The Children, Youth and Families (CYF) concentration focuses on understanding how multiple systems and policies impact child and youth development and family functioning over time, as well as how supported and resilient families shape their own futures. The Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) policy concentration prepares graduates for a wide variety of leadership roles in organizations that foster the healthy development of children, youth, and families. CYF students acquire technical skills through rigorous preparation in core management concepts, tools, and applications for use in government, not-for-profit and private-sector organizations. The curriculum combines theory and practice to ensure that graduates bring scholarly knowledge to bear on real-world problems.

Students in the concentration benefit from access to the Institute for Child, Youth, and Family Policy, a research institute engaging in both quantitative and qualitative research studies of children and families as well as the social policies that directly affect their well-being, and the Center for Youth and Communities, which works to improve the quality of education, workforce development, and community systems in order to prepare young people for college, work, and life.