The Administration for Children and Families presents the Strengthening Families Evidence Review. This website includes catalogs of research on programs for low-income fathers and couples, information on the review process, and a searchable database of studies.

The Institute for Research on Poverty hosted a podcast titled "Family Change, Father Involvement, and Child Food Insecurity." In this podcast, Daniel Miller of the Boston University School of Social Work discusses his research on measuring child food insecurity in the context of family type, changing family structure, and father involvement. Miller states that there is still a lot not known about food insecurity for kids, but that understanding the connections between family change and food insecurity has a lot of promise in giving a better picture of the problem.

The Urban Institute's HOST Demonstration is developing and testing the effectiveness of using two-generation "whole family" approaches to address the challenges of deeply poor, vulnerable families living in public and assisted housing. HOST services are intended to improve children's health outcomes and reduce risky behavior, helping to overcome some of the disadvantages of growing up in chronic disadvantage. HOST's core case management component helps parents in low-income neighborhoods confront their key barriers to self-sufficiency: poor physical and mental health, additions, low literacy, educational attainment, and a weak connection to the labor force, while integrating services for children and youth. This report discusses the implementation and expansion process of the HOST program.

Fathers' involvement in their children's lives has been shown to produce both economic and social benefits. This paper by MDRC examines two different approaches to strengthen fathers' involvement and their family relationships, fatherhood programs for low-income noncustodial fathers and relationship education for parents who are together. Both approaches have shown positive effects on the quality of family relationships.

This report displays and discusses some of the data related to the poverty of children and their living arrangements and data on male employment and earnings, educational attainment, and incarceration. It then provides information on federal programs that could play a greater role in addressing poverty of children through the fathers of these children (nearly all noncustodial parents are fathers). These programs provide economic assistance, family support, and job training and employment to eligible participants. The report also examines federal programs that have the purposes of preventing teen pregnancy and helping disadvantaged youth obtain the skills and support they need to make the transition to adulthood. The underlying premise of these programs generally is that the aid or services received from these programs by low-income noncustodial fathers can help them in meeting their financial commitments to their children (or future children) and providing emotional support to their children. The report concludes by presenting several public policy approaches proposed by the policy community that might improve the lives of low-income noncustodial fathers and their children. For example, social policy could play a role by expanding economic assistance programs to noncustodial fathers, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and implementing strategies to prevent the build-up of unpaid child support through early intervention. (author abstract)

The Urban Institute released a commentary discussing a two-generation policy agenda that can help promote young children's development and low-wage workers' economic stability, which should start with a national focus on the first year of life.

The Office of Family Assistance provides guidance to states and is working in partnership with other agencies to combat family homelessness.

The National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families released a tip sheet that promotes the building of strong parenting partnerships. This tip sheet reviews concepts of parenting styles, including parental responsiveness and parental demandingness.

How can programs advance the self-sufficiency and well-being of at-risk youth? This report attempts to answer this important question by presenting a research-based framework for efforts to help at-risk youth enter a career workforce trajectory and prepare to become well-functioning, self-sufficient adults. The framework presented is particularly relevant for youth who are or could be served by ACF programs—especially homeless youth, youth in the foster care system, and teen parents—but it may also apply to other programs. The framework suggests the possibility of using evidence-informed interventions to address two primary areas: youths’ resilience and human capital development. It suggests finding tailored solutions grounded in a trusting relationship between youth and program staff to help move youth toward both healthy functioning and economic self-sufficiency as they transition to adulthood. This report was written as part of the Youth Demonstration Development project being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and Chapin Hall Center for Children. (author abstract)

This Webinar from the National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families discussed why financial management is a critical healthy marriage and relationship skill. It explored useful tools and resources to help clients build assets and increase financial literacy, and discussed ways to help clients use these tools to increase self-sufficiency and strengthen relationships. Examples of helpful integration strategies for safety-net service providers were provided. This Webinar also provided an overview of new resources and products available from the National Resource Center.