Quality Improvement Center for Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency (QIC-EY)
About
Funded by the United States Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Children’s Bureau, beginning in October 2021, the Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency (QIC-EY) is charged with advancing child welfare programs and practice to ensure that they are authentically engaging and empowering children and youth in foster care throughout the U.S., especially in relation to permanency decisions. It is expected that the components and impact of the QIC-EY will bring about systemic changes in how children and youth are authentically engaged as reflected in intentional policy, practice, and culture shifts in the 6-8 pilot sites.
The QIC-EY is a five-year, cooperative agreement led by Spaulding for Children in partnership with the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC), the New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors (NEACWCD), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and the University of Washington (UW).
The NEACWCD facilities the QIC-EY’s National Youth Engagement Advisory Council (Council). The purpose of the Council is to ensure that the voices of individuals with lived experience in child welfare are amplified in the activities of the QIC-EY. Council members have advised curriculum development, engagement of individuals with lived experience at the pilot site level and dissemination activities. In addition, the NEACWCD professional coaching and support to the Child and Youth Engagement Coordinators in the pilot sites.