This recent Council for a Strong America report profiles the opioid epidemic in Wisconsin and how parental substance abuse should be considered a significant Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) that impedes childhood development. The report notes how high-quality early care and education programs, Head Start, and home visitations support children as they grow up by preparing them to avoid crime, raise families of their own, and contribute to the workforce. The implications of the epidemic in Wisconsin have a broader national impact.

Due to its accountability and efficiency, Performance-Based Contracting has been identified as a topic of interest among TANF programs around the nation. This podcast was convened to provide insight about how performance-based contracting improved employment outcomes for TANF-eligible populations. Brian Anderson from the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families takes listeners on the journey Wisconsin Works took to improve employment outcomes for TANF clients and how performance-based contracting played a role.

This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the fourth installment of the “Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field” and highlights Children First SHARP (Supporting Parents, Holistic Case Management, Access to Employment, Reaching Goals, Positive Parenting), an evidence-based model for serving noncustodial parents; this is a collective, one-stop approach between Goodwill Industries, the Kenosha County Child Support Agency, and several other community partners. Services provided include assistance with job searches and resume building, work supports, and a weekly Children First Job Club that facilitates peer support and networking.

Learn more about Wisconsin’s journey through career pathway policy alignment and system change at the local, regional, and state levels. In this webinar, participants will hear from Scott DuBenske, Education Director at the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). He will provide a detailed look at the primary drivers of success in Wisconsin’s journey to scale career pathways. Join the webinar to learn the details of this innovative career pathways operation and gain insights into how to scale initiatives state-wide. WTCS’s career pathways initiative was supported by funds from a Round 4 Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant.

While youth involved in Child Welfare or Runaway and Homeless Youth systems are at high risk of being trafficked, there has been no consensus screening tool available for providers to use to identify victims of human trafficking. This Urban Institute report describes the pretesting of a Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST) for 617 youth involved in the child welfare or runaway and homeless youth systems in New York, Texas, and Wisconsin. The HTST took about two minutes to administer, and the researchers found that it covered key dimensions of youth’s trafficking experiences, could be used in both child welfare and runaway and homeless youth settings, and correctly predicted trafficking victimization. The researchers conclude that the HTST is an effective, accessible tool for youth ages 12-24, but they recommend additional testing for youth under age 18 in child welfare settings.

Throughout the past three years, the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices has provided technical assistance to Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming to develop statewide plans to improve outcomes and reduce cost of care for high-need, high-cost Medicaid enrollees. This road map from NGA can be used by states across the country that are interested in housing as an element of improved health and a reduction of costly health services.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Regions IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII hosted the Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting on May 3‐5, 2016 at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Mall of America Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The meeting brought together Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Native Employment Works (NEW) stakeholders to discuss innovative strategies and collaborations to promote economic and social well‐being for individuals, families, and tribal communities. During the meeting, tribal representatives engaged in talking circles and listening sessions, shared best practices, and participated in workshops and action planning in order to more successfully serve the program participants in their communities.

Child support is a critical source of income, especially for the growing population of children born to unmarried mothers. Given many single mothers’ limited earnings potential, child support from non-custodial fathers is also important. This paper uses data from a statewide randomized experiment conducted in Wisconsin in order to address the effects of child support on custodial mothers’ labor supply, and whether policies that increase child support receipt will discourage mothers’ employment. The evidence indicated that there is no negative effect of child support on the likelihood to work for pay or the number of hours worked in a given week. These results suggest that custodial mothers’ child support collections and their labor supply may be compatible and that the absence of a negative labor supply effect strengthens the potential antipoverty effectiveness of child support.

The Joyce Foundation launched Shifting Gears in 2007 to assist six Midwest states to increase the number of low-skilled adults with the education and skills they need to succeed in the 21st century economy. The Joyce Foundation extended Shifting Gears funding from 2012 – 2014 in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. These states had committed to expanding adult education bridge programs to increase the number of students transitioning into postsecondary education. This report examines the progress made in each state from 2012 – 2014, and also briefly reviews how the Shifting Gears work influenced the national discourse on increasing skills and credentials for adult learners.