This Center for Law and Social Policy report identifies challenges that state level officials encounter in implementing the 2014 reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. State profiles from Alabama, California, and Louisiana are highlighted. Also presented are lessons learned as a result of the lack of resources and data needed to implement the law more effectively.

This report highlights a study that documented that almost two-thirds of young adults had encountered “some kind of dating violence” as teens in Orange County. These incidents include psychological and cyber abuse, stalking, and physical and sexual violence.

This 2018 webinar discussed the relationship between the habits of a healthy dating environment and a healthy marriage. The National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families’ hour-long session included an overview of the Resource Center, as well as presentations on relationship education for youth in California and precautionary support for high-risk youth. The session focused on the impact of normalized relationship skills fostered from youth onward and how they transpire in later relationships or marriage. The session ended with a Q&A section for the audience to reflect on the webinar and to ask any relevant questions.

Based on a prior report on associations of time in extended foster care with youth outcomes, researchers at Chapin Hall examined data of more than 40,000 youth from California’s Child Welfare Services/Case Management System, including youth who had been in foster care for at least six months sometime after their 16th birthday. Researchers were unable to discover negative consequences of extended foster care beyond age 18. Instead, they reported that remaining in care past age 18 assists in meeting youths’ basic needs, reduces the chance of becoming a young parent and interacting with the criminal justice system, and helps them advance their education, acquire additional work experience, and save money.

On December 6, the Annie E. Casey Foundation will conclude its Leading with Evidence: Informing Practice with Research webinar series on child welfare. This presentation will explore how researchers and child welfare practitioners can form partnerships to learn from each other to execute the best possible evidence-based initiatives. Because federal program funding is increasingly tied to research quality, this topic is especially important. Researchers and practitioners alike will share their experiences working together to implement youth-oriented programs and services and discuss available resources for research-practice partnerships.

Although research has shown that transportation expenditures are burdensome for low-income households, there is less information available explaining how households manage their mobility needs. To shed insight, this Journal of Poverty article details transportation experiences of 73 low-income individuals in San Jose, California. Research discovered that although low-income families creatively find methods of managing transportation costs, these survival strategies come at a price. High costs to transportation result in fewer miles travelled. This limits families from the very employment opportunities which could lift them out of poverty. (Cost required to access full article.)

This resource from the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse highlights a rural community partnership between a fatherhood program and local child support agency. In this case study, authors describe the development of a partnership in Merced County, California and lessons learned.

This research explores how experiences of discrimination in mental health/substance abuse services may contribute to the greater level of unmet mental health needs among racial/ethnic minorities. The study examined the California Quality of Life Survey responses from adults who indicated they used mental health or substance abuse services in the previous year. Latinos were twice as likely to report discrimination than White patients, and those who were uninsured and who had a diagnosed mental health disorder also faced higher rates of discrimination. Perceived discrimination was linked to finding treatment “not helpful” and leaving treatment early. The authors conclude that “improving the treatment experiences of vulnerable populations in mental health and substance abuse services may be a critical step in reducing mental health disparities, particularly for uninsured and racial/ethnic minority patients.”

This study assesses ways in which individual- and neighborhood-level risk and protective factors affect child abuse and neglect and whether these factors differed based on poverty status. Researchers estimated relationships between child abuse and neglect, neighborhood structural factors, neighborhood processes, and individual characteristics. Comparing lower and higher income families in California, researchers found that neighborhood-level disadvantage was particularly detrimental for families in poverty, and that neighborhood-level protective processes were not associated with abuse and neglect for poor families but did have protective effects for higher income families. Note: There is a fee to access this study, but we included because of its relevance.