Adolescent Brain Development

The field of neu­ro­science pro­vides evi­dence that ado­les­cence is filled with oppor­tu­ni­ties for young peo­ple to heal, grow and devel­op the skills nec­es­sary to thrive in adult­hood. Learn about how to bet­ter under­stand and sup­port young peo­ple in and tran­si­tion­ing from fos­ter care dur­ing this devel­op­men­tal win­dow to pro­mote their well-being and success.

Resources on Brain Devel­op­ment Dur­ing Adolescence

The Road to Adulthood

With knowl­edge of how the ado­les­cent brain matures, adults can do more to ensure that the road to leav­ing fos­ter care will lead young peo­ple to self-suf­fi­cien­cy and suc­cess­ful adulthood.

Brain Frames

This col­lec­tion of five print­able hand­outs focus­es on the indi­vid­ual rec­om­men­da­tions from The Road to Adult­hood, with quick bul­let points, fact box­es and easy-to-use prompts for con­ver­sa­tions with young peo­ple. Resources include:

• Brain Frame: Keep­ing the Fam­i­ly Con­ver­sa­tion Alive
  On cul­ti­vat­ing per­ma­nent fam­i­lies for young people.
• Brain Frame: Heal­ing Comes First
  On help­ing young peo­ple under­stand their expe­ri­ences, espe­cial­ly through the lens­es of racism and trau­ma, and devel­op effec­tive strate­gies for heal­ing and growth.
• Brain Frame: Suc­cess­ful Con­nec­tions to School and Work
  On pro­mot­ing col­lege and career path­ways for young people.
• Brain Frame: Pro­mot­ing Safe and Sta­ble Hous­ing for Young People
  On ensur­ing ade­quate and safe hous­ing for youth while also encour­ag­ing their per­son­al choices.
• Brain Frame: Sup­port­ing Young Parents
  On sup­port­ing young par­ents’ progress toward self-suf­fi­cien­cy and healthy lifestyles and relationships.

Pro­mot­ing Brain Gains for Youth Emerg­ing From Fos­ter Care

This ani­mat­ed primer dis­cuss­es ado­les­cent brain devel­op­ment and the ways child wel­fare sys­tems inhib­it or encour­age oppor­tu­ni­ties for the suc­cess­ful tran­si­tion to adult­hood, sum­ma­riz­ing top­ics explored in The Road to Adulthood.

The Promise of Ado­les­cence: Real­iz­ing Oppor­tu­ni­ties for All Youth

This report from the Nation­al Acad­e­mies of Sci­ences, Engi­neer­ing and Med­i­cine presents an evi­dence-based exam­i­na­tion of ado­les­cent devel­op­ment and how it can be applied to insti­tu­tions and sys­tems so that ado­les­cents can prosper.

Amer­i­can Bar Asso­ci­a­tion Resources on Ado­les­cent Brain Development

This set of tools — devel­oped with fund­ing from the Casey Foun­da­tion — helps judges and lawyers more effec­tive­ly engage young peo­ple in fos­ter care in court hear­ings and case planning.

The Ado­les­cent Brain: New Research and Its Impli­ca­tions for Young Peo­ple Tran­si­tion­ing from Fos­ter Care

This report out­lines new research find­ings on ado­les­cent brain devel­op­ment and the impli­ca­tions for young peo­ple aging out of fos­ter care.

What’s Going On in There? Under­stand­ing the Ado­les­cent Brain and Its Impli­ca­tion for Young People

This fact sheet explains how the lat­est find­ings in ado­les­cent brain research rein­force the need to cre­ate a bet­ter path for young peo­ple tran­si­tion­ing from fos­ter care.

Pro­mot­ing Devel­op­ment of Resilience Among Young Peo­ple in Fos­ter Care

This issue brief describes how hav­ing the right sup­port sys­tems can enable young peo­ple in fos­ter care to devel­op resilience and bet­ter cope with, adapt to and recov­er from even the most sub­stan­tial challenges.

Social Cap­i­tal: Build­ing Qual­i­ty Net­works for Young Peo­ple in Fos­ter Care

This issue brief explains why young peo­ple who have been in fos­ter care need diverse social net­works com­prised of qual­i­ty rela­tion­ships with their fam­i­lies, schools, com­mu­ni­ties and peers — and how child wel­fare poli­cies and prac­tices can pro­mote these networks.

Trau­ma-Informed Prac­tice With Young Peo­ple in Fos­ter Care

This issue brief shows how trau­ma-informed prac­tice sup­ports and pro­motes healthy recov­ery and opti­mal brain devel­op­ment through­out ado­les­cence and emerg­ing adulthood.