This Information Memorandum (IM) covers how Tribal Lead Agencies can use existing Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) resources, including supplemental funds provided through the American Rescue Plan Act, to implement their tribe’s vision for a stronger system of high-quality early care and education at the tribal community level. It offers examples of activities that Tribal Lead Agencies may implement that are allowable under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act and the CCDF regulations. The IM also discusses opportunities for Tribal Lead Agencies to participate in a Tribal Early Learning Initiative effort as they implement early childhood systems building activities.

Today’s infants and toddlers have lived virtually their entire lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shaped every aspect of their growth and wellbeing. The pandemic has directly impacted them, through experiences such as delayed screenings for developmental issues, and indirectly impacted them through the circumstances of other members of their households, including increased parental stress, illness, and job loss. This brief examines how decision makers implementing the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) have used COVID relief funding and policy opportunities to lay the groundwork for longer-term, transformative change by equitably supporting infants, toddlers, and their families. The brief also offers guidance for how decision makers can leverage ARPA across myriad programs to support these children and families now and into the future.

Congress passed The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 1978 to protect American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families. ICWA recognized core values and principles of child welfare best practice by requiring active efforts to keep children safely in their homes and connected to their families, communities, and culture. The values and spirit embedded in ICWA are critical to the well-being of AI/AN children, youth, and families and should form the basis of child welfare practice for all. This brief describes four key principles inherent in ICWA, provides examples of these principles in practice, and offers questions for consideration to help agencies further explore how they should apply these principles to support the permanency and well-being of both Native and non-Native children, youth, and families.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation compendium provides detailed summaries of each family self-sufficiency research project that was active or newly funded during FY 2021, along with brief overviews of past projects, and highlights select findings released in FY 2021. The studies in this report are organized into five sections:

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
• Employment and the Labor Market
• Education and Training
• Behavioral Science
• Cross-Cutting and Other Safety Net Research

The University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty will host a webinar on April 27, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT which will examine the mental health of fathers. Fathers, like mothers, are vulnerable to depression in the period surrounding the birth of a new baby, and this depression can have serious consequences for children and families. Presenters will draw on their research and practice experience to discuss the prevalence and presentation of depression and other mental health challenges among new fathers, and the impacts of fathers’ mental health on parenting, family relationships, and child development.

This fact sheet summarizes available federal child welfare spending programs, their provisions, and their respective funding levels. It includes funding of the Foster Care, Prevention, Permanency-Title IV-E and Child and Family Services-Title IV-B of the Social Security Act (SSA), as well as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA).

The COVID-19 pandemic required child protection agencies to pivot quickly, identify new ways of working with children and families, and seize opportunities for innovation that previously seemed impossible. Agency leaders leveraged virtual engagement to maintain connection and support the well-being of children and families, and to address their staff’s needs so they could deliver services effectively during such a difficult stretch of time. This brief shares lessons learned and key considerations offered by parents, caseworkers, supervisors, administrators, and resource caregivers, including both foster and relative caregivers, for incorporating virtual engagement into practice in ways that best support children and families.

The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is an initiative designed to reduce the number of youth experiencing homelessness. The goal of the YHDP is to support selected communities, including rural, suburban, and urban areas across the United States, in the development and implementation of a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) establishes the funding criteria for the FY 2021 YHDP. Through this NOFO, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will award approximately $72 million in up to 25 participating communities, with a priority for communities with substantial rural populations in up to eight locations. Applications are due by June 28, 2022.

The Administration for Children and Families, along with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, hosted a webinar in April 2022 to highlight contemporary housing challenges impacting families with low incomes. This webinar provided background information on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program as well as discussed how TANF programs and ERA grantees can build and sustain partnerships to expand housing services. Presenters provided an overview of the ERA funding stream and TANF program, principles for TANF and ERA stakeholders to build partnerships to improve housing stability, and an example of community activities used to build and sustain partnerships.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication characterized by compassion and designed to strengthen personal commitment to making change by exploring the person’s own reasons for change. This MI guide provides a roadmap through the planning and implementation process, including sections on Planning and Readiness, Implementation and Change Management, and Continuous Quality Improvement.