Studying large public social programs can be a challenge for social scientists. Recent technological developments have allowed researchers to use big data — data sets that combine survey and administrative data — to examine how social programs work and how they affect their participants. One method by which researchers accomplish this is “text mining,” a process of finding patterns from large amounts of unstructured text data. In this report from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, researchers explore how text mining contributed to a better understanding of the behavior of families in the foster care system and the role of the courts on reunification.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services highlights the importance of kinship care – care by a close relative or friend – if a child cannot remain with their parents. Research has shown that children have the best outcomes when raised in a supportive environment by people they know. This article emphasizes the preference for kinship connections and provides links to the Children’s Bureau website, where there are tips and advice for those interested in child welfare and kinship care. The website also hosts an outreach tool to help advocates and professionals engage the public in fostering child well-being.

This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is part of the "Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field" and highlights the Building Wealth and Health Network for the work they do to build social and financial capital of TANF recipients. Based on research that shows the beneficial effects of high social and monetary capital, the Network provides group financial empowerment classes and other resources with a specific focus on those overcoming violence or adversity in their past. There is also a peer support component that creates connections among participants, which increases social capital and helps members feel engaged and self-sufficient and makes the program sustainable. Randomized control trial results suggest that this program increased employment, earnings, and self-sufficiency while decreasing depression and economic hardship among members.

This brief uses National Health Interview Survey data to identify key employment characteristics of SNAP participants with the goal of informing policymakers and stakeholders to create the best possible programs. Broad trends include lack of higher education, low incomes, and presence of a child in the household. Although most participants work, with employment being more likely for non-citizens, married, and healthy, only 50% report being food secure. Implications of these findings suggest that SNAP does not discourage work, but other barriers may prevent employment or job retention in vulnerable subgroups.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness provides updated statistics and trend analysis in this briefing, while also using the data to discuss implications for efforts to eliminate homelessness. In 2017, homelessness rose slightly for the first time since 2016, which was driven entirely by more unsheltered homeless individuals without families. The Council links to further resources that detail trends for youth, families, worst case housing needs, and affordable housing throughout the country. Considering all of this data, the Council stresses the need for affordable housing, unsheltered support services, and attention to racial disparities through combined federal and local efforts across agencies, sectors, and lawmakers.

Stable and affordable housing continues to be an issue for low-income families as rental and home prices increase and wages may not rise in accordance. This webinar on September 25 is geared toward SNAP Employment and Training stakeholders to demonstrate ways in which SNAP programs can implement approaches to job training that facilitate housing stability for benefit recipients. Drawing on examples from Massachusetts and Arkansas State SNAP agencies, links between housing and workforce initiatives will be highlighted and their importance emphasized to overcome rent burden and homelessness for vulnerable populations.

This policy brief describes the opportunities for collaboration between SNAP Employment & Training programs and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Because both serve overlapping populations, such as able-bodied adults without dependents, states can implement SNAP E&T through existing workforce training programs to overcome participants’ barriers to employment. The report details the benefits and challenges of cooperation, provides examples of states that are currently uniting the two initiatives, and suggests lessons for integration.

This brief by the Urban Institute looks at how economic trends and the labor market have changed since the 1970s, when both the labor market and social safety supports were stronger. Because of such changes like fewer work benefits, stagnant wages, and declining labor force participation rates, social safety programs face increasing burdens. Furthermore, the trend toward more outsourced, nonstandard, temporary, and automated work creates further pressures on social safety nets to provide benefits traditionally obtained through stable employment. Some potential solutions include portable benefits for contractors or part-time workers, laws that require minimum benefit levels, state-operated social insurance programs, prorated unemployment benefits, and programs to make the work requirements of safety net programs easier to fulfill.

This paper tests the relationship between maternal depression, parental quality, and child outcomes. It finds that experiencing adversity as a child is a factor in current maternal depression, which in turn affects parental engagement and sensitivity to children’s distress, but not non-distress. Thus, different interventions should be used for mothers who have experienced trauma depending on whether the goal is identifying and responding to distress signals or increasing parental sensitivity to their children overall.

On September 17, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention will host a webinar on supporting youth who have been affected by drugs and addiction within their families. Specifically, they will focus on the importance of mentoring and share strategies and best practices on counseling youth from families and communities where substance abuse may be an issue. Presenters will also discuss the challenges and changes of mentoring as the abuse landscape shifts and the opioid crisis grows.