This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation tool assists current and future Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination grantees in identifying and evaluating efforts to build collaboration, assessing ongoing collaboration, and tracking progress of collaboration and coordination efforts. The assessment tool can help organizations build and strengthen partnerships, identify areas for changing practice, and improve coordination among human service providers and Tribal TANF agencies.

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) has issued guidance to state directors of adult education on the continuity of operations during the current COVID-19 environment. The guidance, presented in frequently asked questions format, addresses WIOA performance reporting, performance negotiations, states’ upcoming competitions to award local provider contracts, distance learning requirements, testing protocols, and policies regarding costs covered.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation will host a webinar on April 29, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET to discuss how states and counties can develop preventive child welfare practice models that are in alignment with the Family First Prevention Services Act. Discussion will cover Putting Family First, a working paper from the Annie E. Casey Foundation; core elements of child welfare practice models; the use of evidence-based case management strategies; roles of leaders in thinking about preventive services; and how to implement these models in the current COVID-19 pandemic environment. Presenters include representatives from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the National Implementation Research Network, and the Mecklenburg County (North Carolina) Department of Social Services.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration has released a recording of a webinar hosted on April 2, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET which overviewed the Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL 12-19), National Dislocated Worker Grant Program. The webinar discussion covered changes from prior guidance, performance reporting requirements, and application guidelines.

The Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center (WINTAC) has identified a set of resources for Vocational Rehabilitation programs to use in distance service delivery to persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 crisis. This compendium, which will be updated frequently, includes resources related to COVID-19 in general, teleworking and telecounseling, effective practices for line staff to deliver services, online training opportunities, and technology and programs to facilitate remote services and organizational management. There is also a set of federal disability resources related to COVID-19 and COVID-19 resources for individuals with disabilities.

This research-to-practice brief describes the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration project and its integration of procedural justice principles into enforcement practices in six child support agencies in Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. The premise of PJAC is that if defendants perceive the dispute resolution process to be fair, they will comply with the outcome of the process, regardless of whether the decision was favorable to the defendant. The target population of the PJAC demonstration project is noncustodial parents being referred for civil contempt of court-mandated child support even when these parents have been determined to be able to pay it. Implementation of PJAC addresses noncustodial parents’ perception of the court system proceedings and reasons for nonpayment, how to improve consistency of their payments, and ways to promote their positive engagement with the child support agency as well as the other parent.

The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University has prepared guidelines to address the mental health and behavioral concerns related to preparedness and responses to COVID-19 and similar infectious outbreaks. Attention is paid to the interrelationship between psychological, emotional, and behavioral responses and their effects on response plans. These guidelines articulate four phases for responding to the COVID-19 crisis—preparedness, early outbreak response, later response and recovery, and mental health intervention planning to address the perceived and actual risks.

This online resource serves as a toolkit for creating a common understanding of adolescent development among practitioners, grant writers, program managers, and other stakeholders serving young people by defining related terms and concepts. The resource offers a three-section glossary of terms to reflect: contexts, which describe the economic, educational, social, and family circumstances in which youth and young adults currently live or were raised; interventions, which reflect the approaches and measures used in programs supporting young people; and outcomes, which cover the potential mental, social, and physical health results of these interventions or the gains made in educational attainment or newly-gained career skills. The resource also provides definitions of commonly used evaluation approaches.

Abt Associates will host a two-panel webinar on April 23, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on how to transform child welfare systems to protect children, what programs are doing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how programs are supporting community-driven and evidence-based prevention efforts against child abuse and neglect. Panelists include researchers, field practitioners, and child welfare advocates. Participants may register for either or both panels and links to join the panels will be provided on the Eventbrite page the morning of the event.

This issue brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes the provisions of the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). EFMLEA was created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to provide limited emergency paid family leave for employees to take time away from work (when telework is not an option) if their children’s child care providers or schools are closed due to COVID-19. This brief also identifies considerations for facilitating lower income workers’ participation in EFMLEA and the availability of resources under this law. To support EFMLEA’s utilization, the brief highlights immediate education efforts to support parents in understanding eligibility and other requirements of this provision. There is also guidance on how to engage low-wage employers in EFMLEA awareness and the administrative requirements for compliance.