This report reviews lessons learned in the implementation of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s seven-year Family-Centered Community Change (FCCC) initiative in Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas. The FCCC is an integrated two-generation service model offering child care, job training, and financial and employment services. The report presents lessons about collaborating, integrating services, and building strong partnerships at the community level.

The 20th Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS) was held virtually on October 13–15 and October 19–22, 2020. The conference sessions were organized in six thematic tracks: TANF Programs, Policies, and Populations; Employment and Mobility in the Labor Market; Youth Well-Being and the Transition to Adulthood; Strengthening Families, Fatherhood, Marriages, and Relationships; Evaluating Social Programs, Building Evidence, and Using Data; and Approaches to Alleviate Poverty and Expand Opportunity. A complete set of videos covering plenary and breakout sessions and a career panel is now available online.

This brief looks at the challenges and opportunities for young people ages 14 to 24 to access the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. It also covers ways these tax credits are intended to meet the needs of young people and how effectively they are met. The brief is drawn from a scan of the literature and discussions with safety net and youth policy experts and youth-serving practitioners. Discussion also notes the role that structural racism plays in the eligibility for and access to these tax credits.

The brief also presents a set of action steps for policy recommendations to strengthen the safety net through an intentional and comprehensive approach to supporting young people in meeting their basic needs. Discussion of the tax credits includes action steps for making the tax credit amounts more equitable across different age groups and student statuses. Tax credit discussion also includes action steps for filers who are or are not parents. In addition, the action steps consider reducing the complexity of documentation required to prove eligibility for credits and targeting tax credit outreach efforts and tax preparation assistance campaigns to young workers. These action steps on targeting could build on the IRS’s annual EITC awareness day effort.

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), a Federal block grant program, appropriates funds to states, tribes, and territories to subsidize child care costs for low-income working families. Each jurisdiction has its own set of eligibility requirements and policies for how funds are allotted. The CCDF Policies database illustrates in detailed tables the policy choices made by each state and territory in the context of federal program requirements. This report examines the policies and addresses: What are the eligibility requirements for families and children? What must families do to initially receive assistance and to continue receiving assistance? How much do families have to pay out of pocket for the child care they receive? What are the requirements for child care providers, and how much are they reimbursed for care?

While the report covers policies in effect as of October 1, 2019, it also examines how the policies have changed in the prior year and how selected policies have changed over the last five years prior to October 1, 2019. The report does not reflect more recent changes to policies, including policy changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy changes implemented after October 1, 2019 will be captured in future years’ reports.

This brief summarizes potential federal funding sources and programs that can be used to address barriers facing young parents and families, such as unemployment, disruption to education, financial instability, and lack of child care access, parenting experience, or family supports. Programs listed include, but are not limited to, TANF, SNAP, SSBG, Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program, Child Care Development Block Grant, WIOA, and the Family First Prevention Services Act Prevention Funds.

The economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing and stay-at-home orders have dramatically reshaped the approach social service programs are taking to support employment for low-income populations. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) will sponsor a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET featuring leaders from three employment and training programs (Climb Wyoming, Rhode Island Works, and Community Action Organization of Scioto County). The speakers will describe their approaches to continuing training programs and other employment services during the pandemic. These programs participated in OPRE’s State TANF Case Studies project to explore different approaches to providing employment-related and supportive services to TANF recipients and other low-income populations. The panelists will discuss the operational implications of the pandemic for their programs; how participants of their services are balancing participation in employment services with competing life demands and suspension of supportive services, such as child care; and the implications of shifting labor market conditions.

The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) National Research Conference on Early Childhood 2020 (NRCEC 2020) will be held virtually from November 30 to December 3, 2020. This biennial event will cover research on child welfare, Early Head Start, Head Start, child care, home visiting, special education, pre-kindergarten, and early elementary and other early childhood programs. Updates on the conference agenda and registration will be posted as this information becomes available.

This fact sheet defines two-generation and whole-family approaches that simultaneously provide services and opportunities to both children and the adults in their lives. The fact sheet also includes summaries and links to resources on 5 key components of the two-generation approach: Postsecondary Education and Employment Pathways; Early Childhood Education and Development; Economic Assets; Health and Well-Being; and Social Capital.

This issue brief highlights three areas to consider in developing workforce policies for young parents between the age of 18 and 24 in a post-pandemic world. These touchstones include: accelerated pathways, such as Integrated Education and Training, Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, and guided pathways to focus on skill gaps to prepare for in-demand jobs; expansion of digital inclusion programs to address disparities in broadband access, availability of digital devices, and computer literacy skills; and provision of high-quality childcare for workforce program participants.

This issue brief analyzes characteristics of the early care and education (ECE) workforce in Arkansas and identifies research on the correlation between high-quality ECE and child development, as well as ECE providers’ emotional well-being. The brief focuses on variance of the ECE workforce by region or in terms of rural versus urban relative to teachers’ and caregivers’ self-reports of well-being, economic pressures, and education levels. Also highlighted are the factors that stakeholders identify as contributing to the variation of these characteristics across the state.