The number of children living in poverty has increased by a half million in one year. With recent work requirements for low-income parents, this study seeks to identify how much time children in low-income families spend with their parents and if the lack of time contributes to behavioral problems for these children.

From the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, this research brief provides an overview of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. Since 1999, Oklahoma's Initiative has been in place and successful due to the large public and private collaboration in the State. This brief is the first in a series to define promising strategies from Oklahoma.

From the National Center for Children in Poverty, this article highlights effective programs, policy opportunities, and other strategies to improve educational outcomes for children. This brief is to inform policymakers and other stakeholders on strategies to promote the healthy educational development of children.

This report details the three day Leadership Conference of ACF's West Central Hub. Topics discussed include fatherhood, healthy marriages, faith-based and community initiatives, and positive youth development.

This Family Strengthening Policy Center Brief from the National Human Services Assembly provides an overview of family literacy education programs. Family literacy programs have been proven to have high educational benefits, as well as giving preparing caregivers an opportunity to succeed as parents and employees, enhancing bonds between parents and children, and ultimately, strengthening connections between families, schools, and the community.

Issued by the Census Bureau, this article reviews marriage and divorce data from around the country. Among the data, researchers found that one in five adults has ever divorced, and first marriages that end in divorce last about eight years on average.

This report from the Center for the Study of Social Policy reviews State policies that support families, children and low-wage workers while also contributing to states’ economic stability.

This research brief, from the Harvard Family Research Project, provides a program evaluation of family-strengthening intervention programs that offer support to parents and help change family behaviors to encourage healthy child development. Authors highlight best practices surrounding this intervention program model to inform educators, service providers, and local evaluators in schools, intermediary and community-based organizations, and social service agencies.

This report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation reports on the discussions and lessons learned about social networks gathered from visits with families. Authors discuss the importance of the link between strong, positive social networks and achieving successful outcomes for families, as well as provide examples on how a social networks approach can support families.

This study, from the Urban Institute, proves a description of how families connect to services through alternative response systems in Oklahoma and Kentucky. Through a variety of data collection methods, authors identified factors that affect how families connect to services, which include service network infrastructure, provider relationships with each other, and availability of services.