This dataset, updated annually since 2011, represents a holistic perspective of opportunity to suggest that one’s ability to thrive is not limited to economic circumstances. It also includes educational, health-related, and overall community conditions and resources that a person will encounter. The Opportunity Index covers data on these four dimensions and presents a composite measure that weighs Economic, Education, Health, and Community factors for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The index ranks each of the jurisdictions in descending order of levels of overall opportunity. Data is also assessed at an overall level for nearly 2,000 counties (approximately 95 percent of the entire U.S. population). In addition, the study indicators include data broken down by gender and race/ethnicity at an overall level. A technical supplement explains the methodology behind the rankings.

Zero to Three will convene its annual conference on October 5-8, 2020 as a virtual event. The conference will include sessions highlighting the latest research on early life adversity, early childhood programs, and supports for child well-being. Participants are eligible to earn CEUs. There is a fee to attend the event, and registration is required.

Income inequality has grown over the last decade, along with changes in the safety net, demographics, and income reporting. In this working paper released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau, trends in material hardship are examined in seven categories: food, health, housing, bill paying, fear of crime, neighborhood problems, and the lack of consumer goods. Data for this study was pulled from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) for the period covering 1992 to 2011. The data suggests that income volatility is a real challenge for many households and that declines in hardship were present among the lowest income groups surveyed.

This blogpost highlights the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) apprenticeship program for restaurant managers and line cooks. The program, developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, features partnerships with restaurants and hospitality employers to provide training and employment opportunities for underserved populations, including Hispanic and Black American youth and adults. The program also builds alliances with YouthBuild and Job Corps as well as post-high school educational institutions in Maryland, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and California. To date, the program has expanded to 70 restaurant and hospitality employer partners and 2,000 apprentices who also earn up to 18 credits toward a culinary arts or hospitality degree.

Job seekers and businesses can turn to one source for information on planning and preparing for economic recovery. Published by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Quick Start Action Planner organizes resources in the following categories: Service Delivery for Job Seeker; Service Delivery for Business Customer; Labor Market Information; Partnerships & Planning; and System Infrastructure & Capacity. The resource also identifies several Federal and non-Federal websites that provide guidance on workplace readiness in the current pandemic environment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will host a hybrid event (with both in-person and virtual presentations) on October 13-14, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri that brings together SNAP E & T stakeholders nationwide to share best practices for increasing employment among SNAP households. The deadline to register is September 30, 2020.

This blogpost covers how the comprehensive Child First program has implemented home visits during the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing telehealth technology via phones or videoconferencing to provide treatment and deliver services. Key questions raised in the blogpost provide insight on telehealth accommodations made by home visiting teams working with families with limited technology or privacy concerns and how families have responded to these telehealth connections. The blogpost is drawn from interviews with Child First staff in 10 programs in Connecticut, North Carolina, and Florida.

This issue brief from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) addresses opioid misuse and opioid use disorder in the U.S. Hispanic and Latino population. The brief presents various challenges these communities face including discrimination and trauma, intergenerational substance abuse, language barriers, and other sociocultural factors associated with accessing prevention and treatment and recovery services.

This report is part of the Responding to Intimate Violence in Relationship Programs (RIViR) study to evaluate approaches for assessing teen dating violence. The report covers how to accurately identify youth in Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs who are experiencing teen dating violence (TDV) so they can be referred for additional services. The report also examines how youth and TDV program staff perceive tools to assess TDV and strategies to implement these tools. The report compared two HMRE programs—More Than Conquerors, Inc. of Conyers, Georgia and Youth and Family Services of Rapid City, South Dakota.

This blogpost illustrates some of the programs at the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) in the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) which are designed to reduce youth homelessness, domestic violence, and adolescent pregnancy. The blogpost identifies one approach for self-sufficiency and health among FYSB-funded grantees that is called the success sequence – first graduate from high school, then get a full-time job, and then get married before having children – which, if followed in that order, is likely to enable young people to avoid poverty and to achieve economic stability.