This blogpost, authored by the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, discusses the Open Table initiative. This initiative supports youth in undergoing “significant life transformation” by using an intensive, relationship-focused, volunteer-based model to help them develop their own life plans; volunteers then use their own social networks to help youth implement these plans. The blogpost highlights Crosswinds Youth Services, a Runaway and Homeless Youth Transitional Living Program project in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where five “tables” were formed to provide group mentoring and help at-risk youth successfully leave the program.

More than one-quarter of maltreatment victims are under the age of 3, and these children often encounter additional trauma due to their family’s interaction with the child welfare system; this involvement can involve separations from the family and placements. According to research, these types of separations can result in lifelong trauma. This strategy brief describes the Safe Babies Court Team™ (SBCT) approach, which strives to minimize trauma when court involvement is needed by improving the collaboration of the courts, child welfare agencies, and other organizations in supporting young children and their families. SBCT involves meetings of both family and community court teams. The brief includes SBCT’s key components, key success factors, and an example of how the SBCT approach has impacted Florida.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on Wednesday, February 26 entitled Improving Employment Outcomes for TANF Recipients with Substance Use Disorders. The webinar outlined employment-focused strategies that can contribute to, rather than inhibit, substance use treatment and featured experts with backgrounds in research and practice on working with TANF recipients who have substance use disorders. Speakers discussed national trends in substance use disorders and strategies to move those with substance use disorders towards treatment, employment, and economic stability.

Speakers included:

• Dennis Romero, Regional Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Dr. Christine Cauffield, Chief Executive Officer, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Managing Entity, Lutheran Services Florida

• Kim Griswold Releford, University of Kentucky, Opioid Use Disorder Project, Targeted Assessment Program

This research brief from the Office of Child Support Enforcement identifies findings from a five-site Parenting Time Opportunities for Children (PTOC) grant. The grant, awarded to child support agencies in California, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Oregon, was intended to demonstrate how child support agencies can include parenting time orders in child support enforcement actions. The brief describes how increases in noncustodial parenting time, with safeguards in place for child welfare, led to improved relationships and increased compliance with child support payment orders.

This Prosperity Now report provides lessons learned for enhancing credit building activities for youth leaving foster care. Beyond explaining the need for financial independence and credit’s role among this population, the report highlights five organizations that successfully integrate programs for youth and asset building: the Children’s Home Society of Florida, DePelchin Children’s Center, First Place for Youth, the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, and the RightWay Foundation.

This MDRC research-to-practice brief profiles the PACE Center for Girls, a Florida-based nonprofit organization serving school-aged girls at risk of involvement with the justice system. This brief identifies the uniqueness of PACE’s gender-responsive approaches that are tailored to meet the specific challenges of middle and high school-aged girls at risk. The PACE evaluation suggests ways that researchers can collaborate with practitioners in producing actionable social-sector evidence and translating evidence into practice to improve interventions.