This blog post highlights the work of a Family and Youth Services Bureau grantee, the Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy (ACAP). ACAP partners with local teen pregnancy prevention groups and other stakeholders to provide more effective services to youth. In 2014, they found that most youth reported positive perceptions of their programs.

This report from the Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (OPRE) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding self-regulation in context, using a theoretical model that reflects the influence of biology, caregiving, and the environment on the development of self-regulation. It is part of a four-part series that also discusses topics such as stress as related to toxic stress, self-regulation in the context of youth development, and implications for programs and practice.

Many programs within the Administration for Children and Families work with fathers to promote economic self-sufficiency and social well-being for them and their families. These programs may also implement rigorous research and evaluation projects designed to improve our understanding of how best to serve those fathers. This brief describes research and evaluation projects related to the Responsible Fatherhood grant program and noncustodial parents, and other research related to fathers and fatherhood.

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted the OFA Peer Exchange Workshop: Strengthening Collaboration between TANF and WIOA, on September 21-22, 2015 in Bethesda, Maryland. Since TANF is included as a required partner with the workforce one-stop system under the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), this workshop brought together teams from states across the country to develop a plan for strong TANF and WIOA collaboration.

This resource, published by Nova Southeastern University, outlines strategies and provides examples of techniques used in Motivational Interviewing. For each technique, the authors include both a rationale for the technique and samples of the technique in use. In this brief, the authors cover the following topics: Asking Permission, Eliciting/Evoking Change Talk, Exploring Importance and Confidence, Open-Ended Questions, Reflective Listening, Normalizing, Decisional Balancing, Columbo Approach, Statements Supporting Self-Efficacy, Readiness to Change Ruler, Affirmations, Advice/Feedback, Summaries, and Therapeutic Paradox. The strategies and techniques sketched out in this resource provide practitioners with real world examples of how to implement Motivational Interviewing in day-to-day interactions with clients.

This 2-page resource from Nova Southeastern University provides tips for using the five general principles of Motivational Interviewing: 1) expressing empathy, 2) developing discrepancy, 3) avoiding argumentation, 4) rolling with resistance, 5) supporting self-efficacy. The resource describes what motivational interviewing is not, including how to avoid making assumptions about others, and provides tips about strategies for handling resistance and helping participants explore goals and hopes for the future.

This paper, produced by SAFER Foundation and the Council of Advisors to Reduce Recidivism through Employment, identifies and examines barriers – direct and indirect – to post-release employment of women. Here, the authors explore the interrelated issues of family life and children, housing, relationships, stigma, and substance abuse/recovery as they relate to female reentry and employment. Additionally, the authors offer recommendations for programming and policy changes to bolster outcomes in each issue area.

This series of briefs outlines criminal justice changes in the last 20 years and discusses implications for female offenders. The briefing sheets in this series include: Women in the Criminal Justice System: An Overview; Involvement in Crime; Mothers in Prison; Inadequacies in Prison Services; and Barriers to Re-entering the Community. Each of the aforementioned topics is explored, as related to female offenders and issues resulting from incarceration: family, socioeconomic status, physical and mental health, housing, education, and employment.

Crittenton Women's Union's Bridge to Self-Sufficiency is a theory of change that takes a multi-faceted approach to fostering economic mobility. The theory describes a person’s advancement from poverty to economic self-sufficiency as a journey across a bridge supported by five critical pillars—family stability, well-being, education and training, financial management, and employment and career management. Coaches work with clients to identify strengths and help them cross the ‘bridge” to long-term goals of economic self-sufficiency.

The federal government provides assistance aimed at helping people with low-incomes who may earn too little to meet their basic needs, cannot support themselves through work, or who are disadvantaged in other ways. With fiscal pressures facing the federal government and the demands placed on aid programs, GAO was asked to examine federal low-income programs. This report: (1) describes federal programs (including tax expenditures) targeted to people with low incomes; (2) identifies the number and selected household characteristics of people in poverty; (3) identifies the number, poverty status, and household characteristics of selected programs' recipients; and (4) examines research on how selected programs may affect incentives to work. For a list of low-income programs that were $100 million in obligations or more in fiscal year 2013, GAO consulted with the Congressional Research Service; surveyed and interviewed officials at relevant federal agencies; and reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, and agency guidance. GAO also conducted analyses on low-income individuals using Census data on the SPM and official poverty measure and microsimulation data from the Urban Institute that adjusts for under-reporting of benefit receipt in Census survey data. To examine labor force effects, GAO reviewed economic literature.