On July 9, 2014, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a Brown Bag "Toxic Stress Among Men and Boys of Color." This Brown Bag featured Dr. David Pate, Jr. an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee. During the Brown Bag, Dr. Pate, Jr. discussed his current research on the impact of toxic stress, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences on men and boys. His presentation featured a discussion about initial findings related to variable effects on men and boys, personal accounts from study participants, and final policy recommendations.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a webinar entitled Integrating Executive Functioning Principles, Soft Skills Activities, and Case Management Coaching in order to Improve Economic Success for TANF Recipients. This Webinar provided resources and step-by-step recommendations to help participants better integrate case management approaches based on the work of the Crittenton Women's Union, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities- Building Better Programs initiative and the Minnesota's Ramsey County activities. The overarching goals of the Webinar were to: 1. Provide an overview of executive functioning, the emergence of brain science research within the human services and the intersection of executive functioning and soft skills as a means to improve social and economic development from the Building Better Program's initiative developed by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities; 2. Provide integration insights from the Crittenton Women's Union approach to improving executive functioning and economic mobility among TANF recipients and low-skilled individuals; and 3. Share lessons learned and implementation strategies from Ramsey County, Minnesota which has been rigorously evaluated and has been shown to improve economic outcomes for clients.

According to the congressionally required reports on engagement (ROEs), based on two reporting periods—March 2011 and an average month during April and June 2011, and federal work participation data, more than half of work-eligible individuals (WEIs) in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program reported zero hours of participation in work or work-related activities (U.S. DHHS 2012, 2011). This descriptive study, conducted on behalf of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) by Mathematica Policy Research and its partners, describes the programmatic reasons that, within the current TANF environment, may influence the numbers of WEIs or families with reported zero hours of participation, and promising strategies that state and local TANF agencies are using to encourage client engagement. Data collection included: telephone interviews with TANF administrators in 30 states, and site visits to 11 communities in 8 states, including a document review. This study describes nine factors gleaned from communication with TANF administrators and direct service staff that appear to affect the number of families reported to have zero hours. It also highlights a variety of state strategies for increasing engagement by improving policies and procedures, strengthening service delivery and performance management, and streamlining initial activities and ongoing transitions between activities. (author overview)

This video and companion brief from Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child provide an overview of what executive function is and how it affects one’s life-long capacity to learn. It explains how these skills develop, what can disrupt their development, and how supporting them can pay off in school, work and life.

This paper, from the Crittenton Women’s Union (CWU), discusses how executive functioning skills are important to move out of poverty. Executive functioning includes skills like impulse control, working memory, and mental flexibility. Persistent poverty can influence brain development and executive functioning and provide challenges for individuals as adults. The paper reviews how improving executive functioning can help promote positive outcomes and discusses how policy and programs can be developed to improve executive functioning.

Insights from behavioral economics, which combines findings from psychology and economics, suggest that an improved understanding of human behavior and decision-making could inform program design and improve outcomes. OPRE’s Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self Sufficiency (BIAS) project designs and tests behaviorally-informed program innovations for ACF programs. This session will share early findings and lessons learned from BIAS’s work with child support agencies in Texas and Ohio. (conference program description)

• Behavioral Economics and Social Policy: Designing Innovative Solutions for Programs Supported by the Administration for Children and Families

Lashawn Richburg-Hayes (MDRC)

The presentation gives an overview of how behavioral concepts are being applied to social policy within the context of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Project.

• Using Behavioral Economics to Help Incarcerated Parents Apply for Child Support Order Modifications

Mary Farrell (MEF Associates)

Michael Hayes (Texas Office of the Attorney General)

The presentation describes the Texas pilot of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Project, a program designed to increase the number of incarcerated, non-custodial parents who apply for child support order modifications.

• Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Timely and Regular Child Support Payments

Peter Baird (MDRC)

Susan Brown (Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Agency

The presentation describes the Franklin County, Ohio pilot of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Project, an initiative to increase the total amounts of child support collected and the frequency of payments.

These presentations were given at the 2014 Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference (WREC).

The Office of Family Assistance, through its Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) efforts, hosted a live Expert Panel webcast that explored the effects of toxic stress in childhood. This moderated discussion brought together preeminent, nationally recognized experts and practitioners to describe toxic stress, how exposure to childhood toxic stress can have life-long consequences as adults, and how practitioners and community-based organizations are working to prevent toxic stress exposure in children and ameliorate its effects on adults, strengthening families and communities.