The National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics is hosting a series of virtual workshops that address research on topics of interest to human service professionals throughout the summer. Future workshops will cover Machine Learning in Human Services Contexts, Cross-System Collaboration to Serve Justice-Involved Clients, and the Family First Prevention Services Act. Recordings of previously held workshops on TANF Responses to COVID-19 and Domestic Violence during COVID-19 are available.

This guide from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration includes topics and resources to serve women who are reentering communities after incarceration and intends to help them succeed. The guide is a checklist that seeks to: identify critical reentry needs; address substance use disorders; build links to mental health care; address physical and reproductive health care; provide culturally competent services; provide trauma-informed services; build healthy, trusting relationships; reestablish family relationships; facilitate payment of justice system fines and fees; and increase self-efficacy through certified peer specialists.

This research-to-practice brief summarizes interview findings from juvenile justice system administrators in communities that are moving away from youth prisons and toward investing in community-based solutions. The interviews from these agency administrators identified four key lessons: maximize windows of opportunity to establish a continuum of community care; develop strategic partnerships with advocates to prioritize relevant issues for juvenile justice reform; collaborate with youth, families, and community members who interact with juvenile ex-offenders; and use data and research to make the case for closing youth prisons. Interviews were conducted with juvenile justice administrators in Louisiana, Wisconsin, New York, and the District of Columbia.

This podcast, part of the Skilled America Podcast weekly series, offers a field report on how the Center for Employment Opportunities in New York and JEVS Human Services in Philadelphia are addressing increased demand for re-entry services as the jail and prison populations reduce to slow the spread of COVID-19. The podcast includes an interview with a JEVS Looking Forward Philadelphia program participant who shares his experiences in re-entry and what supports returning citizens need now and beyond their current circumstances.

This evaluation report provides early findings of the Breaking Barriers pilot program that provides adults on probation with a time-limited rental housing subsidy and housing retention services, along with case management and employment support. The report reviews the program’s impact on reducing recidivism, improving housing stability among program participants, and increasing employment incomes enough for participants to take over rental payments without the subsidy at the end of the two-year program period. Additionally, the report examines factors that supported and hindered the program’s implementation and lessons learned from implementing Breaking Barriers at the field level.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief identifies current and past research and evaluation studies that assess program interventions targeting justice-involved, incarcerated, and formerly incarcerated parents and youth.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has developed this webcast to address questions for prospective applicants for the Young Adult Reentry Partnership Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The webcast covers application submission requirements; applicant and participant eligibility; required partnerships, grant activities, and components; priority consideration; and the evaluation of Reentry Employment Opportunities projects. Grant applications are due on April 20, 2020.

This brief describes a project highlighting the development and implementation of policies and practices aimed at reducing the impact of Illinois mothers’ incarceration on their children. From interviews with incarcerated mothers, researchers learned how incarceration creates barriers to parenting, and through interviews with program administrators and others, they discovered how programs across the U.S. are addressing these barriers. Ways to help incarcerated mothers maintain relationships with their children included supporting communication between mothers and children via mail or phone, improving visitation policies, and increasing support services’ availability.

This research-to-practice brief identifies programmatic solutions to support reentry for young adults who have been involved in the juvenile justice or criminal justice system as they navigate employment and education pathways. The brief summarizes best practices from nine communities under the three-year U.S. Department of Labor-funded Compass Rose Collaborative (CRC). CRC communities are: Southeast Arkansas; Los Angeles, California; Denver, Colorado; Hartford, Connecticut; Louisville, Kentucky; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; St. Louis, Missouri; and Albany, New York.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance seeks applications for technical assistance and training providers for Second Chance Act (SCA) grantees to improve reentry and reduce recidivism. Providers are sought to support site-based SCA grantees in one of the following three categories of technical assistance: Corrections and Community Engagement; Education, Employment, and Community Engagement; and Behavioral Health, Housing, and Family Support. Submissions are due by April 28, 2020.