Many effective services promote healthy development in early childhood and support families’ well-being that are located across sectors. These include high-quality childcare and early education (CCEE), and support for other family health, educational, and financial needs. It can be challenging for families to benefit from all these services because they all function separately, typically in different locations and with differing eligibility, enrollment, and service provision requirements. Potential roadblocks can exacerbate disparities because they affect marginalized families the most. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation study provided an in-depth look at different approaches to coordinating CCEE with other health and human services.

World Mental Health Day is October 10, 2023 and the objective is to raise awareness of mental health issues, as well as to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals and Dynamic Works Institute will co-host two virtual sessions; the first being on October 10, 2023 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT and will provide tools for practitioners’ toolbox and reflection activities. The second part of the series will take place on October 24, 2023 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT and will develop potential self-care plans for those heading towards burn-out. There is a fee for registration.

Finding and maintaining quality childcare is a challenge for many parents, and those living in low-income households often face even more obstacles. The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison will host a virtual session on October 4, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to introduce and discuss the current landscape of early care and education (ECE) as it pertains to low-income families. The panel will focus on policies and practices that offer support to low-income parents, an assessment of the current childcare subsidy program, and potential future measures could help to ensure access to affordable, high-quality ECE for all.

In recent years, policymakers and researchers have questioned the fairness and effectiveness of pursuing civil contempt to secure child support payments, particularly for parents with low incomes. Civil contempt proceedings are costly, burdensome, and often counterproductive to the goals of the child support program. They can impede employment, increase child support debt, alienate noncustodial parents from their children, and decrease parents’ future cooperation. Developed by the Office of Child Support Services, the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration assessed a different approach to improving child support payments. PJAC services aimed to address noncustodial parents’ reasons for nonpayment, promote positive engagement with the child support program and the other parent, and improve the consistency and completeness of their payments. This MDRC report compares the benefits and costs of PJAC services with those of business-as-usual child support enforcement.

According to 2022 Census data, the rate of child poverty in the United States has more than doubled, from 5.2 percent in 2021 to 12.4 percent in 2022. The increase follows the expiration of many of the COVID-era programs that resulted in unprecedented reductions in child poverty. Despite high rates of unemployment during the pandemic, child poverty declined by 25 percent in 2020 and by nearly 50 percent in 2021, due to stimulus payments and temporary expansions to government programs. The expiration of these programs reverses the progress of the last two years. This Child Trends blogpost discusses how to prevent further loss of the progress made in reducing child poverty.

Kinship navigator programs are services that assist kinship caregivers in learning about and using programs and resources to meet the needs of the children they are raising, to provide support for the caregivers, and to promote partnerships among public and private agencies. These programs work to improve caregivers’ knowledge of services and assist them in accessing the services they need to support the family’s ongoing stability. This Chapin Hall brief reviews the four kinship navigator programs currently rated as either “promising” or “supported” on the Title IV-E Clearinghouse and the innovative practices and program components in developing models. It provides potential recommendations for child welfare leaders who are considering designing or implementing their own kinship navigator program.

Future of Wealth Discussion Series events are live, one-hour virtual convenings that are open to the public and bring together leaders across sectors and disciplines to consider wealth-building objectives that the Aspen Financial Security Program considers critical to creating widespread household financial well-being. Aspen Institute will host an episode of this series, “Boosting Income and Benefits for Household Stability” on September 27, 2023 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET. During this event, public benefits leaders will discuss how the end of the public health emergency is creating challenges for the benefits infrastructure, and the opportunity to fundamentally transform these systems to create real onramps to wealth building.

The U.S. Census Bureau produces annual poverty estimates to measure the economic well-being of households, families, and individuals in the United States. This 2022 report provides estimates of two measures of poverty: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The official poverty measure is used to determine eligibility for several government programs and has been used as a benchmark of economic well-being since its adoption in the 1960s. The SPM, produced in collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, extends the official poverty measure by accounting for several government programs that are designed to assist low-income families but are not included in official poverty measure calculations. Highlights include that the SPM rate increased significantly, reflecting changes in economic well-being following the end of many pandemic-era programs.

In 2021, over 46.3 million people ages 12 and up in the United States met the criteria for having substance use disorder (SUD). Compared to other developmental periods, the co-occurrence of serious mental health conditions and SUD is concentrated in young adulthood. Young adults experiencing homelessness or housing instability are at particularly high risk for developing a SUD and experiencing challenges accessing care and support. Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach critical to engaging with people who use drugs and equipping them with life-saving tools. This Administration for Children and Families brief provides information and resources about harm reduction services for young adults experiencing homelessness.