The Office of Child Support Enforcement has issued the FY2020 Preliminary Annual Report, which includes data from all state child support programs and tables on collections, expenditures, paternities, orders established, and other program-related statistics. Tribal program data is not included in this initial report, but it will be included in the FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress. While the COVID-19 pandemic had widespread social and economic effects on child support programs nationwide that cannot be captured in the child support data collected, the FY 2020 report offers a glimpse of the pandemic’s impact on program performance.

The Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Community Services (OCS) announced a funding opportunity for the Community Services Block Grant CARES Act Rapid-Cycle Impact Projects. The funding will support the CARES Act goal of adapting service models to meet urgent community needs while testing proposed projects’ strategies to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Support will be provided for communities to utilize a rapid-cycle learning or continuous quality improvement approach to strengthen the effectiveness of a grant-funded program or service strategy. Up to 20 grants will be awarded. Applications are due by July 26, 2021.

This brief summarizes a May 2020 survey of State TANF administrators conducted by the American Public Human Services Association to determine how state agencies changed their TANF programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key changes included using or expanding short-term benefit programs for families impacted by COVID-19, utilizing waivers from TANF regulations, increasing opportunities for virtual learning activities and remote working opportunities, and changing income thresholds for eligibility or TANF benefit amount calculations.

This report reviews how the COVID-19 pandemic recession has had a disproportionately negative economic impact on women and persons of color in the workforce, particularly those working previously in the service industry. This impact points to a need for a workforce development approach that supports workers who must switch industries and occupations due to the potential for long-term unemployment and lower labor demand.

This Dear Colleague Letter, addressed to ACF Grantees and interested parties, requests that ACF grantees raise awareness of the child tax credit for working families which takes effect on July 15, 2021. The letter identifies that families can learn about the credit at www.childtaxcredit.gov and that non-tax filer parents can also qualify for the tax credit by using the IRS’s Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign Up Tool to apply for benefits. The letter also highlights different ways to engage with working families and raise awareness of this significant benefit.

This one-pager lists locations and addresses of IRS Tax Assistance Centers (TAC) nationwide where the IRS will host AdvCTC (Child Tax Credit) Free Tax Prep Days in July 2021 to help families file 2020 tax returns so they are eligible to receive advance payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit. Most families are eligible to receive monthly payments of up to $250 per child ages 6-17 and $300 per child under age 6.

This Annie E. Casey Foundation annual publication provides data on child well-being among states and in multiyear comparisons from 2010 to 2019. Data in this review covers economic well-being, education, health, and family and community, including state rankings for these categories. There is also a separate section on how families fared during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

This U.S. Department of Labor tipsheet identifies resources for workforce programs that provide educational, occupational, and other skills training and services to prepare homeless and runaway youth for current and future job opportunities. The tipsheet includes strategies for serving homeless and runaway youth, models of collaboration, and Federal and non-Federal resources.

The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will host a webinar on July 27, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss how to create, implement, or improve workforce development programs for job seekers with prior criminal justice involvement. Key objectives include learning about best practices for service delivery of holistic evidence-based workforce development programs for this population; the process of networking with community partners, researchers, employers, agencies, and individuals for collaboration; and the importance of establishing trust from these job seekers at the design stage for buy-in and retention. A registration fee is required.

This collection of resources includes research, promising programs, tools, and guides that can be used to support returning citizens and those with a criminal record to enter registered apprenticeships. The compendium features programs targeting returning citizens: the Next Chapter IT Apprenticeships; the Flintridge Center Apprenticeship Preparation Program; Greyston Bakery; the VICE Media Group Media, Production, and Technology Apprenticeships; Jails to Jobs (California); and the Iowa Department of Corrections Apprenticeship.