While some studies have shown the effectiveness of Family Resource Centers (FRCs) – which provide critical services to families to increase their access to supports for basic needs, support accessing public benefits, and skill-building classes – in individual communities or states, less research has examined services provided by FRCs across states.

To help fill the gap, this Child Trends study aims to gain a better understanding of the services FRCs provide across the country—and particularly of how FRCs work with young parents (under age 25), how they help young parent-led families access public benefits, and whether/how they provide services to young parent-led families involved with the child welfare system.

The Institute for Research on Poverty and the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board co-hosted a webinar in November 2025 to highlight the unique challenges and distinct barriers young fathers experience when participating in child and family services. This webinar explored their needs, including those parenting with a partner and those parenting as single fathers, and featured evidence-informed practices, policy approaches, and program models that support fathers in helping their families thrive.

While an effective intake assessment helps build an initial impression of each father’s individual situation and needs, fatherhood program staff also know ongoing one-on-one and group interaction is needed to fully understand him and see who he might become. Even then, it can be hard to accurately follow his progress through the program and ensure his needs are met in the best way possible. This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse brief presents an overview of customer journey mapping, an evidence-based tool that helps program administrators and staff members reflect on a father’s journey through a program and make service adjustments based on the father’s perspective as he progresses through that program.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse publication serves as a resource for program operators seeking information on available curricula designed for working with fathers. While not a comprehensive list, it provides an overview of curricula used by programs funded by the Office of Family Assistance within the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Administration for Children and Families announced the launch of “A Home for Every Child,” a national initiative aimed at right-sizing the ratio of foster homes to the number of kids in the foster care system. The initiative will focus on both sides of the equation — increasing the availability of safe homes through diligent recruitment, prioritizing kin, and improving retention of existing caregivers while reducing entries into foster care through effective prevention and faster pathways to permanency. ACF plans to leverage all $11.4 billion of its annual federal funding for foster care and child welfare to advance this mission and will come alongside state agencies to give broad latitude, flexibility, and technical support to reimagine community-specific interventions. ACF will eliminate outdated bureaucratic barriers that discourage families from stepping forward, including streamlining foster family licensing, supporting kinship caregivers, and encouraging faith-based partnerships to expand the network of caring families.

Ongoing supports for children and their foster, adoptive, and kinship families can provide increased stability and well-being. Unfortunately, many families may not know about available support services or may be reluctant to access them. This AdoptUSKids resource offers ten strategies that agencies can adopt to inform families about support services. It is particularly important to make sure families are both aware of services and understand that needing support is common, so they are willing and able to reach out early when challenges are typically easier to resolve.

The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) offers a training institute consisting of an array of evidence-based, trauma-informed, and accredited programs. The training programs include both free and fee-based trainings, web-based and instructor-led programs, virtual and in-person options, and a range of topics to meet the training needs of professionals supporting children and their adoptive, foster, and kinship families.

This Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage offers resources that highlight strategies that professionals can use to build relational permanency through lasting, lifelong connections and to support youth before, during, and after adoption. These resources highlight the importance of relational permanency, offer guidance on supporting kin caregivers to strengthen stability and permanency outcomes, and provide tools for building and maintaining comprehensive, culturally responsive, and accessible post-permanency services.

This Executive Order by the Trump-Vance administration announces that they will dedicate Federal support, technology, and strategic partnerships to provide young Americans in or transitioning out of the foster care system with the tools they need to become successful adults.