April is National Child Abuse Prevention month. The 2024 theme is "Doing Things Differently: Moving from the Challenge to the Change,” which was designed to encourage Administration of Children and Families (ACF) partners to continue building communities that ensure families have access to fundamental supports, such as housing, food, transportation, and child care. This ACF resource highlights supporting families with a holistic perspective that recognizes the interdependence between parents and children, and offers outreach materials.

The social safety net includes numerous programs that families with lower incomes can access to obtain cash income, resources for food, and help with housing, child care expenses, and energy costs. However, many people who are eligible for these programs do not receive help. This Urban Institute report uses the Analysis of Transfers, Taxes, and Income Security microsimulation model to hypothetically assess the aggregate benefit dollars and reductions in poverty if there was 100% participation in the following means-tested programs:

• Supplemental Security Income;
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children;
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
• Child care subsidies supported by the Child Care and Development Fund;
• The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; and
• Public and subsidized housing programs.

Results are provided nationally and at the state level, as well as by age group and race and ethnicity.

Benefits cliffs refer to the sudden and often unexpected decrease in public benefits that can occur with a small increase in earnings. This happens when families receive benefits through a public assistance program, earn a raise, and then become ineligible to continue receiving benefits despite being unable to sustain their household. This National Conference of State Legislatures report provides an overview on the Federal income eligibility requirements for public assistance programs, including housing assistance, utility assistance, food and nutrition assistance, direct cash assistance, child care, and health insurance. Additionally, it highlights work requirements for these public assistance programs and state policy strategies and legislation related to benefit cliffs.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation is funding the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEES) project to conduct an evaluation of a supportive housing program in Portland, Oregon. The program, operated by Central City Concern, provides treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) along with housing and employment services. This OPRE project profile provides a short overview of the Central City Concern’s supportive housing program, including the program’s employment services, and describes the study to be carried out by the project team.

Service coordination can help people achieve and maintain housing stability, wellness, and independence by identifying and connecting the services and supports they want and need. A strategy to increase access to this service coordination is “braiding”, which laces together funds from multiple sources - each funding unique activities - to support a common goal while maintaining the specific program identity of each individual funding source. The Housing and Services Resource Center, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will host a webinar on January 31, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, which will feature two models for braiding funding streams across sectors to maximize the use of existing resources and broaden access to service coordination. Presenters will discuss program structure, funding and braiding process, partnerships, and outcomes, and participants will learn ideas for adapting these models to extend access to service coordination.

LifeSet is an intensive case management program that prepares young people in foster care for the transition to adulthood. LifeSet specialists meet weekly with youth to provide individualized, intensive services as youth work towards self-defined goals in areas such as housing, employment, education, and money management. This Chapin Hall report presents findings from the Phase II evaluation of LifeSet’s implementation by three child services providers in Illinois. Phase II evaluation activities included focus groups with LifeSet specialists; interviews with LifeSet supervisors, licensed program experts, and young people who participated in LifeSet; and an analysis of both Department of Children and Family Services administrative data and GuideTree program data from Youth Villages.

Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Accounts are tax-advantaged savings accounts that are available to eligible individuals with disabilities. ABLE account funds can be used for "qualified disability-related expenses" (QDE). A QDE is any expense the beneficiary incurs because of the disability. These may include expenses related to education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, or other expenses that help improve health, independence and/or quality of life. This Social Security Administration blogpost explains who is eligible for an ABLE account, what the funds are used for, and the effect it has on Social Security disability benefits.

Employment coaching involves trained staff working collaboratively with participants to help them set individualized goals related to employment and providing motivation, support, and feedback as participants work toward those goals. Recently, there has been growing interest among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in using employment coaching to assist Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes become economically mobile. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report highlights the evaluation that was designed to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the four programs participating in the Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations study. The report answers the following research questions: In what contexts were programs implemented? How did the designs of the programs vary and differ? How was coaching implemented across programs? The programs highlighted in this evaluation are: • Family Development and Self-Sufficiency, which serves TANF recipients and their family members in Iowa. • Goal4 It!TM, which provides employment coaching to TANF recipients in Jefferson County, Colorado in lieu of traditional case management. • LIFT, which is a voluntary coaching program operated in four U.S. cities. • MyGoals for Employment Success, which serves recipients of housing assistance in Baltimore, Maryland, and Houston, Texas.

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This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) provides information on four programs operated by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) whose funding may be used to provide post-disaster housing assistance following a natural disaster: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). Funds can be used for temporary housing such as motels or hotels, minor home repairs, cooling centers during the day, or short-term rental or mortgage assistance.  A summary chart outlines the benefits, availability of assistance, eligibility, the form of benefits, and contact for more information for the TANF, CSBG, LIHEAP, and SSBG programs. The DCL and an accompanying factsheet will be featured in an ACF-sponsored webinar on September 20, 2023. 

In observance of National Preparedness Month, the Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response, the Office of Family Assistance, and the Office of Community Services held a webinar on September 20, 2023. This webinar featured a panel discussion on an Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Dear Colleague Letter and a factsheet on post-disaster housing assistance for disaster survivors that may be available through four ACF programs. These programs include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG).