This recent Council for a Strong America report profiles the opioid epidemic in Wisconsin and how parental substance abuse should be considered a significant Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) that impedes childhood development. The report notes how…

Research shows that children who must be separated from their birth parents fare better when placed in the care of relatives as opposed to non-relatives. This finding is becoming particularly important as the number of foster children increases due…

An MDRC infographic provides initial findings of the Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative, which targets youth ages 15-25 who have been involved in the child welfare and justice systems, or who are homeless. The infographic…

In response to several proposed federal changes to safety net program requirements, the Urban Institute developed a Well Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS) and published a report on the status of individual and family health and well-being. The…

This brief, circulated by ASPE, details the methodology used in the report Substance Use, the Opioid Epidemic, and Child Welfare Caseloads: A Mixed Methods Study. Methods utilized included statistical modeling, geospatial analysis, and qualitative…

Studying large public social programs can be a challenge for social scientists. Recent technological developments have allowed researchers to use big data — data sets that combine survey and administrative data — to examine how social programs work…

This bulletin from the Children’s Bureau’s Child Welfare Information Gateway highlights supports and services for kinship caregivers, training for caregivers and case workers, and examples of successful State and local kinship programs. It…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services highlights the importance of kinship care – care by a close relative or friend – if a child cannot remain with their parents. Research has shown that children have the best outcomes when raised in a…

While only a small percentage of TANF families are involved in the child welfare system, a large portion of child welfare families have received or are eligible for TANF benefits. More than half of all foster children come from families who are…

This Casey Family Programs report outlines strategies for keeping American Indian and Alaska Native children in tribal foster homes and approaches to find tribal parents for an “Indian child” under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The report emphasizes…