This KIDS COUNT report utilizes survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to measure how low-income households and children have been affected by COVID-19. The report first illustrates the rates of child well-being before and during the pandemic. The report also presents findings on health insurance coverage and mental health services access, and measures economic instability during the pandemic as well as data on changes in children’s learning environments since the pandemic’s start in spring 2020. The report then provides strategies that can be implemented at the federal and state levels to address future needs of families and children.

This brief summarizes potential federal funding sources and programs that can be used to address barriers facing young parents and families, such as unemployment, disruption to education, financial instability, and lack of child care access, parenting experience, or family supports. Programs listed include, but are not limited to, TANF, SNAP, SSBG, Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program, Child Care Development Block Grant, WIOA, and the Family First Prevention Services Act Prevention Funds.

This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) publication includes the agency’s “National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit” as well as papers covering crisis services. The toolkit highlights clinical and health services research, an assessment of program practices nationally, and best practice approaches. The accompanying papers cover a range of issues pertaining to crisis services, including overall service delivery, behavioral health crisis care for homeless populations, the use of technology addressing substance use, legal issues impacting crisis services, financing crisis services, diverse populations, improving child and adolescent crisis systems, crisis services in rural communities, and the role of law enforcement.

This dataset features FY2019 kinship caregiving profiles for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Data used in these profiles were retrieved from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Some of the data featured includes the race and ethnicity of children placed with a relative foster family, age of the children placed with a relative foster family, and funding availability and spending for guardianship by state in SFY2016. Along with the profile is a companion guide that outlines how the state profiles can be used, a description of each data source, how to interpret the data, and an overview of the current state of child welfare in the United States.

As part of its M.A.N. C.A.V.E. (Men All Need to be Caring, Actively-Engaged, Vested, and Encouraged) Fatherhood Initiative, which aims to improve child well-being and promote positive relationships between fathers and their children, the City of Phoenix Head Start Birth to Five Program is sponsoring a free Fatherhood Virtual Summit on December 3, 2020 and December 4, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET. This event will combine keynote presentations and breakout sessions geared toward parents, grandparents, foster care providers, educators, and others who work with or raise boys.

This Resource Guide supports service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to prevent child abuse and neglect and promote child and family well-being. It was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention.

This blogpost by the Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau identifies this year’s National Adoption Month theme as “Engage Youth: Listen and Learn” and features a link to the Adoption Month’s website, which provides resources to engage youth and prepare them for adoption or guardianship. These resources are intended for child welfare professionals who work with youth to ready them for adoption, and for legal professionals to provide guidance on how the judicial system can support youth well-being. Tips are offered for case planning with older youth, removing barriers for permanency, and collaboration with child welfare agencies. Also included on the website are videos of real-life stories of young people who have transitioned out of foster care to adoption, guardianship, or independent living.

Connections for Children, the Child Care Bridge Program, and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Service have partnered to offer an online training series on trauma-informed care. On November 14, 2020 from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. ET, this training session will help providers view children’s behavior through a trauma-informed lens, identify responsive versus reactive adult reactions, and offer strategies to build healthy attachments with children.

The effects of trauma on teens and young adults can be far reaching. The Dibble Institute will host a webinar on November 11, 2020 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET to present findings and lessons learned from a study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In the study, a trauma-informed approach utilizing relationship education was implemented with over 100,000 young people over four years in San Antonio. The speakers will define trauma, its effects on young people, and their reactions to trauma, and will discuss adverse childhood experiences. The webinar is intended for Federal- and state-funded grant managers, program supervisors, teachers, health care staff, and others who work with high-need youth.

This issue brief provides guidance to understand the shifts in detecting and responding to child maltreatment that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief states that child maltreatment categories should distinguish between cases tied to poverty-related neglect and those that are a result of child endangerment or abuse. The issue brief highlights community-based supports that are available and ways to leverage technology to improve access to these supports by affected families. The brief also provides guidance on enhancing child maltreatment reporting.