This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse brief discusses some of the key issues facing American Indian/ Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Indigenous families in the United States, particularly fathers. The brief highlights three programs that are working with AI/AN fathers to strengthen their roles in Native families, includes an overview of each program, and provides a discussion of key takeaways to help other programs better serve AI/AN fathers and their families.

This Office of Research, Planning and Evaluation report describes the design of the NextGen Project, which is evaluating the effectiveness of four programs that provide services for people with physical, mental, or emotional health challenges. Many of the people are potential applicants for Supplemental Security Income. The four programs highlighted are:
• Bridges from School to Work;
• Individual Placement and Support for Adults with Justice Involvement;
• Philadelphia Workforce Inclusion Networks; and
• Western Mass Mental Health Outreach for MotherS PartnershipSM.

The National Youth Employment Coalition will host a virtual workshop on November 7, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss the challenges faced by youth and young adults re-entering society after incarceration, a population often overlooked and underserved. The discussions will explore the concept of social determinants of health, which significantly impact this group's well-being and reintegration. Through sharing lessons learned and best practices, the goal of the workshop is to empower youth workforce partners and members with innovative strategies to support those transitioning back into their communities. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the unique barriers faced by this population and learn about healing-centered engagement strategies to foster holistic well-being.

In the U.S., 1 in 10 young adults experience homelessness each year, with disproportionate impacts on American Indian and Alaska Native, Black, multiracial, and Hispanic youth and youth who have been involved with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Current housing solutions for youth homelessness often lack flexibility or are not readily available, leaving many young adults waiting long periods of time without stable housing. However, the Cash Plus Model offers a promising alternative — pairing direct cash transfers with youth-driven supportive services to empower young adults in securing safe, stable housing. Chapin Hall has developed two briefs: one describing the Cash Plus Model and the second evaluating the Cash Plus Model implementation in New York City and San Francisco.

In 2016, the Annie E. Casey Foundation launched Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP™), a national initiative that helps youth and young adults who have been involved in the foster care or justice systems or who have experienced homelessness succeed in school and work by building and expanding education and employment pathways. Through partnerships with public agencies, postsecondary education, housing, service providers and more, LEAP partners are working toward improving policies and practices that place more systems-involved young people on positive economic trajectories. This Annie E. Casey Foundation brief shares the key takeaways from an evaluation conducted to better understand their efforts in tackling the root causes of disconnection from education and careers with systems-involved youth.

This National Association of Workforce Development Professionals virtual event will take place on September 25, 2024 at 1:00 pm. ET, and participants will learn how to build a resilient and dedicated workforce by hiring and upskilling returning citizens.

Nonprofit organizations that offer youth development and young adult talent development services have increasingly centered the voices of the young people who are participating in their programs. They have accomplished this by infusing youth-centered practices into their programming and, more formally, creating leadership opportunities such as youth councils and alumni associations. This Jobs for the Future brief draws from interviews with program leaders and the young people they have hired to highlight how and why organizations have brought young people into paid staff positions, what the experience has been like for them, and the meaning they are making of their experience. This brief highlights four organizations in the Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative. LEAP is a national initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation that aims to help youth and young adults ages 14–25 who have been involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, parenting youth or youth who have experienced homelessness succeed in school and at work by building and expanding education and employment pathways.

The Survey of Household Economics and Decision-making is the survey from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for tracking the financial circumstances of low- and moderate-income families and potential risks to their financial health. This year’s survey continues to track key topics related to financial outcomes, such as the effects of inflation on household finances, emergency savings, housing, returns to education, and retirement. New topics have been added on food sufficiency, caregiving, employment of those with a previous arrest or conviction, and homeowners’ insurance.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors will be hosting a virtual event on June 20, 2024 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, where researchers will share findings from the survey on trends in financial well-being and answer any questions on the financial conditions among low- and moderate-income populations based on the survey results.

This Chapin Hall report evaluates implementation of Multisystemic Therapy for Emerging Adults in Cook County, Illinois, which helps emerging adults with behavioral health needs reintegrate into community after time in an Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice youth center.

A noncustodial parent may be obligated to pay child support to help with the costs associated with raising the child. However, most parents receive less than the amount they are owed. Parents who do not make their child support payments can be subject to enforcement measures that might lead to arrest or jailing, but there is little evidence that such actions lead to increased child support payments. The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) was developed by the Office of Child Support Service to integrate principles of procedural justice into enforcement practices in six child support agencies as an alternative to standard contempt proceedings. This MDRC report describes the PJAC demonstration and the impact it has on noncustodial parents.