Vicarious trauma can occur when indirectly exposed to another person’s trauma through images or verbal, written stories; it is an occupational challenge for people working in victim services, law enforcement, emergency medical services, and human services. Individuals who experience vicarious trauma may develop a shift in their world view and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Organizations with staff experiencing vicarious trauma may face higher instances of staff turnover, absenteeism, and reduced work quality. Developed as a resource for the Online Work Readiness Assessment, this August 2020 training session defined vicarious trauma, identified its common symptoms, and offered strategies for organizations and workers to address vicarious trauma.

The SNAP participation rate is the percentage of eligible people across the U.S. actually participating in the SNAP program. This research brief presents estimates of State SNAP participation rates for all eligible people and “working poor” people for fiscal year 2017. These estimates can be used to assess program performance and improve program access. The brief also includes a chart on participation rates by state comparing all eligible people and the working poor in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

This report examines lessons learned and strategies adopted for service delivery by social services organizations in Los Angeles County, California that support the needs of homeless individuals (or at risk of becoming homeless) and those involved in the criminal justice system, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report covers the shift to providing virtual services, including video- and telephone-based care, and the barriers to delivering these services to those lacking technology access. It also discusses the difficulties in requiring clients to maintain shelter-in-place procedures, and increased workplace stress with reductions in staff and organizational revenue.

This report is an initial evaluation of Families Forward, a locally designed and funded two-generation program in Bangor, Maine. The program involves a partnership with Bangor Housing, the local public housing authority, and the Boys & Girls Club of Bangor. The program’s model includes social supports for families, financial coaching, and access to services and training that are designed to move these families toward greater economic mobility.

Trauma can have significant short and long-term effects on individual functioning and family well-being. Many human services agencies have begun to recognize the profound implications this issue has on how agency staff interact with their customers, and how staff themselves are impacted. The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on September 30, 2020 to help TANF sites interested in moving from trauma awareness to practice transformation using evidence-informed strategies.

Webinar speakers reviewed the trauma-informed paradigm’s foundations in the TANF context, and discussed key considerations in moving TANF programs from trauma-informed awareness to evidence-informed practice transformation. Participants heard from the Vermont Department for Children and Families on their experiences developing a Trauma-Informed Evaluative Toolkit for TANF with OFA PeerTA support and their implementation plans.

This issue brief by Voices for Utah Children in conjunction with the Aspen Institute focuses on two-generation strategies to reduce poverty. Voices for Utah worked with Utah lawmakers to address the issue by passing the Intergenerational Poverty Mitigation Act in 2012 and creating an Intergenerational Poverty Advisory Commission in 2013. The goal was to develop evidence-based strategies and interventions with policymakers to increase economic security, educational success, social capital, and health and well-being for families. This legislation and approach have been a critical step in creating a framework for states to develop five- and ten-year plans to address poverty.

This report presents data on persistently poor children, the patterns for work and school attendance and poverty among persistently poor children as they advance to early adulthood, and what characteristics can differentiate between people who were poor as children and who are more and less economically successful in adulthood. The characteristics examined include race, gender, parents’ education, mother’s age at child’s birth, and broader family circumstances such as employment and disability status, family structure, residential stability, and income volatility. The report relies on longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for children born from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.

The Online Work Readiness Assessment (OWRA) tool will no longer be available for download after September 29, 2020. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, OWRA is a web-based tool that offers social service agency caseworkers and staff an innovative approach to creating a plan for participants that summarizes their strengths and barriers and recommends placement into work activities and work supports. OWRA offers services for participants through five modules, including a detailed, comprehensive assessment of participants’ strengths, barriers, and work readiness. The tool has been available to the field at no-cost since 2008 and has been supported through pilot testing, trainings, demonstrations, and technical assistance. If interested in downloading the tool, please do so before September 29. You can use the OWRA Implementation Checklist to find more information about the tool, technical requirements, and download instructions. After September 29, please contact James Butler at OFA with any questions.

This report is an initial evaluation of the Bringing Families Home (BFH) program in San Francisco, California, which is a state-funded initiative that provides permanent housing and supportive services for homeless families or families with unstable housing who are engaged with the child welfare system. (Bringing Families Home is the sustained version of Families Moving Forward, a federally funded demonstration project.) Participating families under BFH receive in-home services to prevent their children from being placed in foster care. Families with children in foster care receiving reunification services are also covered under the program. The evaluation includes assessment data of family status and information about housing status, receipt of supportive services, the status of child welfare cases, and out-of-home care placements for families enrolled in BFH from July 2017 to June 2020.

This issue brief highlights three areas to consider in developing workforce policies for young parents between the age of 18 and 24 in a post-pandemic world. These touchstones include: accelerated pathways, such as Integrated Education and Training, Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, and guided pathways to focus on skill gaps to prepare for in-demand jobs; expansion of digital inclusion programs to address disparities in broadband access, availability of digital devices, and computer literacy skills; and provision of high-quality childcare for workforce program participants.