This issue brief, authored by Mathematica Policy Research, is the sixth in a series on workers with disabilities and provides information on the Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment (DMIE). The DMIE is a program funded through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and provides funds for States to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions to improve health care coverage and employment services for adults with potentially disabling conditions. Authors review the objectives of the DMIE and information on the Demonstration in four States, and conclude with next steps on disseminating the results from projects around the country.

From the Rand Drug Policy Research Center, this study reviews how outcome data can be used in measuring the performance of substance abuse treatment programs for teenagers. Researchers also identified barriers to performance measurement that raise questions about the practicality of using outcome data to assess substance abuse treatment programs.

From the Alliance for Children and Families, this Practice and Policy Focus provides information on family poverty in the United States. This resource offers information on strategies to improve the well-being of families in poverty, which include empowering families with financial management training and other resources available to address barriers to economic self-sufficiency.

This brief is through the National Center for Children in Poverty and provides research on health disparities for young children. Early health risks can have a variety of long term implications in terms of physical, emotional, and intellectual development as well as health status, disabilities, and educational achievement. In this paper, authors highlight patterns of disparities in terms of risks, outcomes, access, and treatment.

The Administration for Children and Families currently funds the Early Head Start program, which is aimed at enhancing the development of infants and toddlers while strengthening families. This report includes research from the Survey of Early Head Start Programs to gain information for program improvement in Early Head Start. The results from this study include demographics of the Early Head Start program participants and information on how these programs are implemented in sites around the country.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation funded this report, which synthesizes and evaluates the literature on adolescent romantic relationships, with emphasis on how these relationships are precursors of adult marriages. The goal of the report is to provide a foundation for policies to promote healthy marriages through programs targeted to adolescents.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor provided this data on the number of employed youth in the United States. From April to July 2007, the number of employed youth ages 16 to 24 years old increased by 2.3 million to 21.7 million. Unemployment among youth increased by 548,000 between April and July, which was a lower rise than in 2006.

The number of children born to unmarried parents has been steadily increasing. In 2005, 37 percent of children were born to unmarried parents. Responding to these trends, the Federal government implemented the Healthy Marriage Initiative. This brief, from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, provides information on the relationship dynamics of unmarried couples who recently had a child, which is the target population form many healthy marriage programs.

Through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), this case study reviews Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) enrollment trends in Michigan from 1999 to 2003. Additionally, it looks at the activities in Michigan under the Covering Kids and Families (CKF) project through RWJF, and enrollments associated with the CKF grant, as well as State and local policy changes during that time.

The Urban Institute authored this report on findings from the Opportunity and Ownership Project. Information in this report is provided on housing reforms necessary to support low-income families. Researchers argue that shifting public funds from programs that subsidize rental housing projects to a revised voucher program would increase homeownership among low-income households.