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 whose 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. FVPSA grant recipients hosted engaging events throughout October 2024.

Please note that the OFVPS 2024 DVAM Calendar of Events includes recordings of the events and presentations.

Survivors of domestic violence (DV) often face multiple barriers to employment, including limited skills, gaps in their education and work histories, housing instability, and mental health and substance use needs. This Urban Institute policy brief summarizes the major findings from their evaluation of the Career Readiness Training Program, Sanctuary for Families’ workforce development program in New York City designed specifically for DV survivors. The brief also presents recommendations for workforce development programs serving DV survivors.

The Children’s Bureau released an Information Memorandum to increase awareness of the prevalence and impact of domestic violence on children, youth, and families. This resource highlights effective strategies to support families impacted by domestic violence and encourages titles IV-E and IV-B agencies to enhance partnerships with Family Violence Prevention and Services Act grant recipients, State Domestic Violence Coalitions, tribal programs, culturally specific domestic violence programs, community-based organizations focused on supporting families impacted by domestic violence, and other critical service providers to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families impacted by domestic violence.

The National Association of Counties will host a webinar on November 12, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss the latest guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) services for youth detained in public institutions. Effective January 1, 2025, changes that stem from the Consolidated Appropriations Act (2023) will require states to amend their Medicaid and CHIP plans to provide essential medical, dental and case management services for eligible youth, before and after release. Presenters will discuss how these changes will impact county jails and how counties can collaborate with state health officials to ensure compliance and secure federal support.

The direct support professional (DSP) is a subset of the broader direct care workforce. DSPs play a crucial role in supporting people with disabilities to participate fully in their communities, live in integrated settings and seek competitive integrated employment. The National Center on Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities is hosting a webinar on November 13, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET, where participants can hear how states, workforce systems, education and community partners are leveraging registered apprenticeships to meet DSP workforce demands.

The Abilities Connection (TAC) is hosting a Community of Practice webinar on October 30, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET to share their organization's innovative strategies that have resulted in remarkable employment growth, particularly through their transformative transportation initiatives. This webinar will highlight TAC’s strategic vision and the creative solutions they’ve implemented to overcome challenges to ensure that workers with disabilities can access meaningful employment.

In recent years, local, state, and federal child support offices started reexamining how their enforcement and collection roles can be paired with services that foster meaningful parental engagement and invest in the social and economic well-being of parents paying child support. In examining child support services, it is important to understand the reach they have throughout federal benefits. Across the continuum of human services programs, rules related to child support can impact whether someone qualifies for benefits, what amount they can receive, or the amount of child support they owe – including but not limited to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, childcare, and child welfare. Often, federal and state policies’ options regarding child support practices are made by individual programs in distinct silos from each other. This American Public Human Services Association resource discusses strategies that can help create the enabling conditions for continued progress in re-centering state and local child support collaborations with other human services program areas.

Access to unemployment insurance (UI) benefits has been a challenge for all workers, but especially workers of color, workers with less formal education, lower-paid workers, younger workers, and workers with disabilities, who have all been less likely to apply for and receive benefits, even when potentially eligible. Building on community-based organizations’ role in connecting workers with UI benefits, the U.S. Department of Labor launched a three-year pilot “navigator” program in 2022. The program, funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, aimed to help state UI agencies develop community partnerships. This Center for American Progress report provides an evaluation of one of the navigator programs, Maine’s Peer Workforce Navigator (PWN) program. The PWN program received state funding supplemented by federal navigator grants for unions and other community organizations to help unemployed workers access public unemployment insurance benefits and job training benefits.

Head Start is a national program that helps young children from families with low incomes prepare to succeed in school by promoting their early learning and health as well as their families’ well-being. Head Start connects families with medical, dental, and mental health services to be sure that children are receiving the services they need to develop well. Head Start involves parents in their children’s learning and development and helps parents make progress on their own goals, such as housing stability, continuing education, and financial security. Head Start programs are organized into 12 regions and unlike the other regions that are determined geographically, Region XI serves children and families in programs operated by federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes. Understanding that communities have unique needs and priorities, Region XI programs offer a variety of services related to children’s home language or Native language and culture. This Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation study is a result of an evaluation on the family and staff experiences in AI/AN Head Start in Region XI that focused on family and staff well-being, including:

1. Children’s characteristics, family background, and home environment;
2. Children’s social-emotional and learning skills;
3. Children’s disability status and physical health; and
4. Characteristics of children’s lead teachers.

The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) inaugural data strategy provides a north star to ensure that data delivers for the people ACF serves. ACF recognizes that better data capacity internally and throughout the human services ecosystem can lead to improved operations, more informed policy, and faster, more proactive, and safer delivery of public benefits and services. This ACF resource explains the data strategy, which builds on their existing progress to better use, share, and analyze data at ACF. The strategy includes a dozen individual initiatives that fall into four categories: sustaining initiatives; one-stop shop initiatives; delivery initiatives; and technology initiatives. These categories include building foundational infrastructure such as hiring ACF’s first ever Chief Data Officer and establishing a Data Governance Council; supporting program offices by creating a Data Talent Center to provide expertise in hiring and retaining data talent; and sharing data regularly through community-centered data tools and stories.