Social services programs are increasingly looking for ways to forecast which participants are likely to reach major milestones so they can tailor services and allocate resources. In recent years, some programs have explored advanced predictive modeling approaches that harness potentially millions of data points and may incorporate machine learning: a variety of algorithms that determine relationships between prediction measures and the outcome. While there is potential for social service programs to use advanced models, MDRC’s Center for Data Insights (CDI) has found that such methods are not always better at making reliable predictions and come with trade-offs. This post outlines CDI’s approach to predictive analytics, using illustrations from two studies: Career Pathways, a workforce training program, and Child First, a home visiting program.

“Concrete support in times of need” is a cornerstone of family well-being and a critical protective factor in the Strengthening Families framework from the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP). CSSP will host a webinar on November 10, 2022 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET where Clare Anderson and Yasmin Grewal-Kök from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago will share recent research about how economic stability affects children and families and will illustrate how this research can bolster our efforts to ensure that all families have access to the concrete supports they need to thrive. Other presentations will include updates from CSSP staff and the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance about new resources and opportunities.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federal nutrition program that offers nourishing foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health care for nutritionally at-risk infants, children up to 5 years old, and pregnant and postpartum women from households with low income. WIC enhances individuals' nutritional consumption, birth and health outcomes, and general health. The program also promotes learning and growth, lessens food insecurity, and aids in the fight against poverty. This brief details the change in WIC participation and benefit redemption food costs during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 through February 2022) and provides recommendations to strengthen WIC now and beyond the pandemic.

Through the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), states administer child care subsidy programs to support low-income parents’ employment and expand children’s access to high-quality child care. Many Hispanic children stand to benefit from this key public investment, given that most live with an employed parent and more than half live in low-income households. This brief examines how CCDF policies are interpreted and implemented on the ground by local caseworkers and administrators who work directly with families seeking subsidies. Using an online survey to assess the administrative burden for Hispanic applicants, researchers found that all local subsidy staff identified employment as an approved activity; most (80% or more) considered education, job training, and activities related to the TANF program to be approved; and fewer (60% to 70%) considered job searching and activities related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to be approved.

Largely due to the opioid crisis, the federal government has increased its focus on and funding for programs that address both treatment and employment outcomes for people with substance use disorder (SUD). Programs that combine employment services with SUD treatment or recovery efforts aim to achieve the dual goals of sustaining recovery and improving economic well-being. This report documents five programs that combine SUD treatment and recovery services with employment services. It also offers recommendations for those already implementing similar programs or interested in developing them.

Millions of food and cash assistance customers rely on cash transfers each month to meet their family’s needs. Much of today’s benefits available to families are deposited directly onto Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards that are assigned to customers. EBT card skimming is a growing challenge to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants, putting them at risk of losing crucial benefits. Challenges related to protecting beneficiaries from theft have increased for human services programs as they seek to improve the level of customer protections similar to those afforded credit cards.

The Office of Family Assistance Project IMPROVE team hosted a webinar in November 2022 that brought together a panel representing TANF and SNAP programs as well as experts on EBT card skimming prevention. Panelists discussed ways agencies can educate participants on how to protect their benefits from theft, and responded to questions around challenges, best practices, and lessons learned. Panelists included: Michael Cole, Deputy Commissioner for Policy & Programs, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance; Jennifer Reynolds, Program Manager, Utah Department of Workforce Services; Kristi Manseau, Program Specialist, Utah Department of Workforce Services; and Ernest Baca, Deputy Systems Administrator, Arizona Department of Economic Security.

When it comes to cash transfer programs like welfare for single parents and especially mothers, most of the evaluation and economic modeling efforts have focused on how those programs impact the amount of paid work single parents do. However, there has been less attention to the value of parental time and how that matters for children’s development. This podcast from the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison features Joseph Mullins, an economist at the University of Minnesota, who developed an economic model for U.S. cash transfer programs that attempts to place an accurate value on parents’ time when assessing cash transfer programs.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) was launched nationwide in October 1987 as a way to connect and unite individuals and organizations working on domestic violence issues while raising awareness for those issues. This toolkit from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) provides information, background, messaging, templates, and content to promote involvement in #DVAM2022 and express a commitment to seeing a national culture where we are all safe, empowered, and free from domestic violence.

The #WeAreResilient toolkit includes:

• Details about NCADV and DVAM
• Information about Domestic Violence (including graphics, links to blog posts and fact sheets, and online resources)
• Samples and Templates
• More Ways to #PowerUp with NCADV

The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout have caused major disruptions for many workers and their families, particularly individuals working in jobs with low wages. This report and its accompanying brief summarize the experiences that 41 such workers shared during in-depth interviews, which examined how the respondents’ employment situations changed during the pandemic and the financial struggles they faced as a result of losing their job or having their work hours reduced. The stories and experiences workers share in the report and brief can help policymakers, employers, and programs that are interested in better supporting individuals with low incomes and their families.