Every October, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and other organizations across the country take time to raise awareness about the 12 million women and men who are victims of domestic violence each year in the United States. Throughout the month, advocates mobilize to mourn the lives lost to domestic violence, celebrate domestic violence prevention and intervention efforts, and connect to a community that collectively strives for the safety and wellbeing of all its citizens.

This National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families toolkit is designed to help stakeholders help safety-net service providers and other stakeholders sustainably integrate healthy marriage and relationship education into their services for military service members and their families. The guide uses a three-stage process, allowing readers to: (1) better understand military structure and culture; (2) better understand and connect with existing resources for military service members and their families; and (3) learn more about the role that core marriage and relationship skills play in work, school, family, and military environments.

This report from the Foundation for Child Development highlights the benefits of dual-generation programs in terms of children’s outcomes. Specifically, research shows the many disparities between children whose mothers had not graduated from high school and children whose mothers had obtained a bachelor’s degree. Children whose mothers had not graduated from high school experience higher rates of poverty, lower rates of mathematics and reading proficiencies, a lower likelihood of graduating high school on time, and poorer overall health. The report also spotlights dual-generation programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Los Angeles, California. Finally, the authors offer policy options for all levels of government to develop and implement successful dual-generation programs.

In most of the two-generational strategies and programs, the attention is mainly focused on mothers. However, this brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy explains the early evidence from research that shows if noncustodial parents - mostly young men - are successfully employed and in healthy relationships in their own lives, they can also contribute to more successful outcomes for their children, both financially and emotionally.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway released a brief that provides an overview of the crossover between the child welfare and human trafficking fields. There is a particular focus on sex trafficking of children and youth, since that type of trafficking is more likely to affect the child welfare population. This resource includes background information, highlights of Federal legislation, and recommendations for child welfare agencies to address this issue.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) agencies are operating in a challenging post-recession environment with growing program demands and shrinking state and local budgets. This brief describes the changing demands on state TANF programs, and how states have responded. It also describes opportunities for growth and improvement that TANF programs might consider.

With information from the interviews conducted as part of the Parents and Children Together (PACT) Evaluation, this report presents findings about fathers’ perceptions of their roles as parents and partners. Specifically, the evidence relates to fathers’ perceptions of their own childhoods, challenges, employment, child support experiences, relationships, and participation in fatherhood programs.

In this guide about two-generation strategies, the authors offer state and local policymakers ideas as they begin to develop and implement these new approaches in their areas. The guide provides an overview of the recent innovative two-generation programs and several examples of the model that illustrate different approaches with strong workforce and/or educational components. Additionally, the authors present five facilitating factors that may be linked to the success of two-generation strategies, including supportive policy frameworks, leadership, program administration, integrated and flexible funding streams, and evidence-oriented culture. Finally, the guide concludes with detailed steps used to establish these strategies, as well as recommendations for policymakers interested in implementing a two-generation approach.

The Frontiers of Innovation initiative from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child released a short video about a theory of change to achieve breakthrough outcomes for vulnerable children and families. The video depicts the need to focus on building capabilities of caregivers, as well as strengthen communities that form the environment of crucial relationships for children’s lifelong development.

This post from the Annie E. Casey Foundation describes the important differences between financial coaching and other types of money management, such as financial literacy, financial counseling, and financial planning. Financial coaching focuses on self-empowerment and the achievement of goals through short- and long-term steps, which can help low-income families achieve financial stability.