Urban Institute fellow and podcast host Justin Milner, along with experts in the U.S. Department of Labor and the Brookings Institution, speaks about what evidence-based policy is and what it looks like in practice. The speakers emphasize basic research, statistical evaluation, performance management and measurement, and experiential evidence to build effective and applicable programs. Because policy makers do not always use robust evidence, many government programs do not have large impacts when statistically scrutinized. Thus, including researchers is important in the policy debate and program development stages to create successful new initiatives and identify existing effective programs for expansion.

This testimony from an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute was presented to the Subcommittee on Human Resources within the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives. The author critiques TANF for not sufficiently reaching children in poverty, spending limited funds outside the original policy goals, and failing to offer training and education for good jobs, among other issues. She recommends TANF improvements such as setting spending floors for core benefits, furthering 21st century skills and education training, and writing in an explicit child poverty reduction goal. These changes, she argues, will help children in poverty and increase parental socioeconomic mobility as TANF originally intended.

In October 2017, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and MEF Associates gathered child support practitioners for a roundtable on the future of child support programs, which served as the content base for this report. They highlight eight issues faced by the child support community, such as compliance, non-traditional families, changing costs of living, and other public benefit receipt, as well as types of research opportunities to further study these concerns. Although not exhaustive, their list is comprehensive and offers concrete research questions for stakeholders to discuss and use to inform their child support policies and operations.

System modeling is an effective tool to understand the way homeless people navigate the variety or systems and programs in an area, which can ultimately lead to more efficient and cost-effective service provision. A report from The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness details steps involved in system modeling for homeless services, including listing desired aspects of a homeless services program, estimating the population size, reviewing existing data on which programs are being accessed and for how long, identifying intervention combinations that will lead to permanent housing, and using those figures and interventions to develop an ideal model to distribute resources effectively. By taking a broad look at the state of existing programs, using actual data to make utilization projections and assumptions, and reviewing new data periodically to ensure resources remain efficiently distributed, system modeling can be a powerful way to combat homelessness. This article also discusses a case study where system modeling in Indianapolis helped reduce homelessness for youth and young adults.

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.

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.

On October 17, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) issued a joint Information Memorandum (IM) to all ACF programs emphasizing the importance of meaningful father involvement to better serve children and families. In particular, this memorandum highlights research findings that demonstrate the value of fathers’ involvement in the lives of their children and families, as well as identifies promising practices to promote and sustain fathers’ engagement, regardless of their physical location or extent of custodial participation.

This blog post from Clarence H. Carter, Director, Office of Family Assistance, announces the release of an information memorandum that details efforts to prioritize and enhance father engagement in ACF-funded programs. The memorandum was signed by the leadership of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, including the Children’s Bureau, the Family and Youth Services Bureau, the Office of Child Support Enforcement, the Office of Family Assistance, the Office of Child Care, and the Office of Head Start. ACF affirms its commitment to fathers and families and encourages paternal involvement in family support and child welfare programs.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation-funded (OPRE) study illustrates the early implementation of the Ramsey County, Minnesota, Lifelong Learning Initiative (LLI). Research has found that chronic stress associated with living in poverty can hinder executive skills, such as planning, decision-making, and organizing. The LLI uses a goal-oriented approach to help TANF recipients set their own employment-focused goals by breaking them down into more manageable tasks and develop these executive skills as they work toward employment outcomes.

This blog from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, authored by OFA Director Clarence H. Carter, is part of the Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field, which profiles local programs from across the country finding solutions to accomplish the goals of encouraging self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, eliminating barriers to economic opportunity, and supporting strong families and healthy marriage. In particular, Circles USA and Open Table are highlighted for their efforts to boost the social capital individuals need to help them work towards self-sufficiency.