This MDRC brief is an evaluation of the Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS) Project in Vermont, a randomized controlled trial. The report, which summarizes trial findings, examines the two key elements of the behavioral intervention that address noncustodial parents. One element was a change in the letters and outreach that parents receive to increase their meeting participation. A second element pertained to structural changes to the meetings that resulted in agreements between the parents. These changes led to the creation of Vermont Office of Child Support Services “Resolution Meetings” that parents attended instead of court-based Case Manager conferences as a result of previous non-compliance.

This Urban Institute report presents ways that young parents (under the age of 25) can balance education and work and offers recommendations on how public policy and educational institutions can support young parents. The report draws from interviews and data analysis from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.

This research brief from the Office of Child Support Enforcement identifies findings from a five-site Parenting Time Opportunities for Children (PTOC) grant. The grant, awarded to child support agencies in California, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Oregon, was intended to demonstrate how child support agencies can include parenting time orders in child support enforcement actions. The brief describes how increases in noncustodial parenting time, with safeguards in place for child welfare, led to improved relationships and increased compliance with child support payment orders.

This Child Trends report reviews the use of existing funding and challenges of providing services and support for young people in transition from foster care. The report’s findings are drawn from 19 child welfare leaders in eight jurisdictions. Funding sources examined in this report primarily include Title IV-E Foster Care Program and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood.

The National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families will host a webinar on October 10, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET to discuss strategies for supporting parents of children with special needs. Presenters will share tips on what parents can do to create a hopeful future for themselves as a couple and for their child. Topics to be covered include strategies parents can use after finding out that their newborn has a developmental disability, and resources for helping later in their child’s transition to adulthood. This webinar is intended for service providers who work with parents as well as parents and guardians themselves. Speakers from the UCLA School of Nursing, University of Utah, and Utah Parent Center will present.

This Institute for Research on Poverty research paper offers an interpretation of the extent of multidimensional deprivation from 2008 to 2017. The analysis draws from the American Community Survey, and the paper measures changes in deprivation levels across state lines and breaks down deprivation according to age, gender, household income, and race.

This Office of Child Support Enforcement-funded research-to-practice brief, prepared by MDRC, is the first of a series of assessments that share lessons from the implementation of the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt model. The brief illustrates the training delivered to child support staff at six sites that have adapted a procedural justice-informed approach with noncustodial parents. The training includes guidance in the principles of procedural justice and its application, the dispute resolution process, mechanisms to respond to domestic violence, and how to utilize trauma-informed practices.

This set of four videos, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, highlights success stories among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment & Training (SNAP E&T) program participants. The videos highlight the following themes: Self-Sufficiency, Economic Impact, Fit for Purpose, and New Partnerships.

This Mathematica study analyzes the Pathways to Careers Program, which is a customized employment service model to support persons with significant disabilities access employment. This report looks at the employment, wage, and earnings outcome of Pathways participants compared to those participants who participate in traditional vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs.