The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women webpage provides resources for strengthening services to individuals encountering domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Included is background information on different types of violence and national hotline numbers to address them, as well as a directory with contact information for domestic violence prevention networks and coalitions for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

(See also Resources on "intimate violence" in the Resource Library)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention published a technical package based on evidence-based strategies and approaches to help communities and states focus on prevention activities and provide victim-centered services to survivors and their families. The package features a multi-level, multi-sector approach to supporting survivors, which incorporates social services, justice, housing, advocates, community organizations, and the health care sector working collaboratively to support children, youth, and families. Teaching healthy relationship skills and effective parenting, strengthening economic supports for families, creating protective environments, and civil legal protections are prevention strategies addressed in this technical package.

This research-to-practice brief identifies the positive outcomes of preserving sibling relationships within child welfare agencies and the barriers for joint sibling placement. Strategies that support joint sibling placement and adoptions are presented from initiatives in Connecticut, Idaho, and New Jersey; they include prioritizing kinship relationships regarding placement and establishing clear operating policies, involving children in placement decisions, and using retention strategies for adoptive and foster parents.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation tip sheet provides guidance on how healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs can request participation in the Strengthening the Implementation of Marriage and Relationship Programs (SIMR) project. The SIMR project will work with select HMRE programs to strengthen their recruitment, retention, and client engagement activities. The tip sheet illustrates the benefits for HMRE programs to participate in SIMR, the timeline for site selections among HMRE programs, and how HMRE programs may become involved. The deadline for programs to contact SIMR is October 23, 2020.

To address the shortage of healthcare workers in rural communities, the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration has issued a grant opportunity to create employment and training programs in healthcare occupations serving rural and tribal communities. Eligible applicants are partnerships of public and private sector organizations, including employers representing the healthcare industry, nonprofit healthcare organizations, federally recognized Indian/Native American Tribal Government organizations, and organizations designated as primary care associations by the Health Resources and Services Administration, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State and Local Workforce Development Boards. The closing date for receipt of applications is November 13, 2020.

The economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing and stay-at-home orders have dramatically reshaped the approach social service programs are taking to support employment for low-income populations. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) will sponsor a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET featuring leaders from three employment and training programs (Climb Wyoming, Rhode Island Works, and Community Action Organization of Scioto County). The speakers will describe their approaches to continuing training programs and other employment services during the pandemic. These programs participated in OPRE’s State TANF Case Studies project to explore different approaches to providing employment-related and supportive services to TANF recipients and other low-income populations. The panelists will discuss the operational implications of the pandemic for their programs; how participants of their services are balancing participation in employment services with competing life demands and suspension of supportive services, such as child care; and the implications of shifting labor market conditions.

The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) National Research Conference on Early Childhood 2020 (NRCEC 2020) will be held virtually from November 30 to December 3, 2020. This biennial event will cover research on child welfare, Early Head Start, Head Start, child care, home visiting, special education, pre-kindergarten, and early elementary and other early childhood programs. Updates on the conference agenda and registration will be posted as this information becomes available.

The Office of Family Assistance offers technical assistance to support the work readiness of TANF-eligible populations and to guide case managers in the use of assessment tools. This technical assistance includes a set of three Online Work Readiness Assessment (OWRA) participant guides. These guides cover: Level 1 – resume writing, interviewing preparation, building a career portfolio, and understanding what an employer is looking for; Level 2 – identifying one’s skills and interests as well as setting career goals; and Level 3 – learning about labor market information, exploring jobs and occupations, understanding career pathways as well as information about how to find jobs and training opportunities, and how to develop one’s own education and training plan.

There is also a Case Manager Guide which covers assessments to determine literacy and adult basic education needs, evaluating English language learning needs, identifying learning disabilities and needs for soft skills training, and tools to determine abilities for career exploration. The case manager guide also offers an overview of career pathways and career clusters and how to understand and use labor market information, with references on where to access additional resources.

In Spring 2020, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Center for Urban Families (CFUF) hosted a two-part roundtable with practitioners from 10 youth-serving organizations that provide outreach and services to young fathers. This CFUF brief highlights strategies the practitioners developed to improve services for fathers of color, ages 18-24. The practitioners also shared their engagement approaches and their perspectives on program research and evaluation.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report presents findings on the impact of the San Diego Workforce Partnership’s Bridge to Employment program. The Bridge to Employment program, part of the ACF-funded Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project, helps low-income individuals and TANF recipients enroll in and complete occupational healthcare training and find employment in this industry sector. The report examines the program’s effect on educational attainment, entry into employment, earnings, and individual and family well-being. The report also reviews the benefits of the program against its costs, as perceived by program participants and other stakeholders.