The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host a webinar on March 10, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET which will cover the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Grant provisions on virtual and remote service delivery and opportunities to leverage and integrate RESEA services within the public workforce system. Discussion will include case studies from state agencies which have implemented innovative remote and virtual service delivery strategies to continue RESEA services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on additional resources and electronic tools to support virtual and remote RESEA service delivery will also be presented. Presenters will include representatives from the Office of Unemployment Insurance at the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; the Rhode Island Department of Employment and Training; the Georgia Department of Labor/Workforce Solutions; and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Placement with kin is not always possible for endangered children who need to be removed from their homes, so child protection agencies utilize resource families. This research-to-practice brief highlights different approaches used to recruit and retain resource families. The brief covers three jurisdictions that have a high rate of family-based placements and a low rate of congregate care setting placements for children in need of protection: the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Tipping Point Community, a nonprofit organization in the Bay Area, initiated the Chronic Homelessness Initiative (CHI) in 2017 (a $100 million private investment) with a goal of halving chronic homelessness in San Francisco within five years. CHI’s approach utilizes three strategies: increasing placements to permanent housing for persons experiencing homelessness, preventing persons from becoming chronically homeless, and changing systems that sustain homelessness and with which people experiencing chronic homelessness frequently interact. This brief evaluates CHI’s progress toward these goals in 2020 and identifies challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic created, including a decrease in permanent supportive housing unit placements and in agency and staff capacity to support the needs of persons with chronic homelessness. The brief also points to what steps CHI will take in 2021 and 2022 to meet the initial goals set in 2017. This evaluation is drawn from analysis of publicly available data from the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, data reported to Tipping Point from its grantees, and interviews with Tipping Point staff members, grantees, community advisory board members, and government and community partners.

The 2021 National Association of State Workforce Agencies report provides profiles of workforce agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and their efforts to assist workers amidst the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. The profiles address the pandemic’s impact on unemployment insurance and the implementation of new unemployment insurance programs, such as the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), and the Lost Wage Assistance (LWA) programs. An aggregate summary of state pandemic response strategies to support training, unemployment services, and remotely delivered business services is also provided.

The Administration for Children and Families supports Tribal Home Visiting Program grantees with capacity building to create and implement data systems. This brief presents an overview of data system challenges faced by tribal programs; a summary of data system technical assistance and resources offered to Tribal Home Visiting Program grantees; case studies that demonstrate how technical assistance improved tribal data system capacity; and recommendations for delivering data system technical assistance that is uniquely suited for tribal programs.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host a webinar on March 16, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET to cover best practices in work-based learning at the state level. Work-based learning offers participants the ability to combine employment with training. Presentations will be made by representatives of the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, WorkSource Oregon, the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, the Maricopa County (Arizona) Human Services Department, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and Adaptive Construction Solutions, Inc.

This blogpost examines the implementation of the Washington State’s Department of Social and Health Services’ Division of Child Support (DCS) Alternative Solutions program, a different approach for child support enforcement for noncustodial parents. The DCS model is based on a philosophy that puts more emphasis on consistent child support payments over time rather than “over-enforcing” child support orders that cannot be sustained. The blogpost illustrates how the Alternative Solutions program examines the barriers that prevent noncustodial parents from meeting their obligations, works with these parents to develop Individualized Solutions Plans, and connects them with other social services providers in the community to help meet their goals. The blogpost also covers the supplemental training that Alternative Solutions staff receive on trauma-informed case management, motivational interviewing, and family-centered coaching, and the ways that DCS staff have remained connected and work collaboratively with nonresident parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This brief looks at the challenges and opportunities for young people ages 14 to 24 to access the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. It also covers ways these tax credits are intended to meet the needs of young people and how effectively they are met. The brief is drawn from a scan of the literature and discussions with safety net and youth policy experts and youth-serving practitioners. Discussion also notes the role that structural racism plays in the eligibility for and access to these tax credits.

The brief also presents a set of action steps for policy recommendations to strengthen the safety net through an intentional and comprehensive approach to supporting young people in meeting their basic needs. Discussion of the tax credits includes action steps for making the tax credit amounts more equitable across different age groups and student statuses. Tax credit discussion also includes action steps for filers who are or are not parents. In addition, the action steps consider reducing the complexity of documentation required to prove eligibility for credits and targeting tax credit outreach efforts and tax preparation assistance campaigns to young workers. These action steps on targeting could build on the IRS’s annual EITC awareness day effort.

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), a Federal block grant program, appropriates funds to states, tribes, and territories to subsidize child care costs for low-income working families. Each jurisdiction has its own set of eligibility requirements and policies for how funds are allotted. The CCDF Policies database illustrates in detailed tables the policy choices made by each state and territory in the context of federal program requirements. This report examines the policies and addresses: What are the eligibility requirements for families and children? What must families do to initially receive assistance and to continue receiving assistance? How much do families have to pay out of pocket for the child care they receive? What are the requirements for child care providers, and how much are they reimbursed for care?

While the report covers policies in effect as of October 1, 2019, it also examines how the policies have changed in the prior year and how selected policies have changed over the last five years prior to October 1, 2019. The report does not reflect more recent changes to policies, including policy changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy changes implemented after October 1, 2019 will be captured in future years’ reports.

The Fathers & Families Coalition of America will host its 22nd Annual National Conference as a hybrid event (with in-person and virtual events) from May 16, 2021 to May 19, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. The conference will include presentations on strategies to support students and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual case management, supporting fatherhood and fatherhood engagement, child support, trauma-informed care, and overcoming adversity and building resilience. Six workshops will be offered as part of the advanced practitioner credential program. The conference registration includes a fee.