Developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework impacts how child- and family-serving programs operate and support healthy development and well-being. This brief highlights survey findings from organizational partners and members of the Strengthening Families National Network that may use the framework in their own community-based approaches. The survey results capture their viewpoints on community conditions that support child and family outcomes, including equal access to essential/basic needs, social support and connection, racial and social justice, and a change in the “social contract” toward involving community in bettering child and family well-being.

The National Association of Social Workers will host a webinar on January 28, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET which will review the child protection approach to child welfare. The webinar will review the effectiveness of the approach and how it offers a rights-based process of protecting children and providing services to child welfare clients and their families. The webinar also explores the implications of the approach on social work practice. A registration fee is required for this webinar.

Drawn from site visits to two Appalachian communities, this report reviews how the opioid crisis affects children in families where there is substance misuse and how parents or caregivers could be better supported by service providers and systems. The report also looks at service providers’ limitations, either as a result of policy failures or regional economic challenges, and how people experiencing substance use disorders face constraints in access to treatment. There is also discussion of how although schools and early childhood care programs are potential resources for these families, they are underfunded and operate beyond capacity.

Helping families meet their basic needs has a direct impact on lowering their stress, especially during a crisis like COVID-19. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University produced a short paper that focuses on how parents and caregivers can build up and strengthen resilience as they face challenges due to the pandemic. The paper suggests ways program staff can help families and staff reduce sources of stress, including connecting parents and caregivers with programs and services that can help meet their basic needs; encouraging parents, staff, and co-workers to practice self-care; and giving parents a break from child care responsibilities. The paper notes that moving past the pandemic, strengthening core life skills and building and practicing executive function and self-regulation skills will go a long way towards managing daily life so parents are better able to provide care for themselves and family members. Practical tips are provided, such as signing up for text reminders of important appointments, using tools like daily schedules and grocery list apps, and creating checklists for completing important applications.

This KIDS COUNT report utilizes survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to measure how low-income households and children have been affected by COVID-19. The report first illustrates the rates of child well-being before and during the pandemic. The report also presents findings on health insurance coverage and mental health services access, and measures economic instability during the pandemic as well as data on changes in children’s learning environments since the pandemic’s start in spring 2020. The report then provides strategies that can be implemented at the federal and state levels to address future needs of families and children.

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.

This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) publication includes the agency’s “National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit” as well as papers covering crisis services. The toolkit highlights clinical and health services research, an assessment of program practices nationally, and best practice approaches. The accompanying papers cover a range of issues pertaining to crisis services, including overall service delivery, behavioral health crisis care for homeless populations, the use of technology addressing substance use, legal issues impacting crisis services, financing crisis services, diverse populations, improving child and adolescent crisis systems, crisis services in rural communities, and the role of law enforcement.

This dataset features FY2019 kinship caregiving profiles for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Data used in these profiles were retrieved from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Some of the data featured includes the race and ethnicity of children placed with a relative foster family, age of the children placed with a relative foster family, and funding availability and spending for guardianship by state in SFY2016. Along with the profile is a companion guide that outlines how the state profiles can be used, a description of each data source, how to interpret the data, and an overview of the current state of child welfare in the United States.

As part of its M.A.N. C.A.V.E. (Men All Need to be Caring, Actively-Engaged, Vested, and Encouraged) Fatherhood Initiative, which aims to improve child well-being and promote positive relationships between fathers and their children, the City of Phoenix Head Start Birth to Five Program is sponsoring a free Fatherhood Virtual Summit on December 3, 2020 and December 4, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET. This event will combine keynote presentations and breakout sessions geared toward parents, grandparents, foster care providers, educators, and others who work with or raise boys.

This Resource Guide supports service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to prevent child abuse and neglect and promote child and family well-being. It was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention.