Research states that 60-80 percent of job openings are never advertised; the jobs of the future go to youth who are well connected. Social capital building is about creating a set of program principles and practices that assist job seekers in developing the tools, skills, and opportunities to build and sustain these connections. Social capital building focuses on connection rates, not only placement rates. Connections are the tool that help job seekers move up economically and achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency. Join national youth workforce development expert and author Edward DeJesus for an exciting professional development opportunity that will prepare you and your staff to use social capital to drive positive outcomes for young job seekers. Registration for the first in a series of webinars, Social Capital 101, May 8, 2-3 p.m. EDT, is open now. A registration fee is required prior to attendance.

 

Webinar One: Social Capital Building 101

While networking is an activity, social capital is an outcome. It is the tangible value of each connection made and translates to increased economic opportunity. During this webinar, Ed will:

• Describe the different forms of social capital
• Examine what contemporary research says about social capital impact on the success of youth
• Identify the top five barriers to social capital building and ways to overcome them

The second of the webinars will focus on Utilizing Social Capital for Summer Program Success and Developing a Social Capital Strategy for Your Organization. Registration will open soon!

This report from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation is one in a series of reports to be produced from the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project, which seeks to use a behavioral economics lens to examine programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the United States. This report presents findings of a project done in collaboration with the Washington State Division of Child Support, in which a behavioral intervention was used to increase the number of incarcerated noncustodial parents who requested modifications to their existing child support orders, thereby decreasing the amount of arrears they accrued while incarcerated. The impact of the intervention was found to be statistically significant.

This paper from the Heartland Alliance focuses on collaborations between the workforce system and homeless services system to best meet the needs of individuals who are homeless or unstably housed who access the workforce system. It specifies common barriers to collaboration between the two systems and offers suggestions for improving collaboration.

Thursday, May 10 is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day 2018. This year’s theme, Partnering for Health and Hope Following Trauma, will focus on the importance of an integrated approach to caring for the mental health needs of children, youth, and young adults who have experienced trauma, as well as their families. Though often not behavioral health professionals, workforce system staff play an integral role in a youth’s well-being and growth. It is critical to recognize the signs of trauma as well as deliver services and supports in a way that aims to heal and avoid retraumatization. Join the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration’s Division of Youth Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for this joint webinar. Together, participants will learn how behavioral health and workforce agencies can collaborate to develop strategies to benefit the well-being of youth served. The webinar will be May 2, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. EDT.

This study examines county-level data on income inequality and rates of child maltreatment. Researchers assessed data on substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect from 2005 to 2009 and poverty data from the American Community Survey. Researchers found that child poverty rates were positively and significantly correlated with child maltreatment rates at the county level. Higher income inequality across counties was significantly associated with higher county-level rates of child maltreatment. The researchers concluded that their findings support the growing literature base linking income inequality to a range of poor health and well-being outcomes for children.

This issue brief explores what is currently known about intergenerational patterns of child maltreatment and implications for further research. The brief notes that there is limited research on intergenerational child maltreatment, but existing studies reveal that patterns of abuse and neglect are complex and nuanced. Findings suggest that most parents who experienced maltreatment will not abuse or neglect their own children; however, findings vary depending on how the study was constructed or the types of maltreatment reviewed. When intergenerational patterns are found, the adults who experienced maltreatment are not necessarily the perpetrators in the next generation.

This study assesses ways in which individual- and neighborhood-level risk and protective factors affect child abuse and neglect and whether these factors differed based on poverty status. Researchers estimated relationships between child abuse and neglect, neighborhood structural factors, neighborhood processes, and individual characteristics. Comparing lower and higher income families in California, researchers found that neighborhood-level disadvantage was particularly detrimental for families in poverty, and that neighborhood-level protective processes were not associated with abuse and neglect for poor families but did have protective effects for higher income families. Note: There is a fee to access this study, but we included because of its relevance.

This paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research examines the effect of labor market conditions — such as unemployment, mass layoffs and predicted employment — on child abuse and neglect. According to a large body of research, poverty and parental unemployment are key predictors of child maltreatment, but state- and county-level studies assessing the link between economic conditions and child maltreatment have had mixed and contradictory results. In this study, the authors analyzed county-level data in California to assess the effect of gender-specific labor market shocks on child maltreatment rates. They found that overall economic conditions are only modestly linked to child maltreatment rates. However, economic downturns that disproportionately affect men increase maltreatment, whereas downturns that disproportionately affect women reduce maltreatment. The authors suggest that child maltreatment may be reduced by targeting employment search assistance, child care subsidies, and mental health services.

This guide is a product of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS (Family Resource Information, Education, and Network Development Service) National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention. It provides information, strategies, and resources to help communities support and strengthen families and ensure the well-being of children. The guide offers support to service providers who work with parents, caregivers, and children to prevent child maltreatment. It shares strategies on building protective factors within families and for children through service delivery and community partnerships. Protective factors discussed range from knowledge of child development to building social capital and parental resilience.