It is estimated that 20 million youth are estimated to currently have a mental health disorder. Further, increasing rates of depression, obesity, gun violence, and sexual and emotional abuse are among the many factors harming children and having an impact on their mental health. Black, Hispanic, Native, American Indian, and LGBTQ+ children also experience disparities in many areas, including access to treatment. This National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation infographic explores these threats to child health as well as expert recommendations for improving child health and well-being.

With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, states are now required to provide case management to all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) program participants. The purpose of this study was to help the Food and Nutrition Service better understand how states are implementing the SNAP E&T case management requirement. The study had four objectives: describe states' approaches to SNAP E&T case management; describe states' responses to the new program requirement for case management; provide a comprehensive picture of states' approaches to SNAP E&T assessment; and document states' approaches to offering participant reimbursements. This report summarizes state survey and case study findings and highlights promising practices and lessons learned that can be used to support states as they work to provide case management services aligned with their participants' needs, available resources, and program priorities.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host the third webinar in a series focused on trauma, healing-centered care, and the public workforce system on May 30, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. This webinar will provide an overview of healing-centered care and its importance for fostering a supportive and caring environment for youth program participants and workforce staff. Healing-centered care is a strengths-based approach to working with youth that acknowledges the trauma of an individual without defining them by their experiences. Webinar presenters will also share best practices for applying this knowledge to service delivery to better support youth program participants on their healing and their mental health.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched the Generation Work initiative in 2016 to connect more of America’s young adults—especially those of color from low-income families—with meaningful employment by changing the way public and private systems prepare them for and support them in jobs. Generation Work asked grantees to form partnerships of organizations in workforce development systems (such as training programs, government agencies, funders, employers, and trade unions) to better serve young people ages 18 to 29 years. The first phase of the initiative was implemented in five cities: Cleveland, Hartford, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Seattle. MDRC was selected by the Casey Foundation to study the Generation Work initiative and investigate how it unfolded, uncover challenges, and identify best practices. This Issue Focus explores some of the ways Generation Work partnerships sought to change their local workforce development systems and previews some of the study’s findings.

Case management is a common component of healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) services. Many social service programs are beginning to explore a motivation-driven approach to case management that prioritizes identifying the goals that participants want to achieve and the steps they can take to achieve those goals. Two HMRE grant recipients, Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County (FSA-SB) and More Than Conquerors, Inc. (MTCI), implemented motivation-driven case management through the Strengthening the Implementation of Marriage and Relationship Programs (SIMR) project, which aims to strengthen the capacity of HMRE grant recipients to improve their services. This brief provides practical tips for implementing motivation-driven case management as part of HMRE services based on the experiences of FSA-SB and MTCI.

This comprehensive child welfare resource provides state and national data on child maltreatment, foster care, kinship caregiving, permanency, and older youth in care. The data are essential to help policymakers understand how many children and youth come in contact with the child welfare system, and why. States can use this information to ensure that their child welfare systems support the safety, stability, and well-being of all families in their state.

The future of work depends on employees being able to acquire new skills that will allow them to enter new occupations. However, policymakers, economic developers, and workforce practitioners need more information about the use of federal dollars to support more robust job training. This report delves into the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the primary federal program that funds short-term, job-focused trainings for adults. It aims to better understand how well this system is performing relative to the goal of providing training services for in-demand jobs that boost participants’ earnings. Also, the report reviews state websites for all 50 states to understand how program information is presented to potential enrollees.

New research is beginning to shed light on how families used the expanded 2021 federal child tax credit (CTC), how this support affected outcomes for children, what kinds of barriers prevented many children in very low-income families from accessing the credit, and how all these impacts varied by race, ethnicity, income, geography, and other factors. The Urban Institute and the Berkeley Opportunity Lab will host a webinar on May 24, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET which will explore lessons from the 2021 CTC expansion, how cash assistance programs can enhance child well-being, and how state policymakers are moving forward with state-level credits.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host the second of three webinars focused on trauma, healing-centered care, and the public workforce system on May 11, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. This webinar will focus on the connection between trauma and substance use disorder and the role of the workforce system in supporting recovery. Speakers will discuss the intersection between trauma, toxic stress, and addiction, including neuroscience and best practices for workforce professionals in serving individuals with substance use disorders.

Disconnected youths (often referred to as “opportunity youth”) are young people who are neither in school nor working, missing opportunities to both earn and learn. They are also more likely to suffer from challenges in adulthood such as lower lifetime earnings, a greater chance of unemployment, and poorer health. Disconnection therefore affects labor force productivity in the long run. This means helping these youths return to work or school provides short- and long-term benefits for them and their potential employers alike. This first article of a two-part series from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows findings that the sharp rise in disconnected young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic is the exacerbation of a problem that has gradually worsened in the past two decades. While attention was paid to decreases in school enrollment during the pandemic, identifying long-term solutions to both employment and enrollment are important to reduce disconnection among young adults.