This 40-minute webinar from the Institute for Research on Poverty features Marci Ybarra of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. She highlights the growing national interest in Paid Family Leave and the many questions about how these policies might extend to low-income women. Beginning with an overview of current family leave policies and research, she then discusses how other public welfare programs may function as temporary supports for poor mothers with infant children, and how expanded paid family leave programs could improve the well-being of families with children.

A virtual roundtable was held on November 30, 2017 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. EST, co-presented by the Office of Family Assistance, the Office of Child Support Enforcement, and the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Via plenaries and breakout sessions, the roundtable  defined family violence, explained good cause, and highlighted examples of excellence across the nation.

The Opening Plenary Session was titled, "Family Violence and Accessing and Applying for Public Benefits and Work Supports: Challenges and Solutions," and was led by Dr. Janet Mickish, Lead Trainer and Manager of Staff Development, Colorado Department of Human Services and Krista Del Gallo, Public Policy Manager, Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV).

The Plenary was followed by 4 breakout sessions to include:

• Breakout Session #1: Discussion Around Building Good Relationships with DV Coalitions and Programs
• Breakout Session #2: Promoting Disclosure and Safety for Victims Accessing Child Support
• Breakout Session #3: Establishing Good Cause
• Breakout Session #4: Family Violence with Native American Populations

The roundtable closed with a plenary titled, "State and Local TANF/Child Support Programs of Excellence," led by Meghan McCann, National Conference of State Legislatures; Amber Harchuk, Temporary Assistance to Domestic Violence Survivor’s (TA-DVS) Policy Analyst and DHS Domestic Violence Co-Located Advocates Program Coordinator; Belit Burke, Self-Sufficiency Program Administrator, Oregon Department of Human Services; and Traci Underwood, Program Coordinator, Economic Justice Project, Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 

This trial analyzed the Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy (TOPP) program developed by OhioHealth to reduce rapid repeat pregnancy and promote healthy birth spacing for adolescent mothers. The random controlled trials examined the initial training of nurse educators and the discussion of both contraceptive and non-contraceptive topics with new mothers. The study found that the TOPP program reduced the rate at which mothers experience rapid repeat pregnancies and births at a statistically significant level.

Young adults are more likely to avoid poverty if they follow a “success sequence” in this order: earning at least a high school diploma, working full-time, and getting married before having children. This report from the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Family Studies examines whether millennials are following this success sequence. The researchers found that 95% of millennials who married first before having children were not poor, but 72% of millennials who had children before marrying were poor. Millennials were also more likely to make it into the middle or higher end of the income distribution by age 28-34 if they married before having children.

This research brief from the American Enterprise Institute provides data on the class divide in marriage. Only 26% of poor Americans and 39% of working-class Americans ages 18-55 are currently married, compared to 56% of upper- and middle-class Americans. This marriage divide would be even larger if immigrants were not included, since they marry at higher rates and make up a large proportion of poor and working-class families. The authors describe the key features of the marriage divide, and explain the economic, cultural, and policy forces behind it.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (HHS/ACF/OFA) Regions V and VII hosted the TANF Technical Assistance Meeting, Innovations in TANF: Setting the Stage for the Next 20 Years on June 22-24, 2016, at the Bolling Federal Building in Kansas City Missouri. The meeting brought together TANF program administrators and other key stakeholders to engage with peers on innovative strategies and collaborations to promote economic and social well-being for individuals, families, and communities. Meeting attendees were provided with opportunities to discuss best practices and latest research, as well as to plan ways to improve TANF programming for low-income families in their jurisdictions.

This guide from the Child Welfare Information Gateway is designed to help practitioners implement Family Group Decision-Making (FGDM). In FGDM, child welfare agencies actively engage families in developing a case plan to ensure the safety of their children. There are six elements that are critical to success in FGDM: having an independent facilitator, recognizing that the family is the key decision-making partner in the child welfare process, including private family time, prioritizing the case plan that the family develops, providing services to implement that case plan, and following up afterward until the desired outcomes have been achieved. The guide describes the challenges involved with implementing FGDM, and provides strategies and resources for overcoming those challenges.

The Office of Family Assistance’s (OFA) Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy (Policy Academy) was an 18-month intensive technical assistance (TA) initiative in 2015–2016 for seven states and one county interested in modernizing and improving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practice. During the initiative, sites received dedicated coaches, onsite strategic planning, access to expert consultants, and tailored written resources. Additionally, they participated in several in-person convenings, peer exchanges, and virtual training. These state profiles detail the journey and lessons learned of the 8 teams that participated in the Policy Academy.