Homeless families struggle with a variety of structural and psychosocial issues, including severe poverty, unemployment, and exposure to interpersonal violence and trauma. Historically, the full range of homeless families’ needs has not been routinely assessed. The Assessment Checklist for Homeless Family Providers was created by the Bassuk Center to address this situation and assist service providers in conducting comprehensive, evidence-based assessments of the families they serve. The checklist covers the following eight domains that have been proven to be relevant to the care of homeless families: family demographics, immediate safety needs, housing and homelessness, self-sufficiency, service use, parent functioning, child development, and use of standardized screening instruments.

In this study, published by the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, caseworkers provided information regarding a mother’s number and quality of social supports and whether an infant was removed from her care. Analyses indicated that infants were less likely to be removed from the mother’s care when caseworkers viewed maternal social supports as positive. This association was strongest when the caseworker identified only positive supports, with no contacts defined as non-positive. Mothers who were assessed to have no intimate relationship or a low level of commitment were nearly twice as likely to have their children in foster care compared to mothers assessed to be in a mid-to-high level of committed relationship. Results suggest that caseworkers’ distinctions between positive and non-positive social networks influence removal decisions. (author abstract)

This toolkit from the Child Welfare Information Gateway and National Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center for Systems of Care Resources was developed for the Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau Demonstration Initiative, “Improving Child Welfare Outcomes Through Systems of Care.” The toolkit provides practical information to help communities plan, build, and sustain systems to improve outcomes for children and families. The focus is on staff training, workshops, coaching, mentoring, and other learning opportunities that challenge employees to perform to the best of their ability. The resource also provides real-life examples from states that have implemented systems change models.

The National Crittenton Foundation, in partnership with Ascend at the Aspen Institute, developed this toolkit to guide use of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey in direct service, education, and policy settings. The toolkit is designed to promote healing for individuals impacted by childhood trauma, educate the community about the impact of childhood adversity, and encourage implementation of two-generation policies to prevent ACEs for future generations. Materials provided include a tip sheet, sample protocol, case studies, testimonials, and links to additional resources.

This report from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University focuses on “core capabilities,” including executive function, and how they can be impacted by toxic stress, leading to challenges with life skills such as parenting and workplace effectiveness. The report discusses how environmental triggers can impact ability to use core capabilities to maintain emotional balance, and reviews how and when these skills develop. The report also includes examples of how excessive stress can alter one’s ability to use core capabilities, and how service providers can help clients build missing capabilities.

The goal of this manual, created by the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, is to provide guidance on training staff to utilize motivational interviewing techniques in their work with clients. It includes training exercises and activities, which can also be translated for work with adolescent and young adult clients.

This kit, developed by IDEO, provides tools to help programs engage in human-centered design. Human-centered design is a creative approach to problem solving that starts by learning directly from the people you’re designing for in order to build empathy for them and a deep understanding of their needs to ensure that your solutions suit their needs. The kit includes a field guide, facilitators guide, and case studies. IDEO also offers courses in human-centered design.

This resource from the Duke Initiative on Survey Methodology at the Social Science Research Institute deals with two issues that come up for researchers when asking people sensitive questions: 1) social desirability bias (where respondents answer in the way they know to be socially favorable) and 2) privacy (where respondents don't want to answer a question because they think it's too personal). The tipsheet describes techniques that researchers can use to combat sensitivity to these issues and increase the reliability of surveys.

This Ramsey County, Minnesota website provides resources in PDF format under the "Training" tab for the Diversionary Work and Minnesota Family Investment Programs. Multiple resources are included, such as service provider trainings in 2015 and 2014, that cover the topics of coaching, domestic violence, and executive functioning.

On September 18 - 19, 2014, the Office of Family Assistance sponsored a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) technical assistance (TA) site visit to the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) (Region X). This visit was in response to rising TANF caseloads in the State, challenges addressing budgetary concerns, issues meeting the employment and service needs of TANF participants, and other concerns stemming from the ongoing effects of the recent recession. During this visit, TA coaches facilitated sessions in the following areas: program assessment, performance-based contracting, and change management. Staff visited the Community Works Project in Portland, Oregon and the Oregon Department of Human Services headquarters in Salem, Oregon and participated in the TANF Alliance Meeting at Central City Concern in Portland, Oregon. After each session, TA coaches were able to provide recommendations and key steps for implementing changes to their processes to improve collaboration with contractors and case management for TANF clients.