Research shows that children who must be separated from their birth parents fare better when placed in the care of relatives as opposed to non-relatives. This finding is becoming particularly important as the number of foster children increases due to the opioid crisis, and relatives like grandparents increasingly shoulder the responsibility of care for these children. Generations United offers a report with data on the opioid crisis as it pertains to grandfamilies, and also lists policy and program recommendations to help stakeholders in the field. Besides prioritizing placement of foster children with relatives, the report recommends fully using services established under the Family First Prevention Services Act and the National Family Caregiver Support Program, providing legal and foster parent licensing assistance, helping grandfamilies attain funding and support, and creating a National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies.

This Casey Family Programs report outlines strategies for keeping American Indian and Alaska Native children in tribal foster homes and approaches to find tribal parents for an “Indian child” under the Indian Child Welfare Act. The report emphasizes the importance for Native children to have connections with families sharing their same culture, especially in cases where the children are not in safe or healthy home environments.

This MDRC report is an impact evaluation of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration (ETJD) program. The ETJD program was targeted to persons who were either returning citizens or are low-income parents who have had trouble making timely child support payments. The evaluation reviews the impact of the program on participants 30 months after initial enrollment and after nearly all participants had left their transitional jobs.

This report from MDRC provides an evaluation of the state of Kansas' Child Support Savings Initiative (CSSI) which was created to help parents pay off child support debt while contributing to their children's future higher education costs. It encourages parents to make direct deposits into 529 accounts, and in return, they receive matching reductions in their child support debt from the state. The search showed a common finding: that it is difficult to engage low- and middle-income families in saving money, as they already face other financial burdens. This is explored in depth in the report.

This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the fourth installment of the “Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field” and highlights Children First SHARP (Supporting Parents, Holistic Case Management, Access to Employment, Reaching Goals, Positive Parenting), an evidence-based model for serving noncustodial parents; this is a collective, one-stop approach between Goodwill Industries, the Kenosha County Child Support Agency, and several other community partners. Services provided include assistance with job searches and resume building, work supports, and a weekly Children First Job Club that facilitates peer support and networking.

This brief is part of the Parents and Children Together (PACT) evaluation and summarizes the experiences of fathers interviewed during the first two rounds of in-depth interviews for the project. Themes from the interviews are explored, as well as how fathers provide for their children outside the formal child support system, and implications for further research are given.

This Congressional Research Service report explores the involvement of child support enforcement in fatherhood programs and discusses initiatives to promote and support father-child interaction outside the parents’ relationship. The report also focuses on the need many see for more work-oriented programs that would enable fathers to consistently meet their child support obligations and reviews the current initiatives already in place.

Recognizing the valuable role of non-custodial parents (NCPs) in the lives of their children, there are a variety of programs that engage NCPs in employment services designed to increase the financial stability of both the NCP and the custodial family. Research has demonstrated that employment programs for low-income NCPs have far-reaching effects of improving family outcomes. When TANF families receive reliable child support payments, they are more likely to experience improved economic stability and enhanced family well-being due to a more consistent and predictable flow of income each month. In order for NCPs to provide such support, they need steady income through long-term livable wage employment. However, similarly to TANF participants, many NCPs struggle with a variety of employment barriers that are prohibitive to obtaining and maintaining stable employment.

 

An interactive webinar, Improving Economic Stability for TANF Families by Engaging Non-Custodial Parents in Employment Services, was held on September 13, 2017 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST. During the webinar, programs that serve NCPs shared how they support NCPs in addressing employment barriers and connecting them to meaningful long-term employment.