The Iowa Department of Human Rights has implemented the Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS) program for more than 30 years. Based on utilizing a coaching approach during home visits with families deemed at greatest risk of long-term welfare receipt, the FaDSS program assists participants with short- and long-term goal setting as they work toward economic self-sufficiency. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the FaDSS program’s design and implementation and answers key questions about the intervention design, the factors that appeared to have impeded or facilitated the intervention’s implementation, and the clients’ experiences with coaching and the services they received.

This research-to-practice brief supports better understanding the intersection between child maltreatment and intimate partner violence so that comprehensive community-based prevention and intervention programs can be provided effectively. The brief notes the impact of domestic violence on children in the long-term and discusses how adult survivors of domestic violence and their children need support that promotes their well-being. The brief also outlines strategies for capacity building and collaboration implemented between child protection agencies and domestic violence programs in Massachusetts, Florida, Iowa, and Connecticut.

(See also Resources on "intimate partner violence" in the Resource Library)

This research to practice brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation describes examination of findings from nine rural programs that serve child welfare-involved parents with substance use disorders. The examination was unable to provide information on program effectiveness but does focus on the range of services offered, the targeted population, how funding is blended, and collaborative approaches of these programs. Programs covered in this brief are: Children and Recovering Mothers (CHARM) Care Collaborative (Burlington, Vermont); Iowa Department of Human Services Parent Partner Mentoring Program; Kentucky Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START); Vermont Hub and Spoke Model; Women in Recovery (Tulsa, Oklahoma); The Arizona Families in Recovery Succeeding Together (FIRST) Program; Helen Ross McNabb Center (HRMC) Great Starts Program and Motivating our Mothers to Succeed Silver Linings and Rise to Recovery Models (Knoxville, Tennessee); and Parent-Child Assistance Program (Washington State).

This U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation report illustrates how much loss in economic activity results from breakdowns in childcare and early childhood education in Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. The report also covers the causes of childcare challenges and how parents choose childcare providers. There are also findings on what types of childcare benefits working parents would like to receive from employers to close the gap in accessing early childhood education.

This Casey Family Programs issue brief looks at the use of peer mentors (“parent partners”) who work with parents entering in and engaging with the child welfare system. These parent partners have already encountered and worked with the child welfare system themselves, and the mentoring that they offer can encourage and instill hope for parents initially interacting with the system. The brief outlines these parent partner programs’ benefits and program research evaluation findings, and provides guidance on how these programs are structured and funded. It also provides brief summaries of three parent partner programs: Parents Anonymous^®, the Kentucky Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Team (START) Program, and Iowa’s Parent Partner Program.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the effectiveness of using coaches to help low-income individuals move toward self-sufficiency. The evaluation profiles four coaching models: Iowa’s Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS); coaching at home visits implemented in Jefferson County, Colorado; LIFT, a national nonprofit organization that delivers career and financial coaching in Washington (D.C.), New York (New York), Chicago (Illinois), and Los Angeles (California); and MyGoals for Employment Success, a model designed by MDRC and piloted in Baltimore (Maryland) and Houston (Texas).