News and Announcements

TIMES UNION NAMES YOUTH RESEARCH, INC.

A WINNER OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT TOP WORKPLACES 2023 AWARD

Delmar, NY, April 15, 2024 - Youth Research, Inc. has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2024 honor by Times Union Top Workplaces. This is the third year in a row we have received this distinction. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage LLC. The confidential survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization, including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few. 

“Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees,” said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. “That's something to be proud of. In today's market, leaders must ensure they’re allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That's paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends.”

Cassie Pustilnik, YRI’s Executive Director said, "We are grateful to be included yet again on the Top Workplaces list but even happier to know that this designation reflects YRI's staff embracing and endorsing the organizational culture we've collectively built as we have grown.”

YRI Announces New Center for Excellence for Evidence-Based Practice Implementation (CfE) As Part of Child Abuse Prevention Month Launch

On Friday, April 5, 2024, Youth Research Inc. (YRI) joined the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to celebrate our shared commitment to supporting child and family wellbeing.

As the nonprofit affiliate to OCFS, YRI provides workforce development and project implementation support to improve equitable services that promote stability and wellbeing for children and families in New York. Relatedly, YRI and OCFS have worked in tandem to launch the Center for Excellence for Evidence-Based Practice Implementation (CfE).

The CfE represents another step in our collective commitment to reimagining child and family services across New York State and will be the hub for providing technical assistance, training, continuous quality improvement, and evaluation beginning with two evidence-based programs in 2024 – Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT).

The CfE creates opportunities to do even more, providing additional support for the implementation of evidenced-based practices that will better support an often overburdened child welfare workforce, and engaging local partners with a goal to upstream prevention, lower caseloads, and prioritize keeping families together.

YRI and our Center for Excellence remain committed to driving positive change in child-welfare practices. We look forward to celebrating the transformative impact of this work in the coming months. Transforming the child welfare system will require more innovative partnerships like this one for success. YRI is thankful to our colleagues at OCFS for this opportunity to be part of this important change.  Together we can make a lasting difference in the lives of children and families across New York State.

You can read more about the CfE by visiting our CfE webpage. You can learn more about OCSF’s child abuse prevention initiatives here.

YRI is Taking a Winter Break (December 25, 2023 - January 1, 2024)

YRI is committed to living our values. As part of caring for our employees, we prioritize ways to offer opportunities for staff to cultivate well-being and work-life balance. The shortest days of the year are an excellent time to give our minds and bodies a chance to rest, rejuvenate, and celebrate our most important personal and community connections. 

This holiday season, we are proud to be an organization that provides its staff with an extended break.  YRI offices will be closed from December 25-January 1. This time is intended to give every YRI employee time to rest and regenerate without worrying about the work that typically continues while we are away from the office.

"We all deserve refuge - a tender place to lay down our burdens, reconnect with ourselves, and renew our sense of agency and purpose."

- LaShawn Routé Chatmon, Executive Director, National Equity Project

You can read more about the Rest is Resistance movement here at the Nap Ministry and here at the National Equity Project.

We wish our staff, board, partners, and communities we serve a lovely holiday season filled with joy and quality time with friends and family.

Youth Research Inc. Successfully Concludes Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Project

We are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of our Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) project focused on use of the Infant-Toddler Climate of Healthy Interaction for Learning and Development (I-T CHILD) tool in home-based child care in New York. We are grateful for the support and partnership of the Robin Hood Foundation, New York Office of Children and Family Services, Early Care and Learning Council, Yale Child Study Center, Docs for Tots, and New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute. This program has provided invaluable support to parents and caregivers, helping them better understand and support the social and emotional development of young children in their care. We are proud to have been a part of this important initiative and look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on families for years to come.  

You can learn more about this project by visiting http://www.yriny.org/iecmhc.  

Youth Research Inc. Joins The New York State Office of Children and Family Services in Implementing Direct Cash Transfer Research Pilot Program to Support Families at Risk of Poverty-Related Neglect 

Youth Research Incorporated (YRI) is working in partnership with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to launch a Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) Research Pilot program in partnership with the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), the Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Redlich Horowitz Foundation.    

The purpose of the DCT research pilot is to determine the impacts of a universal cash stipend on participating families’ future contact with the child welfare system since data show that many families are reported to the child welfare system for poverty-related neglect.  

Research shows even modest economic and concrete supports are associated with reduced child maltreatment and involvement with child welfare services. Motivated by this research and the growing number of direct cash transfer pilots across the country, New York State will enroll approximately 150 households across three New York counties – Monroe, Westchester, and Onondaga – which will receive $500 per month, unconditionally, for one year, totaling $6,000 per family. Financing for the pilot is a mix of federal, state and private funds.  

The New York State Direct Cash Transfer Research Pilot is the first program in the nation to focus on the impact on future interactions with the child welfare system. The pilot will also explore the impact of a direct cash transfer on parental physical and mental health, child development, and financial stability.  

The Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) will execute a randomized controlled trial (RCT), considered the gold standard in research, to determine if receiving a direct cash transfer had a positive impact on parental physical and mental health, child development and financial stability, and whether it prevented future interactions with child welfare services.  

As the pilot administrator, YRI has and continues to support all phases of this project including planning, recruitment, and notification and the onboarding and benefits counseling process for families selected to receive the funds. You can learn more about the project by visiting http://www.yriny.org/direct-cash-transfer-public. 

“Youth Research Incorporated (YRI) is excited to serve as the pilot administrator in this one-of-a-kind demonstration project,” said Cassie Pustilnik, Executive Director of YRI.  “Our Strategy, Equity, and Advancement Team will directly support families selected to receive the direct cash transfer and ensure they are able to successfully participate in the pilot. YRI is dedicated to working closely with OCFS colleagues to implement special projects and workforce development training and enhance systems that support child and family wellbeing.  This project is a perfect example of how our partnership supports those critical priorities.” 

