foster care, homelessness, and those who are first generation, low-income college students, and students of color. A child welfare and education expert, Maddy is the Proprietor and Senior Consultant with Maddy Day LLC & Associates. Maddy is a Results Count Advanced Practitioner, an Associate Diversity Coach through Coach Diversity Institute, and applies a race equity lens to all her work.

Stephanie Malia Krauss

Founder and Principal, First Quarter Strategies & Staff Consultant, YTFG

Stephanie Malia Krauss works with leaders in education, youth development, workforce development, and human services to develop and implement holistic and humane solutions that enable young people and their families to build livable, lovable lives.

She is the founder and principal consultant of First Quarter Strategies LLC, a senior fellow at the Boston University School of Social Work, a senior advisor for Youth-Nex at University of Virginia and Children’s Funding Project, and a staff consultant for the Youth Transition Funders Group.

​She has written two books: Whole Child, Whole Life: 10 Ways to Help Kids Live, Learn, and Thrive and Making It: What Today’s Kids Need for Tomorrow’s World. Her work has been featured on NPR, PBS, US News, EdSurge, Scary Mommy, and more.

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