This presentation describes findings from Understanding the Dynamics of Disconnection From Employment and Assistance, a research project funded by the Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (HHS/ACF/OPRE) to better understand how single mothers who are disconnected from both TANF and work get by and what their reasons for disconnection are.  Data was collected through in-depth interviews with 51 mothers; samples were drawn from existing longitudinal studies in Los Angeles, California and Southeast Michigan.

This presentation was given at the 2014 National Association of Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS) Annual Workshop.

The Center for Law & Social Policy (CLASP) features different resources aimed at improving services to low-income youth and adults under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). In addition, they highlight promising state and local strategies and models that align WIOA's goals and help create pathways to postsecondary and economic success for low-skilled workers, youth, and adults.

This resource from the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University provides links to numerous articles, all related to toxic stress. A variety of articles are provided, all related to reducing toxic stress in children. Links to related content, including a factsheet on toxic stress, can be found as well.

This study assessed the associations between family socio-economic status and single parenthood to predict child executive functions. The study found that families with low socio-economic status with one parent in the home had children who performed less well on executive function tests than children from similarly low socio-economic status families with two parents.

This overview from ACF provides a summary of the current ongoing Early Head Start University Partnership grant program. It contains a link to the programs selected as part of the most recent research grant. The purpose of the grants is to test interventions designed to mitigate the effects of toxic stress on young children. Early Head Start was chosen as a vehicle to test these interventions since it is already designed to meet the needs of families below the poverty line with very young children.

This study, looking at a longitudinal sample of 1,259 low-income children followed from birth, found that that chronic exposure to poverty and the strains of financial hardship were each uniquely predictive of young children's performance on measures of executive functioning. Results suggest a link between poverty-related risk and children's executive functioning.

This video and companion brief from Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child provide an overview of what executive function is and how it affects one’s life-long capacity to learn. It explains how these skills develop, what can disrupt their development, and how supporting them can pay off in school, work and life.

Created by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the Building Better Programs initiative is a useful resource for TANF programs and other human services stakeholders looking to improve program strategies and offerings to better meet the needs of clients with reduced executive functioning. Available resources include webinars, research, practice summaries and links to additional information that offer techniques for identifying executive functioning challenges, assessing client needs and developing responsive programs.

This paper, from the Crittenton Women’s Union (CWU), discusses how executive functioning skills are important to move out of poverty. Executive functioning includes skills like impulse control, working memory, and mental flexibility. Persistent poverty can influence brain development and executive functioning and provide challenges for individuals as adults. The paper reviews how improving executive functioning can help promote positive outcomes and discusses how policy and programs can be developed to improve executive functioning.

This presentation describes a study using system dynamics modeling to determine if there is a cliff effect -- the income gap low-wage workers experience when their income exceeds eligibility limits for benefits and the loss of work supports totals more than earned income -- in Franklin County, Ohio and across the state of Ohio.

This presentation was given at the 2014 National Association of Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS) Annual Workshop.