February 13, 2014  Subscribe
Romance
Young couples are happy, pretty much

The vast majority of young couples feel very positively about their relationships, according to a report released by Child Trends late last year; most report that they love their partner a lot. The Washington Times highlighted this report just in time for Valentine's Day. Read it. It might cheer you up. 

Resources
We heart hearts

February is American Heart Month. Child Trends is pleased to be working with the American Heart Association and Nemours on a 5-year evaluation of their Healthy Way to Grow program, funded by the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, which supports early care and education programs nationwide in creating healthier environments for young children, in an effort to reverse the obesity epidemic. It's never too early to set the stage for a lifetime of excellent health, for the heart and the entire body. Refer to our resources, from publications with detailed information and recommendations about child and youth health, to health indicators, to information on the effectiveness of out-of-school programs working to impact health and blog posts that touch on children's health.

Stakeholders perspectives on family finding

We love doing research, especially research that strengthens programs and practices. This brief was written as part of a series investigating the family finding model, which provides child welfare practitioners with search and engagement techniques to identify and involve family members close to a child in foster care. The brief describes the importance of establishing permanent familial connections for children and youth, along with challenges in forming them, from the perspectives of those involved.   

Child care, early childhood data, and youth

We don't want flowers; we only want to share research results with you. Here's what's coming up:

 

On Tuesday, February 18th at 11 a.m. ET, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation will present findings and policy implications from its recent Child Care Decision-Making Literature Review (produced by Child Trends and co-authors from George Mason University and the Urban Institute) at a webinar. Sign up!

 

On Wednesday, February 19th at 2 p.m. ET, the Early Childhood Data Collaborative is holding a webinar to share the results of its 2013 survey of state early childhood data systems. Most states can't answer some basic questions about young children because data are housed in multiple, uncoordinated systems. Register here.

 

Child Trends' partner Healthy Teen Network has a series of webinars designed to increase the capacity of youth-serving professionals, for which continuing education credits are available. Upcoming topics include trauma-informed approaches and using motivational interviewing to enhance programs. Check them out.

Submit your abstract for the teen pregnancy prevention conference 

Abstracts are now being accepted for the 2014 HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grantee Conference, taking place June 4-6, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Abstracts must be submitted electronically no later than Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 11:59 pm ET. 

 

Abstracts will be accepted in two categories: workshop sessions (open to all) and grantee posters (for HHS grantees only). We encourage you to learn more and submit your abstract here! Please forward this message to your colleagues and contacts, too.

 

When submitting an abstract, consider the audience:invited grantees of the Office of Adolescent Health; the Administration for Children and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Reproductive Health; and the CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health. The theme of the conference is Bridging the Gaps: Eliminating Disparities in Teen Pregnancy and Sexual Health, and all abstract submissions should be consistent with the conference theme, objectives, and tracks.

Copyright � 2014 by Child Trends, Inc.