This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is part of the Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field. The series profiles local programs from across the country finding solutions that meet HHS’s Strategic Plan for encouraging self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, and eliminating barriers to economic opportunity. The blog highlights the partnership between the Nurse-Family Partnership and Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana. The organizations have joined hands to improve the health of low-income, first-time mothers and their babies and to strengthen the economic stability of their families.

On September 12, the U.S. Census Bureau released new economic data for 2017. Median household income increased from 2016 by 1.8 percent to $61,372, and the poverty rate simultaneously declined 0.4 percent to 12.3 percent. This fall does not represent a significant change from the previous year, but poverty is down 2.5 percent in total over the past three years. The Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes governmental programs designed to aid low-income families into account, also did not change significantly and currently is 13.9 percent for 2017. For income and poverty delineations by age, race, educational status, and other demographic factors, visit the Census website.

This Urban Institute report notes that the opioid crisis is widely recognized as a difficult policy challenge, but the reasons why it is difficult and the paths to overcoming those difficulties are less easily understood. As a result, policymakers risk spending limited public resources on potentially ineffective or even counterproductive efforts. Adopting the perspective of pay for success (PFS)-–an outcomes-oriented funding model-–helps to mitigate these risks and facilitates the application of sound public policy and administration principles.

This interactive tool provided by the National Center for Children in Poverty allows users to identify current legislation and policies across states regarding these following key policy areas and others: child care and development fund subsidies, family and medical leave, SNAP eligibility, Medicaid income limits, and TANF eligibility criteria. The tracker enables policy and decision makers to learn about policies in the social and poverty domain.

This short entry in the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development presents literature and survey results of the effects of community violence on child development. Surveys estimate that more than 50% of children and youth have experienced some level of community violence exposure. This experience has been shown to impact development negatively, leading to increased emotional, social, and behavioral problems. The authors conclude that “the effects of violence exposure are particularly problematic for young children and have been shown to adversely impact brain development.” There are many prevention and intervention strategies that communities and parents can use to reduce violence, including limiting children’s exposure to violent video games, movies, and television.

Aimed at informing decision makers in states and communities about research and best practices for preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) including teen dating violence, this package from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presents a comprehensive series of approaches and corresponding available evidence that supports eight broad strategies. These strategies include disrupting pathways to partner violence, encouraging household financial security, and teaching skills to form safe and healthy relationships. The package provides a rationale for each strategy, before continuing into a series of approaches specific to the strategy’s goal. It also provides a list of Potential Outcomes that span physical and psychological benefits.

In a study by Abt Associates on the experiences of those entering homeless shelters, data showed that behavioral health problems decreased over time for this population. Post-traumatic stress disorder was the only metric unchanged, but levels of psychological distress, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse all lessened at the 20-month and 37-month follow-up assessments. Coming in to the shelters, parents exhibited high levels of behavioral health problems, which were found to be more severe for those parents who were foster children or who experienced domestic violence. These high levels of behavioral health problems decreased over time due to multiple factors, including improved housing circumstances. Behavioral health measures improved more for those parents who became stably housed as opposed to those who continued to be homeless, although substance abuse made stability more difficult to attain. The report notes the policy implications that stable housing programs will likely reduce levels of psychological distress, and also that substance abuse counseling programs can help homeless families find housing stability.

Research shows that children who must be separated from their birth parents fare better when placed in the care of relatives as opposed to non-relatives. This finding is becoming particularly important as the number of foster children increases due to the opioid crisis, and relatives like grandparents increasingly shoulder the responsibility of care for these children. Generations United offers a report with data on the opioid crisis as it pertains to grandfamilies, and also lists policy and program recommendations to help stakeholders in the field. Besides prioritizing placement of foster children with relatives, the report recommends fully using services established under the Family First Prevention Services Act and the National Family Caregiver Support Program, providing legal and foster parent licensing assistance, helping grandfamilies attain funding and support, and creating a National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies.

This presentation by the Rural Policy Research Institute highlights challenges that rural residents face in obtaining affordable and available health care. Affordability is directly related to the cost of insurance policies, either private or public, while availability is directly related to provider capacity, transportation, and technology. To increase the affordability of health care, the Institute first recommends educating people on the differences between their health plan options and their eligibility for public program insurance, while also restructuring provider networks and benefit design to reduce costs. Availability is limited in rural areas, due to scarce high-level professionals, states’ push toward community-based care which results in closed regional facilities, and a limited spread of functioning rural hospitals. The presentation concludes by detailing changes made in response to changing insurance payment structures. It also proposes accountable care organizations and health communities as the next step to creating desirable change in health care access for rural populations.

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.