This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the effectiveness of using coaches to help low-income individuals move toward self-sufficiency. The evaluation profiles four coaching models: Iowa’s Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS); coaching at home visits implemented in Jefferson County, Colorado; LIFT, a national nonprofit organization that delivers career and financial coaching in Washington (D.C.), New York (New York), Chicago (Illinois), and Los Angeles (California); and MyGoals for Employment Success, a model designed by MDRC and piloted in Baltimore (Maryland) and Houston (Texas).

The Aspen Institute will host a webinar on May 29, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss the Question Bank tool designed to build stronger relationships with retail industry employers. The webinar will also feature practitioner perspectives on how to use the tool as a strategy for worker retention and advancement. Speakers include representatives from the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership and the Chicago Jobs Council.

This report from the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School reviews the implications of childhood exposure to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on marriage and childbearing. In particular, the researchers examine whether EITC has intergenerational benefits by affecting the family formation decisions of men and women exposed to EITC in childhood. The research suggests that EITC investment in youth delays for women the timing of first births.

This fact sheet from the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison provides concrete data on how the opioid crisis has grown in Wisconsin. Identification of the rising number of opioid-related deaths, geography of opioid-related deaths (for urban and rural communities), and the increased number of opioid-related ER visits are presented in reader-friendly graphics.

This United States Interagency Council on Homelessness brief is a transcript of a set of interviews conducted with housing officials in Montgomery County (Pennsylvania), Columbus (Ohio), and Los Angeles (California). The discussion identifies their approaches and initiatives to stem eviction and divert persons from entering homelessness.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report provides a qualitative review of the Mobile Coaching model used in La Plata County, Colorado to address transportation barriers that TANF participants in rural communities face. Under the Mobile Coaching model, case managers drive TANF participants to service providers and deliver case management while participants are in transit. The report documents case managers’ and participants’ perspectives.

This blogpost by the Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau highlights the celebration of National Foster Care Month 2019. This year’s theme is that foster care supports birth families when they most need it and provides care for children until their safe return home. The blogpost identifies resources and tips on building relationships among child welfare professionals, birth parents, and foster parents to support development of healthy and thriving children, as well as targeted supportive services implementation.

This factsheet, prepared by Minnesota State Careerwise, illustrates a list of common barriers to employment. It also provides guidance on how to address barriers when job hunting, including finding helpful resources.

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison will hold a webinar on May 15, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT to discuss research findings from the National Academies report, Cutting the Child Poverty Rate by Half. Two of the report’s authors, Hilary Hoynes and Robert Moffitt, will cover the effectiveness of current assistance programs and their policy and program recommendations to reduce child poverty by half in the next 10 years.

This Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) issue brief is drawn from a jointly funded initiative from the ARC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Creating a Culture of Health in Appalachia: Disparities and Bright Spots.” The brief presents statistics on opioid abuse and deaths in Appalachia, discusses strategies and resources for addressing the opioid crisis in this location, and offers recommendations for further study and program implementation of community-based solutions.