This Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation brief summarizes findings of a Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) grantee peer-learning experience held in summer 2020. Six YARH grantees shared their experiences, challenges, lessons learned, and solutions to engaging youth.

This report, a review of the current state of the two-generation model, explains the components for two-generation approaches, including physical and mental health, early childhood development, K-12 education, postsecondary education and employment pathways, economic asset building, social capital, and the assumptions behind designing programs that simultaneously improve outcomes for children and families. Also, the report identifies the impacts of implementing two-generation approaches, lessons learned, and recommendations for future action.

This report examines lessons learned, including successes and challenges, from waivers and flexibilities that were used for ensuring equitable SNAP access during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also reviews barriers and best practices that scale program changes for greater SNAP access and identifies needed modifications as well as technical support. Findings are drawn from an online survey conducted with SNAP administrators in December 2020 and January 2021.

To improve understanding of ways to coordinate early care and education (ECE) with other health and human services, the Administration for Children and Families sponsored the Assessing Models of Coordinated Services (AMCS) project. This report shares findings of current state and local coordinated services approaches. States and localities interested in developing or continuing a coordinated services approach for families may not have access to information about the characteristics of such approaches; AMCS intends for this overview to begin to fill that gap.

This webinar was held by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation on April 28, 2020. Speakers Lauren Supplee from Child Trends, Gerrie Cotter from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ Office of Workforce Development, and Joe Raymond from ICF covered considerations for undertaking successful virtual case management in human services programs, including access to and use of technology, privacy issues, virtual interactions such as home visits, and eligibility and enrollment processes.

Next spring, the Administration for Children and Families will launch the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse, a new website to help TANF administrators and other program providers make evidence-informed decisions, so that they can design effective programs to help low-income individuals find and succeed in employment. On Monday, July 29, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. ET, members of the Pathways team will lead a panel discussion at the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS) conference in New Orleans to preview the website and gather feedback to inform its ongoing development.

Want to attend the panel, but unable to attend the conference in person? Join Mathematica’s Facebook Live event broadcasting the discussion: https://www.facebook.com/MathematicaNow.

Many families are involved in numerous health and human services programs, with data systems that do not always communicate effectively. This presents risks for duplication and overpayment. This Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation brief describes how enhancing linked data infrastructure across health and human services programs can improve efficiency and increase transparency through strengthening outcomes research.

This Office on Women’s Health webpage provides answers to pregnancy questions, including what mothers can do before, during, and after pregnancy to give their baby a heathy start to life.

The crisis of marriage and family formation involves both economic and complex social factors. Children raised in non-intact families face numerous disadvantages, including higher poverty rates, poorer educational outcomes, and increased exposure to violence and substance abuse as compared to their peers with intact families. This Institute for Family Studies report focuses on family dynamics in Texas, identifies barriers to marriage and family formation, and proposes a pro-family policy agenda for the state.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a series of new measures to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the nation’s food supply, a milestone in the administration’s broader initiative to Make America Healthy Again. This HHS announcement highlights next steps, including the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) plan to enhance nutrition and food-related research to better inform regulatory decisions.