This brief focuses on the challenges and opportunities that the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First) offers to accelerate the shift toward a prevention-oriented child well-being system. The brief includes recommendations which focus on three key aspects of Family First implementation: the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, aligning systems through a primary prevention lens, and building capacity to successfully administer Family First.

The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare (FCL) project sought to improve placement stability and permanency outcomes for children by engaging their fathers and paternal relatives. FCL implemented a methodology known as the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), a continuous learning methodology. The first of a three-part series, this podcast discusses strategies implemented in one agency participating in the BSC in Hartford, Connecticut to create a culture in their child welfare system that prioritizes thinking about and engaging fathers and paternal relatives. The podcast covers the benefits of including community partners and fatherhood advocates in Connecticut’s improvement team.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report shares findings from the feasibility study of implementing a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), an innovative continuous quality improvement methodology, in Early Care and Education (ECE) centers. The feasibility study explored how ECE centers (such as child care centers and Head Start) participated in BSC quality improvement activities and the extent to which the BSC promoted changes in individual practices and organizational dynamics. The study also assessed the process of implementing a BSC in ECE centers, whether participating centers developed a culture of continuous improvement, and how the BSC fostered sustained changes in workplace climate and individual practices to support children’s social and emotional learning.

The Child Support Enforcement program strengthens families by securing support from noncustodial parents for their children. For noncustodial parents with steady employment and financial resources, the program can work well, but the child support system works less well for noncustodial parents who cannot pay and face barriers to employment. This brief examines how policies impact families required to participate in child support and noncustodial parents who cannot afford to pay, and it highlights five innovations aiming to improve the way the child support system interacts with low-income noncustodial parents and their children.

The National Community Action Partnership will host a webinar on January 12, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to help Community Action Agencies (CAAs) learn more about how to get involved with the Learning Communities Resource Center (LCRC) in the next cycle of sharing and learning opportunities for the Community Action CSBG Network. LCRC is an innovation hub that works with CAAs to identify effective, promising, and innovative practice models that combat the causes and conditions of poverty. Participating individuals and agencies will have the opportunity to develop innovative anti-poverty approaches, improve programs, and sharpen service delivery strategies specific to the needs of local communities. The webinar will also cover upcoming events, cohort topics, new resources, and application process questions.

This fact sheet provides a brief overview of findings from a study of challenges and strategies for young people (ages 14 to 24) seeking support from key safety net programs. The fact sheet draws findings based primarily on a series of conversations with young people and staff members of youth-serving organizations. Young people and staff members identified key challenges with safety net policies and practices that do not reflect the needs or developmental life stage of young people. The resource also provides context about how structural racism affects people’s experiences with the safety net. Strategies for simplifying access and supporting young people in navigating processes, empowering and supporting young people in decision making, replacing punitive approaches with support and minimized burden, and making structural changes are also presented.

On June 7 and 10, 2021, the Children’s Bureau and the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) brought experts together virtually to discuss findings from the Building Co-Regulation Capacity to Support Positive Development for Youth with Foster Care Experience report. Participants included child welfare program directors, researchers with expertise in self-regulation and child development, federal staff, foster parents, and therapists, with several attendees having lived experience in the child welfare system.

The Child and Family Data Archive and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation hosted a webinar on January 19, 2022 on the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) and Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation-Strong Start (MIHOPE-Strong Start). MIHOPE was launched in 2011 to assess the effectiveness of early childhood home visiting funded by the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. MIHOPE-Strong Start was launched in 2012 to evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based home visiting (MIECHV- and non-MIECHV-funded) in improving birth outcomes and health outcomes during pregnancy and the year after birth. The webinar provided an overview of MIHOPE and MIHOPE-Strong Start; MIHOPE and MIHOPE-Strong Start research design and key findings; information on the MIHOPE and MIHOPE-Strong Start restricted access files; protections for the restricted access files; and information on accessing the MIHOPE and MIHOPE-Strong Start datasets and MIHOPE video files.

This report presents findings from a national survey of families with children ages 0-17 living at home who were eligible to receive the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC). Conducted in October 2021, the survey asked parents questions about tax filing behavior, receipt of monthly CTC payments, how the monthly payments have impacted their family, and how families are hearing about the CTC. The survey was designed in consultation with representatives of the Children’s Defense Fund, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, the Center for Law and Social Policy, National Women’s Law Center, Prosperity Now, and the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service has granted waivers to allow states to issue emergency SNAP allotments (supplements) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These waivers are only granted when a state also issued an emergency or disaster declaration. This guidance identifies all the COVID-19 waivers, listed by each state, that have been granted from October 1, 2021 through December 3, 2021. Emergency Allotments questions and answers and other resource materials are also provided.