This issue brief was developed by the Child Welfare Information Gateway and offers information to help States and Tribes work effectively together to serve families. Authors examine the key factors that affect Tribal-State relations in child welfare and provide promising practices for effective collaboration.

This research brief provides an overview of findings from research with low-income, rural mothers. It was found that many participants reported having tight-knit networks of family members nearby and within 50 miles of a parent. Such networks provide needed supports to low-income mothers, serving as a safety net against food insecurity and depression, while also facilitating employment by mitigating childcare and transportation barriers to work.

Child support is crucial for supporting low-income families; it makes up on average about 30 percent of family income. Authored by the Congressional Research Service, this report addresses the effects of adopting the changes made through the Deficit Reduction Act in terms of child support pass-through and disregard. Authors review possible indirect behavioral effects of implementing this policy.

From the National Governor’s Association, Center for Best Practices, this is an archived webcast that provides information from experts and States on kinship care and the importance of kinship care for families. Currently, 2.5 million children reside with grandparents or other relatives, and research has shown that children in kinship care placement are more likely to have positive outcomes than in other types of placements.

This report from the Government Accountability Office reviews the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Authors provide information on how States cover adults under SCHIP, approaches employed by States to reach all individuals eligible for SCHIP and how States have evaluated their outreach approaches.

From the Urban Institute, this paper is an evaluation of the Special Homeless Initiative (HI) of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. The Homeless Initiative was designed to prevent and end homelessness among the most vulnerable clients and clients with serious mental illness. This is the third report in the evaluation series and provides data on client outcomes from the Initiative.

This article is from the Hamilton Project and provides information on how low-wage workers can advance in the labor market. Wage inequality is constantly growing in the U.S. and low-wage workers need additional supports to help close the gap in earnings. Many State and local initiatives can offer training, financial supports, and job placement assistance to low-income workers; however, these programs are often too small to have a substantial effect on low-wage workers as a whole.

Offered at the OFA Entrance Conference for Healthy Marriage and Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Grantees, this presentation offers information on the use of logic models for healthy marriage programs. The presentation provides a basic understanding of logic modeling and how to build appropriate logic models for specific programs.

This article is from the Rural Families Speak Project and provides research on the employment patterns of low-income women in rural areas. Employment volatility can often create unstable environments for low-income families and hinder economic self-sufficiency. Researchers argue that supportive workplaces, increased access to resources, and job readiness programs can help support workers in rural locations.

Mentoring programs can often provide positive youth development similar to the support a youth receives from caregivers. This issue brief, from the National Human Service Assembly, offers information on how greater family engagement in youth mentoring programs can lead to better outcomes for mentored youth and how mentoring principles be applied to help connect isolated families to resources and supports to achieve self-sufficiency.