This report presents data and graphics to illustrate the variation of young children in deep poverty by race and ethnicity and health and development, including low birth weight, physical impairments, intellectual disability and developmental delay, participation rates in early intervention and special education, child behavior, lack of health insurance, obesity, and elevated blood lead levels. The report also examines parent characteristics by poverty status, such as their overall mental health status, income status among single parent households, level of neighborhood support, educational attainment, and rates among parents without health insurance and rates among unemployed parents.

As part of its M.A.N. C.A.V.E. (Men All Need to be Caring, Actively-Engaged, Vested, and Encouraged) Fatherhood Initiative, which aims to improve child well-being and promote positive relationships between fathers and their children, the City of Phoenix Head Start Birth to Five Program is sponsoring a free Fatherhood Virtual Summit on December 3, 2020 and December 4, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET. This event will combine keynote presentations and breakout sessions geared toward parents, grandparents, foster care providers, educators, and others who work with or raise boys.

This interactive mapping tool reflects the community factors associated with safe children and strong families. These factors include child and family well-being (children living in poverty and children without health insurance), educational attainment, economic status (unemployment rate, poverty rate, and median household income), housing factors (average number of hours working at minimum wage needed to afford housing, and percentage of unoccupied housing units), accessibility (access to healthy food, number of SNAP benefit recipients, computer access, and reduced/free lunch eligibility), and COVID-19 metrics (through November 2, but continuously updated). Data and indicators can be mapped at geographic levels defined by the user from the state level to the neighborhood level (by census tract).

This issue brief illustrates the administrative burdens that people encounter when attempting to access safety net programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief outlines learning costs (the time spent to figure out what programs are available and the steps on how to apply), compliance costs (the need for documentation and time/expertise needed to file for benefits), and psychological costs (stress or loss of autonomy). The brief notes how these administrative burdens can be consequential to those seeking assistance by reducing participation or complicating service delivery. To address and reduce these burdens, the brief offers strategies such as technology, automation for enrollment processing, and personal assistance at time of application.

This issue brief profiles the design and implementation of the 2Gen approach undertaken by the District of Columbia TANF program. The brief covers how staff were trained in 2Gen approaches, and the reorganization of TANF intake and eligibility processes. The report also features the District’s redesign of the TANF Employment and Education program, integration of 2Gen approaches for homeless families, and institution of a “whole family” model in universal pre-K and early childhood programs.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) report examines the impact of the Health Careers for All program that supported TANF recipients in accessing and completing healthcare occupational training. The report reviews the three-year impact on employment and earnings as well as the credentials earned by participants. Health Careers for All included four key components: navigation and case management services; access to healthcare occupational training at the foundational (career discovery), entry-level and advanced levels along a healthcare career pathway; employment services (to include resume development and interviewing skills); and financial support to address barriers in completing training or entering employment. Health Careers for All is one of nine programs evaluated by OPRE under the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Hunger Clearinghouse provides information about food resources available near an address or zip code, including meal sites, food banks, and other social services. Information from the Clearinghouse is accessible by contacting the USDA National Hunger Hotline by phone (with English and Spanish phone numbers provided) or by text.

This research-to-practice brief identifies lessons learned from six child support agencies in Arizona, California, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia as they implemented the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) model of child support enforcement. The PJAC model incorporates fairness in dispute resolution over child support payments and suggests that if a non-custodial parent perceives the process to be fair, he or she is more likely to comply with the order, regardless if the outcome of the process is favorable to them.

To develop an understanding of interventions to prevent homelessness among youth in or formerly in foster care, The Children’s Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families created the Building Capacity to Evaluate Interventions for Youth/Young Adults with Child Welfare Involvement At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) grant program. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report includes assessment findings of the YAHR grant program. It examines the characteristics of six organizations that formed partnerships with local child welfare agencies to define a comprehensive service model of interventions designed to prevent homelessness in youth who have experienced foster care. The report provides an initial review of how youth participants benefitted from these comprehensive models and how the models changed the services that youth participants received. The report also highlights how these grantees prepared to implement their service models and what factors hindered implementation.

The Aspen Institute’s ASCEND initiative will host a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. ET to discuss the role of social capital as part of the 2Gen approach. Social capital, the “secret sauce” of the 2Gen approach, is demonstrated by increased peer support, greater sense of community belonging, and connections with family, friends, and neighbors. Social capital is also manifested in participation in community- and faith-based organizations, outreach by schools and the workplace, and engagement with case managers or career coaches. This webinar will include presentations from leadership and staff at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, who will cover the identification and dissemination of emerging practices for measuring and using social capital. There will also be discussion of how practitioners can use a 2Gen approach to help their clients build relationships to attain their identified goals.