Dear Friends,
January invites a fresh start—an opportunity to pause, reflect, and recommit to the values that guide us. As we begin the year, we’re proud to share our 2025 Impact Report. In the spirit of honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, the UCLA Pritzker Center is proud to announce the forthcoming launch of the Racial Equity Hub for Child Welfare Reform. At a time when injustice continues to shape and strain the lives of families and communities across the United States, we resolve to stand for dignity, belonging, and equity in all that we do.
These values also continue to guide our research and education efforts. Together, we marked the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire and continue to advance efforts for survivors of domestic violence and their children. This month, we released a new report, 5 Years Forward: Progress and Partnership at the Intersection of Domestic Violence and Child Welfare. On campus, our course, Public Affairs 124: Child Welfare Policy in America, began on January 7 with 34 new undergraduate students enrolled. Three new graduate students from UCLA School of Law and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs have also joined our research team at the UCLA Pritzker Center. These students demonstrate the promise of a bright future across our field.
As our nation faces unprecedented challenges, the human impact—especially on children and families—must remain at the forefront, guiding every action we take together, and with our community and partners.
In community,
The UCLA Pritzker Center Team
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Fiat Lux—let there be light.
UCLA’s motto is a call to action. At the UCLA Pritzker Center, that call serves as the catalyst for research, education, and partnership in service of children and families at the margins of our child welfare system.
2025 was a year unlike any other—fraught and fragile, yet resilient and rising. Our team met these challenges with decisive action. Following the Eaton Fire, our researchers launched a study examining the fire’s impact on children in foster care. As immigration officers patrolled Los Angeles neighborhoods, our policy team, in collaboration with campus and community experts, provided advocacy tools to empower families to know and defend their rights. When equity initiatives came under attack, the UCLA Pritzker Center secured resources to establish a new initiative, the Racial Equity Hub for Child Welfare Reform, set to launch this year.
We carry the metaphor of light into 2026 as a mandate—to illuminate possibilities through our research, to ignite bold ideas with education, and to spark new and transformative partnerships for the benefit of children, families and the public good.
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5 Years Forward: Progress and Partnership at the Intersection of Child Welfare and Domestic Violence |
On January 29, we held an online summit and release a new report, 5 Years Forward: Progress and Partnership at the Intersection of Child Welfare and Domestic Violence. Together, we explored the culmination of five years of strategic investments, research and advocacy at the intersection of child welfare and domestic violence.
The summit convened 15 speakers across policy, practice, and lived experience, including leaders from elected officials’ offices, parent survivors of domestic violence, and researchers and community-based organization partners who examined progress to date and considered priorities for the path forward.
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Helping Our Children Excel (HOPE) Court: Compton’s Infant and Toddler Dependency Court Program |
The UCLA Pritzker Center has received approval from the Los Angeles Superior Court to evaluate the Compton-based Helping Our Parents Excel (HOPE) Court program in partnership with Judge Ashley Price. The UCLA Pritzker Center research team will gather insights from HOPE Court’s core personnel, multidisciplinary team, community-based service providers, and families who experienced HOPE Court’s approach firsthand to document HOPE Court’s strengths, challenges, ongoing needs related to serving child welfare-involved families with infants and toddlers. Researchers will also analyze case outcomes using administrative data from court documents and child welfare case records. Findings with be shared widely to inform practice, policy, and research.
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The Aftermath of the Eaton Fire: Foster Care and Education Disrupted |
One year ago, the Eaton and Palisades fires reshaped lives across Los Angeles.
This January, we joined the UCLA community for a moment of reflection.
For children in foster care, the impact extended beyond burned landscapes—the fires disrupted education, placements, and stability at a critical time. Our study revealed the importance of post-fire recovery support and services in preventing foster care entries and reentries, the importance of upholding the educational rights of children in foster care, the continued need for targeted mental health and academic supports, and the vital role of professionals who bridge the child welfare and education systems, and revealed the need for tailored support to assist older youth in care, including non-minor dependents, with navigating postsecondary transitions, and rebuilding progress toward educational and professional goals. Read our brief, "The Aftermath of the Eaton Fire: Foster Care and Education Disrupted" at the button below and watch the event briefing above.
In April, UCLA Pritzker Center team members will present the Eaton Fire study at the California Foster Youth Education Summit in Sacramento.
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At every stage of involvement in the child welfare system, Black children and families are overrepresented. Despite ongoing efforts to address these inequities, the child welfare system continues to produce disparate outcomes for Black children, youth and families. An urgent need remains for radical transformation of child welfare practices and policies across the United States. In response to these challenges and with a range of philanthropic support, the UCLA Pritzker Center is establishing the Racial Equity Hub for Child Welfare Reform.
Guided by young people with lived experience, and campus and community experts, the work will center the experiences of Black families and uplift other marginalized communities, including immigrants and LGBTQ+ youth. Through a public-facing portal, the project will deliver synthesized evidence, novel research, a training and resource library, and policy recommendations over the next 3 years. Launching in 2026, the initiative will begin with the appointment of a project lead and a series of listening sessions to shape the work ahead.
In support of this effort, we are hiring a project director. Applications are being accepted until February 13.
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Recruiting Study Participants: Young Men of Color with Experience in Foster Care
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Do you have a college degree (Associates or Bachelors)? Do you identify as a man of color? Were you in foster care between 13 and 21 years old in a CA county? Are you currently 18-30 years old?
Join Dr. Brianna Harvey and Dr. Kenyon Whitman for a study on the college and career experiences of men of color who have been in foster care in California. For more information, complete a short questionnaire.
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Antelope Valley Day of Giving |
Last December, thanks to the generosity of our community and partners, the UCLA Pritzker Center distributed over 400 children’s jackets to families in the Antelope Valley—along with diapers, pajamas, toys, and other essential items—helping children stay warm, supported, and cared for throughout the winter months. Stay tuned for more about our donors and the organizations that supported this event, including Baby2Baby, The Book Foundation, Hope in a Suitcase, Hang Out Do Good, Loving Hearts and countless individual donors!
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Shaping the next generation of child welfare leaders in PUB AFF 124 |
For the fourth time, at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, we are offering PUB AFF 124: Child Welfare Policy in America. On January 7, the course kicked off with 34 students from diverse academic interests—including law, medicine, public policy, social work, and education—each ready to dive into complex issues shaping the U.S. child welfare system and poised to lead the next generation of change.
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UCLA Pritzker Center welcomes three new graduate students to the team |
We are excited to welcome three new graduate students to the UCLA Pritzker Center team. Together, their extraordinary personal backgrounds and unique academic strengths in law and social work have already enhanced the multidisciplinary foundation of the UCLA Pritzker Center. This collaborative approach guides how the Center addresses the complex challenges facing children and families by weaving together diverse expertise in research, policy, and practice.
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| MSW, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs |
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MSW/PhD, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs |
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Despite longstanding damage, both Los Angeles Unified and Pasadena Unified have worked to support students through their emotional struggles and rebuild campuses. The devastation was compounded for students in the foster system or who were suddenly thrust into homelessness. Community members are still mourning intangible losses, and the toll on mental health remains significant.
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© 2025 UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families. All Rights Reserved.
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