This Administration for Children and Families (ACF) blogpost, published by the Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, summarizes findings of roundtables that have occurred across the country covering how to improve access to affordable, high-quality child care and offers opportunities for additional input with a Request for Information. The blogpost also discusses the economic impact of child care and innovations at the state and local level to include increased subsidy rates for child care providers, reduced waiting lists for child care subsidies, qualified professional development for child care providers, and shared service models to support family child care providers that colocate housing and early learning facilities.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requests caseload data for October 2019 on the number of foster children supported with public funds and the number of children in families receiving TANF payments in excess of the poverty income level under the 2019 HHS Poverty Guidelines. The data will be used as part of a formula to allocate FY 2020 U.S. Department of Education, Title I, Part A of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds. Data provided to ACF must include the name of the local education agency (LEA) (or county, if not available by LEA) and reporting code shown on the list. Form ACF-4125 must be submitted by December 31, 2019 by regular mail or e-mail. Failure to provide data will result in the loss of Title I funds.

This MDRC report is an evaluation of Breaking Barriers, a San Diego-based program that offered employment services for low-income persons with disabilities using an Individual Placement and Support approach. The report includes an implementation study, an impact analysis, and a cost study of the program which operated from January 2016 to June 2018. The study, which enrolled 1,061 individuals in the analysis, measured differences among program and control groups in the impact of the Breaking Barriers model on employment, earnings, continued need for public benefits and assistance, and physical and mental health outcomes.

This Urban Institute report presents a preliminary set of findings on the effects of colocation of human services organizations in Washington, DC. The report illustrates initial lessons for service usage and the benefits received by participants of human services programs from multiple organizations housed at the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC). (Thirty million dollars in programs and services in human services programs at THEARC are coordinated by Building Bridges Across the River and served more than 100,000 people in 2017.) Initial report findings noted that the organizations at THEARC, which provide education, recreational, health care, workforce development, and other services, share similar goals. The intentional colocation produced notable positive effects on the health and well-being of the adults and children who utilized these organizations’ offerings.

This brief from the University of California at Davis, Center for Poverty Research highlights how childhood economic hardship has negative long-term impacts on mental and physical well-being and how resilience factors can mitigate these negative consequences. The brief notes recent research that identifies protective factors, such as supportive relationships and successful role models, that provide continuous benefits for child development. The brief also offers suggestions for both policy and practice to support youth experiencing economic hardship at an early age.

This updated and expanded report from the Congressional Research Service provides a summary of TANF block grant information and addresses frequently asked questions. The report covers TANF funding and expenditures, TANF caseload data, level of TANF cash benefits, and TANF work participation standards.

The National Association of Counties will host the second of a two-part webinar on December 5, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. ET to review the collection, management, and sharing of data among health and human services and justice systems to address incarcerated persons with mental illness. Subject matter experts from county health and human services and justice systems at the local level will discuss how they implemented data policies and systems and the ways this data has been used to connect people to related supportive services and treatment programs.

The Social Capital Webinar Series is part of the Emerging Practice Series of the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative. Comprised of three parts, the Social Capital Webinar Series includes insights from subject matter experts with experience building social capital from research-based, programmatic, and workforce development perspectives, as well as testimonials from TANF participants. Part 3, “Applying Social Capital in the Real World” offers strategies for TANF agencies to build agency social capital and to integrate the building of clients’ personal social capital into their overall program approach.