You can read the full press release here.

TIMES UNION NAMES YOUTH RESEARCH, INC.

A WINNER OF THE CAPITAL DISTRICT TOP WORKPLACES 2023 AWARD

Delmar, NY, April 20, 2023 - Youth Research, Inc. has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2023 honor by Times Union Top Workplaces. This is the second year in a row we have received this distinction. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage LLC. The confidential survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization: including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.

“Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees,” said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. “That's something to be proud of. In today's market, leaders must ensure they’re allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That's paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends.”

Cassie Pustilnik, YRI’s Executive Director said, "We are grateful to be included on the Top Workplaces list but even happier to know that designation is illustrative of YRI's staff embracing and endorsing the organizational culture we've collectively built over the last few years.”

Youth Research, Inc. Discusses Pilot Project Progress at 2022 SXSW EDU Conference

YRI Executive Director, Cassie Pustilnik, recently presented at the 2022 SXSW EDU Conference on YRI’s progress with its Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) pilot project funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. Kelvin Chan, Managing Director, Early Childhood, at Robin Hood Foundation facilitated the session, “Promoting Early Learning via Government Reform.” Jennifer Havens, Chair, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York University Langone Health, and Doreen Thomann-Howe, Deputy Commissioner of Family Services at NYC Department of Homeless Services, also discussed the progress of their projects supported by the Robin Hood Foundation.

During the presentation, the group discussed innovation and reform within government systems that regulate family shelters, childcare, and safety-net hospitals. Through strategic partnership and venture philanthropy, the Robin Hood Foundation and its government and nonprofit partners have made progress toward transforming these systems to support early learning. Participants discussed the ways each of their projects are working toward disrupting children’s social inheritance of poverty through data-driven systems reform.

YRI’s ECMHC project is helping New York State develop a new approach to offering social-emotional support to childcare providers. This support uses the Infant-Toddler Climate for Healthy Interactions for Learning Development (IT-CHILD), a tool developed by researchers at Yale, to help providers improve their relationships with the children they care for. YRI will work with a group of experts to use data collected about IT-CHILD to develop recommendations for the tools’ use in ECMHC provisions throughout New York State. Ultimately, these recommendations could have a broad systemic impact and may improve quality of care through leveraging child-caregiver interactions; reduce preschool expulsion; and reduce the impact of implicit bias on preschool discipline.

YRI is excited to share more about the impact of this project as it unfolds over the coming year.

Youth Research, Inc. Receives $675,000 from Robin Hood Foundation to improve the lives of youth and families in New York State

Rensselaer, N.Y. – Youth Research, Incorporated (YRI), received a $675,000 grant from the Robin Hood Foundation to increase its organizational capacity and implement its mission-critical Mental Health Consultation (MHC) pilot project. Funding from the Robin Hood Foundation will help YRI expand its ability to implement pilot projects and emerging initiatives that support New York State agencies serving youth and families. YRI will hire project management and organizational development staff; develop processes and procedures to position the organization to respond to emerging and immediate needs; and establish the organization as a Research and Policy Center.

At the same time, YRI will work with Robin Hood’s Fund for Early Learning (FUEL) team to improve access to mental health services for children enrolled in early childhood education programs throughout New York State. The FUEL program funds programs that serve children from birth to age three – the most critical developmental period. Early childhood experiences are sedimentary, their effects – whether negative or positive – compounding through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Young children living in poverty are especially vulnerable because the disadvantages they face put them at risk of trailing behind their peers, both academically and emotionally, for years to come. Because of this, consistent access to high-quality early childhood education opportunities is critical to preparing children for success in kindergarten and beyond. Research indicates that use of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) improves the quality of early childhood education programs and decreases behavior-related pre-school expulsion (https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(16)30283-0/fulltext).

In partnership with OCFS, YRI and Robin Hood Foundation will work with The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University, Adelphi University, and Docs for TOTS to pilot and study a statewide Mental Health Consultation (MHC) program using the Climate of Healthy Interactions for Learning & Development (CHILD) toolkit Infant Toddler Assessment (IT-CHILD). YRI will collect and analyze MHC implementation data to inform OCFS-led statewide implementation of proven MHC practices that improve early care and learning. Using the data gleaned from this project, YRI and its partners will define best practices; prescribe specific MHC dosages based on community size and demographics; determine optimal provider caseload, frequency and mode of consultation to ensure equity; and determine linguistic needs of providers to equitably serve children and families.

The Robin Hood Foundation will provide technical assistance to support the project using the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child Frontiers of Innovation IDEAS Impact Framework and University of Oregon Center for Translational Neuroscience Early Childhood Precision, Innovation, and Shared Measurement (EC PRISM) Technical Assistance to Early Childhood Programs guidance.

“Too many New Yorkers are born into poverty, growing up against a backdrop ripe with racial and economic injustices,” said Dr. Kelvin Chan, Managing Director of Early Childhood at Robin Hood. “YRI’s Mental Health Consultation project will help to transform New York into an environment where all infants and toddlers have an equitable opportunity at a bright future.”

Cassie Pustilnik, Executive Director at YRI, said, “We are incredibly excited to partner with the Robin Hood Foundation. Our shared deep commitment to enhancing service provision for families impacted by racial and economic injustice is the catalyst for this critical Mental Health Consultation work we are embarking on. In conjunction with Robin Hood, the NYS Office of Children & Family Services, Yale University, and other nonprofit partners, our aim is to ensure children and families across the state have more equitable access to high quality childcare; an essential resource that plays a critical role in shaping early childhood development and has a lasting community impact.”

For more information, please contact Morgan Horton, Grants Administrator for YRI, at morgan.horton@yriny.org.