Stimulus checks, enhanced SNAP, and expanded unemployment insurance benefits enacted by the Federal government provided financial assistance to low-income individuals and families impacted by COVID-19 and lessened the rise of the poverty rate. This report includes individual state projected 2020 annual poverty rates with and without COVID-19 pandemic response policies. The report indicates that the policies implemented in the early months of the crisis will keep more than 10 million people out of poverty this year. These are initial projections based on current data, and the official data on poverty rates for 2020 will not be available until September 2021. This information is intended to help policymakers address the continuing hardships that families are facing and to initiate and implement policies that will support families and avoid rising poverty rates.

Modern digital technology, coupled with user-friendly and human-centered design and application, positively impacts delivery of critical and essential social supports to low-income families especially during COVID-19. This blog post details how the private sector has responded to the COVID crisis with technological solutions to help Federal, state, and local governments meet the needs of their most vulnerable populations. Nonprofit organizations have designed and made available to public-serving institutions technology to help low-income families access SNAP assistance, WIC supplements, energy saving programs, TANF funds, and other public safety benefits. While these tech-enabled processes and associated IT systems have streamlined the delivery process, there are still flaws in the existing system and gaps in the delivery mechanisms associated with accessing safety net programs that complicate access.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation tool supports Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination grantees and human service partners as they identify and operationalize collaboration approaches and monitor the effectiveness of these approaches. There is also guidance on how to measure and track progress on coordination among partners. The tool includes details on options for completing, scoring, and interpreting Collaboration Assessment Tool results; the entire assessment tool is included in an appendix and as a separate downloadable Excel file.

The National Association of Counties will host a webinar on August 6, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to cover how county governments are using Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds to deliver services to county employees impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar covers how funds have been used to support sustainable employment and training of frontline county workers.

The two-generation (2Gen) approach to building stronger families is gaining momentum in several states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington. In these states, a 2Gen coordinator has been identified to work with frontline staff, families, community partners, and across statewide departments to advance 2Gen strategies. On July 28, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. ET, Ascend, an Aspen Institute initiative, will host a webinar which will cover how these states are working toward systems change to help families experience more equitable and positive outcomes.

This issue brief analyzes characteristics of the early care and education (ECE) workforce in Arkansas and identifies research on the correlation between high-quality ECE and child development, as well as ECE providers’ emotional well-being. The brief focuses on variance of the ECE workforce by region or in terms of rural versus urban relative to teachers’ and caregivers’ self-reports of well-being, economic pressures, and education levels. Also highlighted are the factors that stakeholders identify as contributing to the variation of these characteristics across the state.

This blogpost highlights discussions with representatives of 13 schools, districts, and program intermediaries that provide work-based learning opportunities. Representatives discuss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on onsite opportunities, such as apprenticeships, internships, career mentoring, and job shadowing. Opportunities and adaptions for virtual workplace learning created as a result of the pandemic and the potential for long-term benefits to participants are also discussed.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report covers the 2015 cohort of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grantees, which were awarded five-year grants in September 2015. The report examines grantees’ operations from July 2016 to March 2019, including how these programs recruited and served participants and how the grantees staffed their respective programs. The report also reviews HMRF program participants’ characteristics and identifies changes in their characteristics during this review period.

Access to quality maternal and child health care services remains a challenge for low-income women in many areas of the country. In this webinar scheduled for July 22, 2020 from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. ET, a panel of health experts will discuss improving care for mothers and babies through the formation of state or multistate collaborative initiatives, hospital-based quality improvement efforts which support optimal infant nutrition, and the formation of strategic alliances with the private health sector to strengthen the quality of neonatal and child health services. Speakers include representatives of the Health Resources & Services Administration, the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, and Abt Associates.

The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will conduct a webinar on July 21, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. ET to cover job development techniques, interviewing skills, and client preparation for returning citizens to enter employment. Presentations will address how to better serve reentry clients and develop partnerships with employers and how to prepare these individuals to qualify for job opportunities. There will also be discussion about employment readiness, work experience and skill gaps, and how to find resources for returning citizens. A registration fee is charged for participation in this webinar.