The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Chapin Hall, and Casey Families partnered to host an expert roundtable on June 23 and 24, 2021. The roundtable, “Toward an Analytic Framework to Address Economic-Related Risk Factors in Child Welfare,” had two objectives: 1) create an analytic framework and identify tools to help jurisdictions deploy resources to address economic risk factors for child maltreatment and 2) identify steps to develop the data capacity and infrastructure needed to implement the analytic framework. This brief summarizes the roundtable, providing an overview of the conversation and highlighting the resulting action steps.

This policy brief establishes a framework to modernize health and human services agencies, realigning siloed programs and services focused on important, but segmented, aspects of community needs. In this Roadmap, the American Public Human Services Association identifies four essential components that must work in tandem to create inroads to genuine system alignment to support young families.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host a webinar on February 15, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss CareerOneStop, a comprehensive career, education, and job search website. CareerOneStop offers career assessment tools that focus on interests, skills, work values, or previous job experience. This webinar will go in-depth on each tool and explore how to use them on a path to career exploration.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief describes the effectiveness of programs identified by the Pathways Clearinghouse that use employment coaching. The brief summarizes these programs and their impacts on employment, earnings, and related outcomes for people with low incomes. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) administrators, policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders can apply the evidence to questions and contexts that matter to them.

This brief focuses on the challenges and opportunities that the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First) offers to accelerate the shift toward a prevention-oriented child well-being system. The brief includes recommendations which focus on three key aspects of Family First implementation: the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, aligning systems through a primary prevention lens, and building capacity to successfully administer Family First.

The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare (FCL) project sought to improve placement stability and permanency outcomes for children by engaging their fathers and paternal relatives. FCL implemented a methodology known as the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), a continuous learning methodology. The first of a three-part series, this podcast discusses strategies implemented in one agency participating in the BSC in Hartford, Connecticut to create a culture in their child welfare system that prioritizes thinking about and engaging fathers and paternal relatives. The podcast covers the benefits of including community partners and fatherhood advocates in Connecticut’s improvement team.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report shares findings from the feasibility study of implementing a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), an innovative continuous quality improvement methodology, in Early Care and Education (ECE) centers. The feasibility study explored how ECE centers (such as child care centers and Head Start) participated in BSC quality improvement activities and the extent to which the BSC promoted changes in individual practices and organizational dynamics. The study also assessed the process of implementing a BSC in ECE centers, whether participating centers developed a culture of continuous improvement, and how the BSC fostered sustained changes in workplace climate and individual practices to support children’s social and emotional learning.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, researchers were already conducting a text message survey of service workers who had children. With the start of lockdowns and business closures, the researchers pivoted to start asking these workers about job and income loss, challenges that stemmed from school and childcare shifts, their mental health, and whether they were able to access government benefits. This podcast presents an overview of survey findings and discusses how what researchers learned fits within the larger context of low-wage work in the United States. The podcast is hosted by Anna Gassman Pines, Duke University, and reflects research that she and Elizabeth Ananat, Barnard College, conducted.

The Hartford, Connecticut Generation Work local partnership aims to elevate the importance of positive youth development as a strategy for employment and training organizations across sectors to better support young people’s employment readiness and success. This brief examines how the Hartford Generation Work partnership adapted its efforts to engage young adults more authentically by establishing a youth advisory council called the Young Legends to help shape its work. The brief also focuses on the benefits and challenges of the partnership’s efforts, offers examples of ways in which Young Legends has elevated young people’s voices, and describes how the Young Legends’ input has influenced action and change.

TANF programs adapted in many innovative ways to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. These innovations included strategies to administer and deliver program services virtually, increase access to and use of technology among participants and staff, and promote meaningful participant engagement and accountability. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief discusses promising practices that were developed across the country in these three areas. As the pandemic evolves, some of the innovations could benefit from further testing, adaptation, and scaling. The brief describes several considerations for TANF programs as they continue to build on these changes.