An estimated 10 percent of all workers are in households where someone participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the last year. In several occupations — including home health and personal care aides, school bus monitors, agricultural graders and sorters, and maids and housekeeping cleaners — more than 1 in 5 workers participate in SNAP. Some of the most common occupations in the country, though vital to the overall economy, have low pay, unpredictable scheduling, and few benefits. In this Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report is an analysis of data from the 2022 American Community Survey. The report discusses the support that SNAP provides to those who are working in low-paying jobs or are between jobs.

Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity rates are high and access to nutritious food is expensive. A lack of policies around food accessibility paired with shortfalls in our food systems have created vast stretches of food deserts and nutrition disparities. This University of California, Irvine resource discusses food deserts where minority communities, including Latinx immigrants, face inequitable food environments. This resource also demonstrates that to improve health and wellbeing, there needs to be conversations to gain knowledge of those with lived experience.

Poverty is both a predictor and a consequence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), so interventions that alleviate poverty-related stressors could mitigate IPV-related harms. In Georgia, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) diversion program provides a non-recurrent lump-sum payment to deter individuals from monthly TANF benefits and has been identified as an understudied component of TANF that may influence the effectiveness of state TANF programs in supporting IPV survivors. This National Library of Medicine journal article describes a study which quantifies and qualifies the role of Georgia’s TANF diversion program in shaping IPV-related mortality.

Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day is an annual, nationally recognized day that takes place on the second Wednesday of October. This Futures Without Violence webinar will take place on October 9, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET and will focus on harm reduction strategies that can be applied in both domestic violence advocacy and health settings to support survivors of intimate partner violence who have mental health and substance use experience.

On September 27, 2024, the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) announced their awarding of $4.7 million to help states and tribes develop and refine child support-led employment efforts for noncustodial parents under the Next Generation Child Support Employment (NextGen) grant. OCSS awarded an additional $3.4 million to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to provide technical assistance and evaluate the NextGen demonstration projects. This OCSS announcement highlights the demonstration grants recipients, including six states and two tribes.

Many young people transition to adulthood without access to familial resources and struggle to meet their basic needs. Public benefit programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing subsidies, and Medicaid can help young people meet these needs at a critical time in their lives. Young people also need sufficient cash income to meet specific needs these in-kind programs do not provide, and some may receive this through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. However, many young people do not access programs they are eligible for. This Urban Institute report presents the results of a literature scan for evidence about what works to expand young people’s access to public benefits. This report highlights various promising approaches, including targeted youth outreach, benefit navigation, cross-organizational partnerships, simplifying or expanding eligibility, and enhancing administrative efficiency and effectiveness.

This Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network and National Indian Child Welfare Association tipsheet was developed for service providers to share with relatives/kin caring for Native children. It provides guidance to help caregivers access services, utilize the services effectively, and advocate for Native children in their care. This resource can support families to identify and connect to services such as childcare, behavioral health, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), TANF non-needy (child-only) grants, assistance with Social Security Income and other paperwork, and much more.

The Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services (OFVPS) leads Administration for Children and Families' comprehensive approach to domestic violence prevention and administers the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to improve support for families and individuals experiencing violence and trauma. Each October, OFVPS recognizes Domestic Violence Awareness Month by standing in solidarity with survivors, their loved ones, advocates, and communities to mourn those who lives have been lost to domestic violence; to celebrate the accomplishments to end and prevent further violence; and to connect with others leading this movement to transform communities to be more inclusive and supportive of all individuals and families fleeing violence.

This OFVPS resource highlights FVPSA grant recipients that are hosting engaging events throughout October 2024.

Many non-Natives work in various capacities in Indian Country, from tribal administrators to front line workers to urban Indian center employees. Other non-Natives work in other agencies that serve or collaborate with Indian Country. Learning by doing is the way most allies become allies. The Native Wellness Institute will host an interactive training on November 19 and 20, 2024 that is intended for non-Natives and Natives who want to learn more about being an ally in Indian Country. The training will include large and small group discussions, opportunities for reflection and assessment, and tools to take back to the workplace. The goal of the training is to better help participants to help the tribe/organization for which they work.

Career pathways are a series of secondary, postsecondary, and/or adult education and training services that progressively lead to higher credentials and more advanced employment opportunities, with supports designed to help clients progress through these steps. The career pathways framework prepares participants for fields that are growing or in high demand (sometimes with a focus on fields growing in their geographic area), including health care, manufacturing, office administration, construction, and green industries. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation resource describes the effectiveness of programs that were identified by the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse as using a career pathways approach. It summarizes what is known about these programs and their impacts so Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other program administrators, policymakers, researchers, and the general public can apply the evidence to their context.