SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Group homes and large institutional foster-care settings should be phased out - that's the recommendation of a recent report that surveyed youths in foster care.

The youths interviewed for the "Away from Home" report complained of feeling vulnerable to further abuse, with little privacy or personal connection.

Report co-author Sixto Cancel, founder and CEO of the nonprofit "Think of Us", said placement with relatives often is the best option, as long as the child is consulted.

"Let's actually ask young people who they would like to be placed with," said Cancel. "Let's ask the family to step up. We are still not actually maximizing aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma, grandpa."

California, which has 60,000 children in foster care, has been moving away from congregate care for years. The County Welfare Directors' Association recommends more funding and that priority be given to recruiting new foster families.

The state also committed $100 million in the most recent budget to help counties build facilities for foster youths with complex mental-health needs.

Sandra Gasca-Gonzalez is vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Center for Systems Innovation. She applauded states like California, which have a dedicated ombudsman to handle allegations of abuse or neglect within the foster system.

"The young people who were brave enough to make themselves loud and clear through the Away from Home report are telling us that now really is the time to hear them," said Gasca-Gonzalez. "They want us to hear their truth, they want us to heed their wisdom, and they want us to help them heal."

A 2020 study in the Journal of Children and Youth Services shows that an average of one in five foster-care kids in the state will end up in congregate living. And according to the Children's Law Center, only 53% graduate high school on time.

Students may be settled into their summer break - but in Minnesota, some remain focused on setting a peaceful tone ahead of their return to school this fall. Those involved with an emerging Minneapolis program hope it becomes a model elsewhere.

Through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant, the group Nonviolent Peaceforce has teamed up with the district for the Building Peaceful Schools project at two city high schools.

Student advisory groups work with peers and administrators on things such as relationship building and de-escalation.

Jassani Bland is a recent graduate of Roosevelt High School. She said she appreciated student-led discussions about certain scenarios, and gave examples.

"If your friend tells you they're going to be getting into a fight after school, are you going? Are you going to be the person that's recording?" said Bland. "And it created a big conversation, like, 'You're not a good friend if you're not going to be there for your best friend that's fighting. But then on the other hand, you're encouraging violence, you should be discouraging them.'"

She said having students lead the way allows peers to better understand each other's backgrounds, and how issues such as community violence factor into their lives.

Program leaders say after the July 4th holiday, they'll open a safe space for weekly discussions, while holding new training sessions. Others involved suggest additional grants would help to expand to other districts.

The project follows Minneapolis Public Schools' decision to no longer contract with the city's police department after George Floyd's murder.

Brandon Krona is the building peaceful schools project coordinator for Minneapolis Public Schools. He said some school resource officers were effective, but adds this new initiative puts students in the driver's seat.

"You're not going to be able to change everybody's opinion," said Krona. "But try to change minds and hearts eventually, and give these kids that opportunity to have a voice in what they want to see in their schools prevention-wise."

Sam Taitel, a program manager and community trainer for Nonviolent Peaceforce, said the project is a detour from bowing to personal pride and reputation amid tension within the student body.

"There are a lot of defense mechanisms to valid trauma," said Taitel, "and how to actually disrupt that cycle is difficult."

To get past that barrier, Taitel said students and staff are encouraged to show vulnerability.

National Foster Care Month in May celebrates Ohioans who care for children in times of crisis, and as the calendar turns, the focus shifts to an important objective.

June is National Reunification Month, which highlights bringing families back together.

Heather Mason, a foster parent in Lancaster, explained foster children need safety and stability.

"These kids need people besides them," Mason asserted. "They're just normal teenagers going through things and want normalcy. And we definitely try to help them with that."

Melanie Allen, director of Sandusky County Job and Family Services, said foster parents can help support visitation and mentor the children in their care.

"We believe in putting these children back home in a better type of setting," Allen emphasized. "We really have a great set of foster parents who can model and coach parents."

In 2021 about 4,500 Ohio children in the foster care system were successfully reunified with their birthparents.

Mason typically fosters teenagers, and acknowledged unfortunately reunification can be difficult. However, she tries to open up as many avenues as possible to help nurture relationships with biological families.

"One of our kiddos, her mom was in and out of drug rehab programs, and so we helped get her clothes, and foster that relationship between mom and daughter and try to show them that it can be different," Mason recounted.

Allen explained there are more kids coming into care with significant mental and behavioral health needs. But she added there are not enough treatment-level foster homes to help ease the transition from a group or residential placement.

"We have a very difficult time getting them to step down and get into a homelike setting," Mason noted. "And there's a huge need for that in order to improve their own outcomes when they do leave care, reunify home, or even emancipate to become successful."

About 12,000 of the children in the child welfare system in March were in family-based settings, with a quarter in treatment-level foster homes. Roughly 2,000 other youth were in congregate care, but advocates say more could be in treatment-level foster care if there were enough qualified individuals to take older children with behavioral challenges and work toward family reunification.

Michigan is taking steps to improve the child welfare system for National Foster Care Month.

In Michigan, nearly a quarter of young people who are in foster care at age 17 experience homelessness by the time they turn 19, and it jumps to about a third by 21. And unemployment rates for former foster youths are 2.5 times higher than the general youth population.

Demetrius Starling, executive director of the state's Children's Services Agency, said things such as wraparound and mental-health services have not always been available to families and kids in a timely manner.

"We're looking at permanency, we're looking at ways to wrap services around our families and communities and keep kids safely at home if at all possible," Starling explained. "But also, we're really looking to make sure that we keep siblings placed in foster care together, and also limit the time that children are spending in foster homes."

The steps build on reforms that have been in progress for more than a decade, after a national advocacy group filed a class-action lawsuit in 2006 alleging constitutional and federal law violations regarding permanency of foster placements, lack of proper medical and dental care and few supports for those aging out of the system. Since then, there have been multiple consent decrees to make improvements.

Starling added National Foster Care Month is also a time to encourage individuals and families to consider fostering a child.

"Michigan right now has approximately 10,500 children in foster care at any given time," Starling reported. "So we truly need foster families to keep these children safe, and to care for them until they can be returned to their family, which of course is our priority."

He noted people who are interested can call one of the state's foster-care navigators, at 855-MICH-KIDS. He said navigators are experienced in connecting potential foster families with the right agency and any guidance they may need.