The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched the Generation Work initiative in 2016 to connect more of America’s young adults—especially those of color from low-income families—with meaningful employment by changing the way public and private systems prepare them for and support them in jobs. Generation Work asked grantees to form partnerships of organizations in workforce development systems (such as training programs, government agencies, funders, employers, and trade unions) to better serve young people ages 18 to 29 years. The first phase of the initiative was implemented in five cities: Cleveland, Hartford, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Seattle. MDRC was selected by the Casey Foundation to study the Generation Work initiative and investigate how it unfolded, uncover challenges, and identify best practices. This Issue Focus explores some of the ways Generation Work partnerships sought to change their local workforce development systems and previews some of the study’s findings.

Families affected by substance use disorders and involved in the child welfare system face a variety of complex challenges. Children of parents with substance use disorder are more likely to be removed from parental care, less likely to be reunified, and experience lengthier out-of-home placements and delayed permanency. This brief provides an overview of the Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START) program — an evidence-based child welfare service delivery model for families that is aimed at keeping children safely with their parent(s) whenever possible through achieving parental sobriety and recovery, and family stability. The brief also highlights the funding and implementation of the START model in Kansas, Kentucky (which uses TANF to support the model), North Carolina, and Ohio, along with each state’s unique considerations.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host a webinar on September 21, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET which will focus on transforming the public workforce system by using data to support the economic mobility of historically marginalized communities in training, programs, policies, and initiatives. Presenters include representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Policy Development and Research, the city of Phoenix, Arizona, and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

This playbook, developed in collaboration between the National Community Action Partnership and the American Public Human Services Association, explores how Community Action and human services agencies partnered together in response to the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. It presents opportunities for alignment in providing whole family supports, making career pathways possible for SNAP recipients, and tackling structural inequities in accessing services. Examples of these alignments include western Maryland and Virginia (whole family supports), Minnesota and Oregon (SNAP Employment & Training), and rural Ohio and Montgomery County, Maryland (dismantling structural inequities).

This report is an evaluation of Warren County, Ohio’s Child Assessment and Response Evaluation (CARE) project, a 24/7 rapid-response intervention for children at the scene of an overdose of a parent or loved one. It describes how CARE improved perceptions of children services and strengthened the existing foundation of cross-agency collaboration. The evaluation draws upon surveys and interviews with first responders, emergency dispatch, children services officials, and families affected by substance use disorders.

This case study explores the employment programs for youth and services for families, housed at the Community Action Organization (CAO) of Scioto County (Ohio). Highlighting the Comprehensive Case Management and Employment Program (CCMEP) for youth and a behavioral health unit for adults and youth, the case study notes where it operates; what services the Employment and Workforce Division provides; how participants access CAO services; key CAO partners and their roles; how CAO is funded; and future plans to enhance services.

This brief reviews lessons learned by family treatment courts (FTCs) in the case of parental substance use disorder. FTCs can support positive outcomes such as improved recovery, increased child welfare involvement, timelier reunification for families, and permanency. The brief outlines approaches that FTCs deploy, such as early identification and timely access to treatment, peer recovery coaches, intensive case management and case coordination, building rapport and trust through supportive engagement, and face-to-face family time and reunification services when children are placed outside of the home. The brief also includes vignettes on how FTCs have been used in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; Fairfield County, Ohio; and Tompkins County, New York.

This webinar was held by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation on April 28, 2020. Speakers Lauren Supplee from Child Trends, Gerrie Cotter from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ Office of Workforce Development, and Joe Raymond from ICF covered considerations for undertaking successful virtual case management in human services programs, including access to and use of technology, privacy issues, virtual interactions such as home visits, and eligibility and enrollment processes.

Many families do not enter the child welfare system all at once; they arrive there after a series of crises that no one stepped in to address early enough. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can be a part of that early intervention, providing income support, employment services, and family stability before situations escalate.

The Administration for Children and Families has now added new evidence-based interventions to the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, a federal list of proven programs states can fund to keep families together and reduce unnecessary foster care entries. For TANF practitioners, this resource signals where federal child welfare investment is heading and opens opportunities to align TANF-funded services with approved prevention strategies. If your agency is already providing parenting support, substance use navigation, or family counseling, these new interventions may mean new pathways to coordinate funding and recognition for that work.