TAY-Hub is a university-based research collaborative housed within the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare.
We believe in the power of data, research, and public-private collaboration to enhance the well-being and improve the futures of transition-age youth with experience living in foster care.
Our History
The Transition-Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub) specializes in research that informs policies and practices affecting transition-age youth (TAY) with lived experience in foster care by monitoring outcomes and conducting applied research. Our work engages the child welfare community, including individuals with lived experience in foster care.
TAY-Hub also launched a public data portal providing key insights into TAY outcomes in education, employment, births, and public benefits. Our research is grounded in California’s Extended Foster Care (EFC) Program (commonly known as AB12), which expanded foster care eligibility from 18 to 21.
Our work is informed by the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH), the most comprehensive longitudinal study of TAY in foster care. The work of the TAY-Hub is informed by the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH). CalYOUTH began in 2012 in response to California’s adoption of the Federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections).
Events & Convenings
In June 2024, we hosted the Transition-Age Youth Research & Evaluation Hub Convening at USC. The event brought together practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and individuals with lived experience in foster care, fostering an exchange of ideas. It featured four panels covering topics such as accessing services, the importance of relationships and identities, policy implementation, and insights from lived experience.
Angie Schwartz, Deputy Director of the Children and Family Services Division at the California Department of Social Services, highlighted the significance of the event:
“Having researchers that can help to quantify, extrapolate, and provide that feedback to us in a way that we can digest and then be responsive to it and create policies and systems that can actually change in order to meet the needs of real children and families is invaluable.”
A summary of all 10 research projects is available here.
Meet Our Team
Mark CourtneyTAY-Hub Project Co-Director and Senior Advisor / Distinguished Researcher
TAY-Hub Project Co-Director and Senior Advisor / Distinguished Researcher
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Andrea Lane EastmanTAY-Hub Project Co-Director
TAY-Hub Project Co-Director
Andrea Lane Eastman’s research uses linked, administrative data to document population-level disparities and answer policy relevant questions concerning youth in child protection and juvenile justice systems. Dr. Eastman has been a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with the Children’s Data Network since 2019.
Andrea Lane Eastman’s research uses linked, administrative data to document population-level disparities and answer policy relevant questions concerning youth in child protection and juvenile justice systems. Dr. Eastman has been a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with the Children’s Data Network since 2019.
Andrea Lane Eastman’s research uses linked, administrative data to document population-level disparities and answer policy relevant questions concerning youth in child protection and juvenile justice systems. Dr. Eastman has been a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with the Children’s Data Network since 2019.
Andrea Lane Eastman’s research uses linked, administrative data to document population-level disparities and answer policy relevant questions concerning youth in child protection and juvenile justice systems. Dr. Eastman has been a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with the Children’s Data Network since 2019.
Andrea Lane Eastman’s research uses linked, administrative data to document population-level disparities and answer policy relevant questions concerning youth in child protection and juvenile justice systems. Dr. Eastman has been a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with the Children’s Data Network since 2019.
Andrea Lane Eastman’s research uses linked, administrative data to document population-level disparities and answer policy relevant questions concerning youth in child protection and juvenile justice systems. Dr. Eastman has been a Research Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with the Children’s Data Network since 2019.
Christian SotomayorResearcher
Researcher
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Mark E. Courtney is the Samuel Deutsch Professor emeritus in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Researcher at the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of California, Berkeley where he co-directs The Transition Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub).
Leia OrganaCampus Security
Campus Security
Princess Leia Organa was one of the greatest leaders of the Rebel Alliance, fearless on the battlefield and dedicated to ending the Empire’s tyranny. Daughter of Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, sister of Luke Skywalker, and with a soft spot for scoundrels, Leia ranked among the galaxy’s great heroes. But life under the New Republic proved difficult for her. Sidelined by a new generation of political leaders, she struck out on her own to oppose the First Order as founder of the Resistance. These setbacks in her political career were accompanied by more personal losses, which she endured with her seemingly inexhaustible will.
Chewbacca Wookie WarriorResearcher
Researcher
A legendary Wookiee warrior and Han Solo’s longtime co-pilot, Chewbacca continues to serve as faithful first mate to carry out daring missions against the First Order behind the controls of the Millennium Falcon. Known as Chewie to his closest friends, he was part of a core group of rebels who restored freedom to the galaxy during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Known for his short temper and accuracy with a bowcaster, Chewie also has a big heart and unwavering loyalty to his friends.