This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation tool assists current and future Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination grantees in identifying and evaluating efforts to build collaboration, assessing ongoing collaboration, and tracking progress of collaboration and coordination efforts. The assessment tool can help organizations build and strengthen partnerships, identify areas for changing practice, and improve coordination among human service providers and Tribal TANF agencies.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation will host a webinar on April 29, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET to discuss how states and counties can develop preventive child welfare practice models that are in alignment with the Family First Prevention Services Act. Discussion will cover Putting Family First, a working paper from the Annie E. Casey Foundation; core elements of child welfare practice models; the use of evidence-based case management strategies; roles of leaders in thinking about preventive services; and how to implement these models in the current COVID-19 pandemic environment. Presenters include representatives from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the National Implementation Research Network, and the Mecklenburg County (North Carolina) Department of Social Services.

The Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center (WINTAC) has identified a set of resources for Vocational Rehabilitation programs to use in distance service delivery to persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 crisis. This compendium, which will be updated frequently, includes resources related to COVID-19 in general, teleworking and telecounseling, effective practices for line staff to deliver services, online training opportunities, and technology and programs to facilitate remote services and organizational management. There is also a set of federal disability resources related to COVID-19 and COVID-19 resources for individuals with disabilities.

This research-to-practice brief describes the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration project and its integration of procedural justice principles into enforcement practices in six child support agencies in Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. The premise of PJAC is that if defendants perceive the dispute resolution process to be fair, they will comply with the outcome of the process, regardless of whether the decision was favorable to the defendant. The target population of the PJAC demonstration project is noncustodial parents being referred for civil contempt of court-mandated child support even when these parents have been determined to be able to pay it. Implementation of PJAC addresses noncustodial parents’ perception of the court system proceedings and reasons for nonpayment, how to improve consistency of their payments, and ways to promote their positive engagement with the child support agency as well as the other parent.

The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University has prepared guidelines to address the mental health and behavioral concerns related to preparedness and responses to COVID-19 and similar infectious outbreaks. Attention is paid to the interrelationship between psychological, emotional, and behavioral responses and their effects on response plans. These guidelines articulate four phases for responding to the COVID-19 crisis—preparedness, early outbreak response, later response and recovery, and mental health intervention planning to address the perceived and actual risks.

Abt Associates will host a two-panel webinar on April 23, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on how to transform child welfare systems to protect children, what programs are doing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how programs are supporting community-driven and evidence-based prevention efforts against child abuse and neglect. Panelists include researchers, field practitioners, and child welfare advocates. Participants may register for either or both panels and links to join the panels will be provided on the Eventbrite page the morning of the event.

This issue brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes the provisions of the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). EFMLEA was created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to provide limited emergency paid family leave for employees to take time away from work (when telework is not an option) if their children’s child care providers or schools are closed due to COVID-19. This brief also identifies considerations for facilitating lower income workers’ participation in EFMLEA and the availability of resources under this law. To support EFMLEA’s utilization, the brief highlights immediate education efforts to support parents in understanding eligibility and other requirements of this provision. There is also guidance on how to engage low-wage employers in EFMLEA awareness and the administrative requirements for compliance.

This issue brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines virtual technical assistance (TA) and illustrates the types, use, and effectiveness of virtual TA across HHS programs. Included are programs delivered and managed by the Children’s Bureau, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and Offices of Child Support Enforcement, Refugee Resettlement, Head Start, Regional Operations, and Family Assistance. While covering emerging practices in designing and delivering virtual TA, the brief offers guidance on how to choose technology tailored to the audience’s access and expertise, administration of virtual assistance to ensure recipient satisfaction, and how to supplement virtual TA with in-person meetings.

This blogpost examines the likelihood of children’s risk to returning to foster care if they are infants, in their early teens, or have experienced a group placement before reunification with their birth families. The blogpost summarizes research on more than 600,000 children in 20 states over a seven-year period, from 2003 to 2010, with follow-up analysis concluding in 2017. Variables assessing the risk of foster care reentry included: children’s race, ethnicity, gender, and age; children’s placement history; and the social and economic context of the placement. Additionally, the blogpost covers how child welfare agencies could identify children who might benefit from Family First Prevention Services Act interventions.

This research-to-practice brief assesses the impact of evaluation technical assistance (ETA) provided to grantees under two federal initiatives: Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH), funded by the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3), a multi-agency funded initiative. The brief covers details about the grant programs and the provision of ETA evaluation offered; success, utilization, and benefits of ETA; how program requirements and evaluation needs were balanced; and how to make ETA successful for this and similar programs targeting disconnected youth.