This Mathematica literature review features the causal relationship between employment and health among low-income Americans. Instead of cause and effect, research has mostly emphasized the correlational relationship of changes in employment and health; this prior work mainly reflected findings from outside the United States. The research in this current review assessed whether a causal relationship exists between work environment and health, since a job’s nature and quality might affect one’s health. The review’s findings might help guide the design of programs to improve health or employment outcomes for U.S. low-income adults and children.

The Children's Bureau Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention developed this Resource Guide to help service providers prevent child abuse and neglect and promote child and family well-being. Content includes protective factors to strengthen individuals, families and communities; model programs that can be implemented when working with families and using the protective factor framework; ways the framework can build community partnerships; and how to protect children from abuse. The Resource Guide also provides parents and caregivers with English and Spanish tip sheets on building and sustaining a healthy home environment for children.

This Upjohn Institute issue brief notes strategies to ensure SNAP benefit retention. Data from seven states showed that almost half of SNAP participants exit from assistance within one year, and one half of these exiters remain eligible but are dropped from caseloads since they fail to meet administrative filing requirements. The issue brief illustrates how many states, including Michigan, have tried to reduce administrative burdens by allowing participants to track and manage their benefits online.

This MDRC brief describes how behavioral strategies were used to encourage parents to make child support payments and to explain child support orders once issued. The Start Smart initiative guides eligible noncustodial parents on income withholding mechanisms to make child support payments and for making these payments before the income withholding starts.

This blog post from the Children's Bureau Office on Child Abuse and Neglect identifies programs and resources that foster safe and stable environments for children and their families. The post highlights an initiative funded under the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention program, as well as the 2019 Prevention Resource Guide that includes six protective factors promoting child well-being.

This Urban Institute study examines the effect of reinstating SNAP work-related time limits in Kentucky on a county-by-county basis. The review covers SNAP participation of able-bodied adults without dependents and reviews caseload data from January 2017 to September 2018.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness will convene a webinar on April 3, 2019 at 12 noon ET to discuss the agency’s strategic planning tool to ensure access to affordable housing for persons with housing barriers. This webinar will also discuss the findings of an earlier report that outlined 9 action steps that integrate affordable housing options with approaches to end homelessness.

This section from an Urban Institute report describes a social impact bond, issued in Denver, Colorado in February 2016, to fund a supportive housing program for 250 persons most frequently involved in the criminal justice system. The section presents participants’ first-hand accounts as well as challenges of utilizing the housing lease-up process to stem homelessness or returns to jail for this transitional population.

The National Association of Counties will host a three-part webinar series to discuss strategies county leaders can use to create comprehensive reentry substance abuse treatment plans with law enforcement officials for individuals in jails and upon reentry. The first webinar will be held on April 25, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. ET.