From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this press release provides data on the employment characteristics of families. Specifically, the share of families with an unemployed member rose from 7.8 percent in 2008 to 12.0 percent in 2009. Additionally, the proportion of families with an unemployed member in 2009 was at its highest level since 1994.

The Building Strong Families (BSF) project was launched in 2002 to test voluntary interventions aimed at strengthening the families of unmarried couples with children. From Mathematica Policy Research, this report documents the design and implementation of the eight Building Strong Families programs. Authors provide information on the program services and assess program participation, specifically, the characteristics of couples and programs that may affect participation.

From the Government Accountability Office (GAO), this report provides information on an evaluation that the GAO is conducting on the uses of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). In this report, the GAO provides an update of the status of agencies’ efforts to implement previous GAO recommendations, and also makes new recommendations to improve accountability to the Departments of Education, Transportation (DOT), Energy (DOE), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services, and to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

This report, from Mathematica Policy Research, provides impacts of the Building Strong Families (BSF) program on couples about 15 months after they applied for the program. The BSF program is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is designed to test the approach that supporting healthy relationships of unmarried parents can help foster child well-being. Eight organizations across the country are participating in the program and the evaluation.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation authored this issue brief on improving access to benefits for low-income families. As a result of the current economic recession, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased resources such as food stamps, unemployment insurance, and housing subsidies to low-income families. However, many eligible families still do not have access to these resources, and this report offers information to help reduce the gap for families across the country.

This report is from the Women's Economic Security Campaign, and outlines barriers to social mobility facing low-income women across the United States. In March 2010, the unemployment rate for women with families was 11.3 percent, which is the highest it has been in the past 25 years. Authors offer recommendations on ways that low-income women can be supported by connecting them to educational opportunities, job training, and employment opportunities.

This report is from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and provides key information on how state income taxes influenced low-income families. In some states, state taxes further push low-income working families into poverty; however, in other states, low-income working families can receive significant tax refunds through programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit. Specifically, 21 states have been able to reduce poverty for low-income families with children through the tax code.

Chapin Hall and the Urban Institute hosted this Thursday’s Child policy forum on how large public agencies as well as smaller community-based organizations can best meet the needs of their target populations and improve service delivery. Recent studies on five services- mental health care, substance abuse treatment, foster care, adult incarceration, and juvenile incarceration-show that 23 percent of Illinois families using multiple services accounted for 86 percent of the funding spent on those services.

The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) hosted a Technical Assistance Webinar, “Beyond the Protocol: Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Intervention” on April 20, 2010. This webinar discussed issues including: definitions of domestic violence, implications and strategies for fatherhood programs, and domestic violence and fatherhood program partnerships.

This issue brief is from the Alliance to End Homelessness, and offers estimates on homelessness among the elderly. The Alliance estimates that the amount of elderly in homelessness will increase by 33 percent in the next 10 years and increase by over 50 percent in the next 40 years. Authors also provide an overview of the current affordable housing programs and their ability to handle such growth in elderly homelessness.