The National Association of Counties will host a webinar on August 4, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET to discuss how state and local leaders can leverage American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as part of their COVID-19 recovery plans to support the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families. The new ARPA funding provides an opportunity for collaborations across levels of government to maximize efficiency and return on investment. Representatives from Washington State, Skagit County, and the city of Seattle will make presentations.

This report documents the first phase of a multiphase initiative to identify and invest in California’s “high road employers,” whose business models emphasize worker power, job quality, and career advancement. It includes the worker-led development of a new framework for assessing job quality and an interactive tool to help employers design rewarding and fulfilling jobs that reflect worker experiences and perspectives.

This brief reviews historical policy context and provides an overview of policy, programmatic, and engagement strategies for utilizing economic supports to promote family well-being and prevent child maltreatment. It recommends economic and concrete supports as an alternative to address child maltreatment.

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act includes $150 million in funding support for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV). This blogpost outlines how MIECHV ARP funds will be distributed and allowable uses. Under the MIECHV ARP provisions, expanded services offered to enrolled families include home visiting services, technology for virtual visits, emergency supplies (including personal protective equipment, hand sanitizers, and diapers), and prepaid grocery cards. This additional funding can also be used to support the training and expansion of the home visiting workforce.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) report presents evaluation findings of Washington State’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program. I-Best increases access to and completion of college-level occupational training for adults with low skills. The OPRE report examines the I-BEST program’s impacts on education, earnings, and other life outcomes. I-BEST is one of nine programs examined under the Administration for Children and Families’ Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education project.

The U.S. Department of Education seeks applications for the Performance Partnerships Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3). The FY 2021 P3 authorization allows pilot programs to utilize waivers of requirements that hinder service delivery or impede a holistic approach. These waivers include, for example, blending and use of other federal funds, flexibility in age or income eligibility requirements, use of alternative outcome measures, and others requested in a submitted application. P3 pilots are required to include at least two Federal programs which target disconnected youth or are designed to prevent youth from disconnecting with educational, workforce, or social services supports. Applications are due by August 23, 2021.

This blogpost summarizes findings from two new nationally representative studies under the Couple Relationships and Transitions Experiences (CREATE) study that examines the importance of marital interventions in early marriage. The interventions are offered before and after marriage and are designed to improve relationship satisfaction, communication, and relationship skills. The first study identified participation rates in early marriage interventions and whether these interventions were perceived as beneficial and change producing by the couples. The second study examined whether intervention program participants have better marital outcomes.

The U.S. Department of Labor will host a virtual webinar on July 29, 2021, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, on the characteristics of quality credentials and the types of available credentials. Speakers from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will identify resources and tools that workforce development stakeholders can use to find relevant credentials to support them in determining the credentials that may count in meeting grant performance outcomes.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation has issued a Call for Papers for the Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS) 2022, to be held in-person from June 1-3, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Call invites proposals for full conference sessions, individual presentations, and roundtables on the following topics: TANF programs, policies, and populations; employment and mobility in the labor market; youth well-being and the transition to adulthood; strengthening families, fatherhood, marriages, and relationships; evaluating social programs, building evidence, and using data; and approaches to alleviate poverty and expand opportunity. A virtual information session on preparing and submitting a proposal will be held on July 22, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. Proposal submissions are due by August 27, 2021.

This two-part June 23, 2021 podcast explores early childhood programming that includes services and supports to help families by helping fathers. The podcast’s first part examines Bright Beginnings, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit which delivers center- and home-based Head Start programming to children and families. It includes a discussion with the program’s administrator and a maintenance technician who also has been a participating father. The second part examines research from Mathematica and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation to understand approaches for including and engaging fathers in social service programming.