Youth MOVE National and NEPACT’s Youth Leadership Council: Thank you to Youth MOVE National for wrapping up professional development with the NEPACT Youth Leadership Council on topics such as supporting our members in strengthening their voice and impact and the Youth Voice at the Agency Level (Y-VAL) assessment tool, designed to measure and enhance meaningful youth and young adult participation in agency-level decision-making. This tool helps agencies assess current practices, identify strengths and areas for growth, and receive tailored recommendations to foster a more inclusive and youth-driven environment. Find it here.

Region A Drop-in Call: There will be no Drop-In call in November. Our next session is scheduled for Tuesday, December 2, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST. We’re excited to welcome the Parent Network of WNY, who will share insights from the Native American Convening and their current work. Join the call.

2025 NE-PACT Region A Conference: The 2025 NE-PACT Conference will take place October 28 at 1:00 PM through October 30 at 1:00 at the Courtyard Marriott Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD. This year’s theme, “Collective Impact in a Rapidly Changing Environment,” will explore technology across service tiers, advocacy and skill-building, and strengthening staff and organizational capacity. On Wednesday night, we’ll celebrate 50 years of IDEA and 22 years of NE-PACT! NE-PACT will cover hotel and travel for two staff from each center, and reimbursement can be submitted after full attendance. We look forward to a powerful gathering of leaders driving change across Region A!

CPIR Calendar: Don’t forget to check out the HUB Central Events calendar at the Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) for more webinars and events.

Board Assessments: Check out Diligent’s webpage on Board assessments - the purpose, key components, how to conduct them, how to use the results effectively, and FAQs, here.

Sending the Right Message: How Service Providers Can Use Family-Centered Communication to Support Engagement: The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab provides tips to help service providers use family-centered communication to support engagement here.

Exploring Disability, Dating, and Sexual Health: This session will delve into the upcoming webinar series, Our Ride Ahead, focusing on disability, dating, and sexual health. We will discuss key topics such as online dating, sexual orientation, disclosing disabilities, consent, and boundaries. The series aims to provide valuable insights and foster inclusive conversations around these important subjects. Find it here.

Partnering with Families in Behavioral Health: The FAMILY Approach: This self-paced online curriculum module from the National Federation of Families (for Children’s Mental Health) teaches family-driven language, skills, strategies, and knowledge of resources that will enhance your staff’s ability to partner effectively with families in behavioral health settings. Self-enroll here.

Understanding why Students miss school: Attendance Works offers a valuable guide to identifying the root causes of chronic absence. This resource outlines four key categories—barriers, aversion, disengagement, and misconceptions—and provides tools to help schools and districts uncover why students are missing class. Access guide here.

How does reclassification impact multilingual students’ achievement? This insightful article from the HEDCO Institute examines how exiting English learner (EL) status affects students’ academic outcomes. Through a comprehensive meta-analysis, researchers found that while reclassification often has minimal immediate impact, long-term effects vary—highlighting the importance of supportive transitions and bilingual programs. Read more.

Bullying is a form of youth violence with lasting effects: The CDC outlines types of bullying, warning signs, and prevention strategies to help create safer environments for youth. Learn more here.

Transforming the Child Welfare System: Federal Policy Priorities: This comprehensive report from the National Association of Counties (NACo) outlines key federal policy recommendations to improve child welfare across the U.S. It highlights priority areas such as prevention, workforce support, kinship care, and services for youth aging out of foster care. Read full report.

Fact Sheet on Voucher Programs: What Does the Evidence Say From Other States? This fact sheet from the Keystone Research Center looks at the problems of voucher programs in states such as Florida and Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Read more.

Spirituality, Religion and Holistic Health: The discussion of the relationship between spirituality and religion and health has grown enormously over the last several decades, as the literature shows increased interest among health and mental health professionals. This discussion is not only taking place in the U.S., but around the world. Read more.

National Center for Education Statistics: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Fast Facts website originated from a list of questions frequently asked of NCES and was started as a resource for the general public for brief, up-to-date, education facts. Check it out.

Teacher turnover contributes to higher rates of student suspensions and office disciplinary referrals: A recent study featured in K-12 Dive reveals that high teacher turnover rates are associated with more frequent student suspensions and disciplinary referrals. The findings suggest that instability in staffing can disrupt school climate and student-teacher relationships, leading to harsher disciplinary outcomes. The research underscores the importance of teacher retention in fostering supportive learning environments. Read more.

Continuum of Dispute Resolution Processes and Practice: A searchable database of dispute resolution practices in special education, offering strategies from early prevention to legal review to help families and schools resolve conflicts collaboratively. Read more here.

Successful dropout prevention program in Washington state faces uncertain future: A state program that helps prevent Washington students from dropping out of high school may be in jeopardy if lawmakers don't step in. Read more here.

Celebrate Head Start Awareness Month with FFYF’s Advocacy Toolkit: The First Five Years Fund (FFYF) has released a comprehensive toolkit to help organizations and individuals honor Head Start’s 60 years of impact. Use it to amplify your voice and show your support during October’s Head Start Awareness Month. Explore the toolkit here.

National Center for Learning Disabilities Every Student Succeeds Act Webpage: Check out the NCLD’s webpage about the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/Every Student Succeeds Act here.

Defining Equity in Education: Students, staff, teachers, administrators, families, and community members all deserve the opportunity to participate in learning spaces where everyone can be authentically themselves. It isn’t an add-on feature. It’s embedded into every system, every practice, and every data point. Read more here.

How We Can and Should do More for Mistreated Children: In this report, the authors review how policy has shaped the experiences and outcomes of children in foster care, where policy has succeeded, and where it falls short of achieving its goals. They then identify opportunities for federal and state policy to better support the safety, health, and well-being of children in foster care. Read report here.

The 7 Most Common Grandparenting Styles-And How they Influence their Grandchildren’s Lives: A grandparent can be one of the most important people in your life or a stranger you barely know ― and there’s usually a reason why. That’s because the grandparent you get or the one you become usually falls into known patterns categorized by researchers. Read more here.

Student Mental Health and Education: Check out the Learning Policy Institute’s fact sheet on student mental health and education here.

Nearly 1 in 7 NYC public school students were homeless last year, new report shows. A new report from Advocates for Children of New York reveals that over 154,000 students in New York City public schools experienced homelessness during the 2024–25 school year—nearly 1 in 7 students enrolled in the nation’s largest public school system. The shocking statistic made the 2024-2025 school year the 10th consecutive year in which more than 100,000 students did not have a permanent place to call home. It was also the first academic year in which the total number of kids in temporary housing exceeded 150,000. Advocates are calling on city leaders to prioritize support for homeless students and implement cross-agency solutions to address this growing crisis. Read report here.

USCCR Report Identifies Civil Rights Threats for Students with Disabilities: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) conducted a yearlong investigation into how the nationwide shortage of qualified teachers—especially in special education—has affected the rights and educational outcomes of students with disabilities. Learn more here.

Operation “Freaky Friday” What You Need To Know: This new operation appears to affect “unaccompanied children” aged 14 to 18. The operation could also affect unaccompanied children as young as 10. Learn more here.

Celebrating World Inclusion Day: Building a More Inclusive Future: World Inclusion Day, observed annually on October 10, is a global call to action for embracing diversity and promoting equity across all communities. This article from Impactful Ninja explores the significance of the day, its history, and ways individuals and organizations can foster inclusion in education, workplaces, and society at large. It’s a powerful reminder that inclusion starts with awareness and leads to meaningful change. Learn more.

A Landmark Moment for Juvenile Justice in New Jersey: James Comer, whose case helped reshape sentencing laws for youth offenders, was released from Northern State Prison after nearly 26 years. His story led to the creation of “Comer hearings,” allowing juveniles with lengthy sentences to seek review after 20 years. This powerful article from the New Jersey Monitor highlights a major step forward in decarceration and justice reform. Read here.

Supporting Two-Spirit and LGBTQI+ Health: The Indian Health Service (IHS) is dedicated to ensuring equitable healthcare access for Two-Spirit and LGBTQI+ American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals. Recognizing the unique health needs of these communities, IHS provides a range of culturally appropriate resources and support. These include educational materials, community support networks, and specialized care services aimed at addressing health disparities and promoting well-being. For more information and access to resources, visit the IHS Two-Spirit and LGBTQI+ Health page here.

Three Years of 988: New Poll Finds More Awareness, Opportunities: For the third anniversary of 988 becoming available nationwide, NAMI released new resources highlighting the continued need for policymakers across the country to invest in and expand mental health crisis services. NAMI’s new polling and state legislation brief both highlight opportunities for policymakers to better support people in crisis. Read here.

Recent Department of Education layoffs that have diminished the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services are likely to exacerbate challenges that military families already face: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Workforce Acceleration & Recapitalization Initiative set out to address duplicative functions and “excessive bureaucracy”, and introduce technological automation solutions for routine tasks. However, by restructuring the Department’s civilian workforce with abrupt reductions and no apparent public plans on how those residual programs will be maintained, critical classroom services, federal oversight and funding, and civil protections remain up in the air. Read here.

How the Federal Shutdown Impacts Indian Country: The Bureau of Indian Affairs is set to furlough more than half of its employees across the country. Departments and agencies across the federal government that support tribes with health care, education, public safety, environmental protection and housing have executed different staffing orders. Learn more here.

Family Engagement: Collaborating with Families of Students with Disabilities: The Iris Center has a set of modules on this topic, including what educators need to understand about families of children with disabilities, and how educators can engage them, available here.

Challenging the Wrongs of Childhood Poverty: Every Child Thrives from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation shares and explains information about childhood poverty in the US and the policies that reduce/ameliorate childhood poverty as well as those that exacerbate it. Read more.

Maine teachers regain authority to remove students per restraint and seclusion rules PORTLAND (WGME): When a student starts to get out of hand in class this school year, teachers in Maine have more authority to remove them. The state rolled back some of the rules surrounding the practices of restraint and seclusion, changes set to take effect in a little over two weeks. The I-Team looked at what this rollback means and how often restraint and seclusion are still happening in Maine classrooms. Read more.

Is Classroom Discussion a Dying Art? Today’s students worry about being vulnerable during classroom conversations on contentious social issues. Read more here.

Tech Tools to Help College Students with Disabilities Succeed: From simple organizational aids to sophisticated software, technology can help level the playing field for students with physical, learning, sensory, and cognitive disabilities. Understanding the available tools, such as screen readers, text-to-speech tools, Google Voice Typing, and Smart pens—and how to access them—can make a significant difference in a student's college experience. Learn more here.

Back to Basics: What the ADA does — and doesn’t — allow employers to ask in the hiring process: If an employer has not yet given a conditional job offer to an applicant, that employer may not ask anything that would require the applicant to disclose that they might have a medical condition. Read more here.

Legislation as Trauma: Read this piece in the Delaware Journal of Public Health that explains how the surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the US has far-reaching consequences, posing a significant threat to public mental health. The article explores how such legislation operates as a form of structural trauma, exacerbating minority stress, anticipatory grief, and psychological stress. Read more.