The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program funds training programs in high-demand healthcare professions, targeted to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals. This report is part of the HPOG National Implementation Evaluation (NIE) and provides interim results on the key outcomes of HPOG healthcare training completion and employment, as well as on participants’ pre-training activities and receipt of support services and employment assistance. This study includes 27 HPOG grantees and the report provides information about the first 12 months of HPOG participation for 8,634 individuals. (author abstract)

Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social skill Promotion) is a national demonstration that tests the effectiveness of three program enhancements designed to improve preschool children's social-emotional competence. The project also examines the support systems (e.g., professional development model, technical assistance, monitoring) that are needed to implement the enhancements as designed within diverse Head Start classrooms across the country. This report describes impacts of the CARES demonstration, focusing on outcomes during the spring of the preschool year in: (1) teacher practices; (2) classroom climate; (3) children’s behavior regulation, executive function, emotion knowledge, and social problem-solving skills; and (4) children’s learning behaviors and social behaviors. The report also explores possible impacts on pre-academic skills during preschool and social-emotional and academic outcomes during the Kindergarten year. All three enhancements had positive impacts on teacher practice and on children’s social-emotional outcomes during the preschool year, although in varying degrees and not necessarily in the expected ways. (author abstract) 

A substantial skills gap exists between the education and training of the labor force and the needs of employers in many high growth industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. This gap results in unemployment while good paying jobs go unfilled. At the same time, many low-skilled adults persist in low wage work with little opportunity for advancement.

Career pathways programs, like Year Up, are an approach to fill a vital need for skilled workers in the economy and offer low-wage workers the opportunity to obtain occupational and other skills and advance into the middle class.

This brief was produced by Abt Associates as part of the Innovative Strategies to Increase Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) project, a random assignment evaluation of nine promising career pathways programs that aim to improve employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for low-income, low-skilled individuals. (author abstract)

What is known about urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families’ engagement with government services? This literature review summarizes what is known about the status of urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families including their history of engagement with government services and the potential impact historical policies have had on current government service use. It also explores urban AI/AN families’ cultural engagement and ways in which cultural identification might pose barriers or facilitate access to services provided by ACF. In addition, existing literature is examined for information about how the context in which these families live might facilitate or impede access to services. Finally, the review incorporates what is known about the current level of urban AI/AN need for and utilization of ACF-funded services. (author abstract)

The Office of Family Assistance, through its Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) efforts, hosted a live Expert Panel webcast that explored the effects of toxic stress in childhood. This moderated discussion brought together preeminent, nationally recognized experts and practitioners to describe toxic stress, how exposure to childhood toxic stress can have life-long consequences as adults, and how practitioners and community-based organizations are working to prevent toxic stress exposure in children and ameliorate its effects on adults, strengthening families and communities.