The American Enterprise Institute hosted a discussion on child welfare priorities, where experts examined how to reform a system facing a decline in foster homes and competing priorities between family reunification and child protection. This webinar recording highlights the panelists’ conversation on the importance of distinguishing between “complex poverty”—which involves substance abuse and mental illness—and material poverty.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is hosting a webinar on January 21, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. ET, which will address the economic stability of service members, Veterans, and their families (SMVF). This webinar will explore critical areas such as employment opportunities, income supports, SSI/SSDI, Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) for Veterans, and housing solutions, providing valuable information and resources to support maintaining or achieving economic stability among the SMVF community.

Nearly 80 million individuals are enrolled in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), including nearly half of all children and youth in the United States. Many of the individuals served through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) funded programs are enrolled or eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. ACF released this Dear Colleague Letter to support states as they work to strengthen their implementation of Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment requirements to help ensure improved health outcomes for children and youth enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.

Maternal and infant health is an urgent priority, and a coordinated effort across health and human services is crucial to foster positive maternal health outcomes. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is responsible for many programs that support maternal and infant health, including home visiting, Head Start, childcare, Medicaid, TANF, child support, and others. ACF released this Dear Colleague Letter to assist human services providers in understanding their important role in addressing the syphilis epidemic by raising awareness and helping to facilitate access to early testing and treatment. Staff at human services agencies have a unique opportunity to intervene and help protect the health of pregnant women and babies by educating clients on the risks and encouraging early and regular prenatal care, including testing and treatment when necessary.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is working to strengthen the well-being of children, youth, and their families by integrating behavioral health services into the existing supports they rely on, such as social services and early childhood programs. ACF released these Dear Colleague Letters and compilations of resources to highlight the critical importance of timely, high-quality behavioral health crisis care and ensure that you are aware of how these resources can be accessed in your communities.

These resources accompany ACF’s webpage released earlier in 2024, which included a tip sheet for parents and caregivers and a series of short videos about mental health.

This Administration for Children and Families resource is a compilation of their funding opportunities that may be of interest to organizations and agencies seeking funding opportunities to support work in the areas of mental health and substance use, collectively referred to throughout this document as “behavioral health.”

This Office on Trafficking in Persons fact sheet provides an overview of community resources and highlights programs assisting with job training, food, energy bills, housing, childcare, and recovery services for those affected by trafficking. Support for disaster recovery and access to social services such as substance use treatment and mental health care are also included.

This Office of Research, Planning and Evaluation report describes the design of the NextGen Project, which is evaluating the effectiveness of four programs that provide services for people with physical, mental, or emotional health challenges. Many of the people are potential applicants for Supplemental Security Income. The four programs highlighted are:
• Bridges from School to Work;
• Individual Placement and Support for Adults with Justice Involvement;
• Philadelphia Workforce Inclusion Networks; and
• Western Mass Mental Health Outreach for MotherS PartnershipSM.