This Lumina Foundation brief offers a synthesis of third-party evaluations that measure and assess the impact of strategies used by two-year colleges to improve adult completion of non-degree credential programs. Strategies include the use of academic and non-academic student supports, the creation and implementation of career pathways, and the deployment of prior learning assessments. The brief also offers data pointing to the limited labor market opportunities for the more than half of Americans ages 25 to 64 who do not hold a postsecondary credential.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report is a feasibility evaluation of the Bridges to Pathways (Bridges) program. The Bridges program addressed youth ages 17 to 21 exiting the criminal or juvenile justice system. Through the program, participants who did not have a high school diploma earned this credential. They also engaged in social-emotional learning workshops, and participated in a subsidized internship. The Bridges evaluation is included in OPRE’s Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration and assessed the Bridges program’s impact on 480 participants and their outcomes for employment, earnings, and decreased criminal activity.

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care has issued a Program Instruction (PI) to State and Territorial lead agencies administering the Child Care and Development Fund. The Instruction pertains to how to collect and submit information for the Quality Progress Report (QPR) for Fiscal Year 2019. The QPR identifies funded activities and measures used to evaluate progress on the quality of child care programs and services for children up to age 13. The QPR data will not be used to determine compliance with spending requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Final Rule. Compliance with spending requirements will be reported in the ACF-696 CCDF Financial Reporting Form. State and Territorial Lead Agencies are required to complete and submit the QPR (ACF-218) for FFY 2019 (October 1, 2018-September 30, 2019) by December 31, 2019.

This recorded webinar from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, as part of the Leading With Evidence: Informing Practice With Research series, illustrates tools piloted by states to assess the fiscal implications of services offered for children and families under the Family First Act. Key webinar features include guidance on how to estimate: costs for delivering evidence-based programs and case management; revenues used to offset costs, including Title IV-E funds and how to assess other revenue sources, such as Medicaid, to cover service delivery; and cost savings in spending on out-of-home placements by implementing prevention services.

This Urban Institute report examines the extension of foster care eligibility to age 21 and the extension of support services for foster care youth through 23 years old. The report looks at the challenges and practices of implementing extensions by child welfare agencies and supportive services providers. The report also covers recommendations for creating child welfare systems that are responsive for young adults.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief looks at factors that contribute to readiness of individuals and organizations to adopt quality improvement practices within the early care and education (ECE) field. The brief defines “readiness” and suggests that the measurement of readiness has not occurred widely, in part due to a lack of readiness measures that are customized for ECE. This brief suggests potential new readiness tools and adapts these measures from other fields to support broader use of quality improvement initiatives.

This Administration for Children and Families (ACF) blogpost, published by the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, describes activities associated with this year’s observance of National Runaway Prevention Month to raise awareness of the challenges that face homeless youth. This commemoration focuses on prevention services and promotes greater understanding of why young people are homeless; in many cases, youth are asked to leave home or do so because they see no other way to improve their situation. The Family and Youth Services Bureau is cited as a key player in the effort to end youth homelessness, domestic violence, and adolescent pregnancy.

This Child Trends report evaluates Nebraska’s Bridge to Independence (b2i) program for young adults who have recently exited from the foster care system. The program offers supportive services such as medical care, housing, and case management and assists participants as they attain education and employment in coordination with an assigned independence coordinator. This report’s assessment of qualitative and quantitative impacts of b2i are incorporated as part of the Nebraska Children’s Commission 2018-2019 Annual Report and will be used to set future priorities on the b2i program expansion.

This Mathematica report evaluates methods of substance abuse treatment and mental health service delivery and assesses the measurement of opioid misuse. The report also offers economic and epidemiologic tools to improve recognition of unintended consequences and long-term implications of interventions previously used to reduce opioid use.