This fact sheet provides an overview of key findings from a Child Trends evaluation of two Team Decision Making (TDM) implementation sites and offers broader implications for the child welfare field. TDM is a model developed by agency staff to inform decision when deciding whether to remove a child from their home due to suspected abuse or neglect. TDM values serving families in a culturally sensitive, community-based, and minimally disruptive way by considering the needs and strengths of each child and family. The study relied on several data sources, including child welfare administrative data, a survey completed by workers after each case, a database of TDM meeting information entered by facilitators, and interviews and focus groups with workers, agency leaders, and community members.

These briefs are blueprint fact sheets showcasing the accomplishments of peers and stakeholders in implementing a whole family approach at seven Community Action Agencies: Aroostook County Action Program (Presque Isle, Maine), Blueprints (Washington, Pennsylvania), Community Action, Inc. (Topeka, Kansas), Community Action Project of Tulsa County (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County (Santa Rosa, California), Mahube-Otwa Community Action Partnership (Detroit Lakes, Minnesota), and People, Inc. (Abingdon, Virginia). Each brief details the agency, its area demographics, its whole family approach with a highlight of the program’s innovation story, successes, a profile of a program participant, challenges, wisdom (lessons learned), the program’s building block focus, and a timeline for implementation.

This blogpost references a Generations United report’s policy and practice recommendations on how to better support grandfamilies. Included in the report are findings from the first nationwide survey of grandfamilies during COVID-19, which revealed heightened needs related to housing, food insecurity, and alternative care plans. The report contains policy and practice recommendations that would provide better support to these families, such as increases in TANF funding for monthly child-only grants to mirror foster care maintenance payments and improved access to TANF child-only grants through a simplified application process and expanded community outreach. The report also depicts racial overrepresentation in grandfamilies, and the blogpost highlights the benefits of kin caregiving.

As part of the Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) study, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation sought to identify new and promising approaches to supporting fathers working toward economic stability and improved relationships with their children. This report presents findings and lessons from one part of the B3 study: a rigorous evaluation of the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Justice Involved Individuals Seeking Employment (CBI-Emp). CBI-Emp is an intervention that applies cognitive behavioral skill building to help people who have been involved in the justice system maintain employment. The report builds on previously released findings about the implementation of the CBI-Emp curriculum and summarizes the implementation results and lessons learned. The report also describes the effects of the curriculum and provides estimates of program costs.

The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) is convening its annual conference as a hybrid event from November 13 to November 16, 2021. Attendees have the option of attending any session, which will either be live-streamed or in-person at the conference’s venue in Atlanta, Georgia. A registration fee applies to both NAEHCY members and non-members.

Home visiting programs have been shown to support healthy child development, increase family economic independence and positive parenting practices, and decrease child maltreatment. This research-to-practice brief examines the evidence of impact of the SafeCare® model, a home visiting program implemented by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) and the Arkansas Department of Human Services (ADHS). The OKDHS and ADHS experiences offer insights and lessons for other jurisdictions considering SafeCare as part of the Title IV-E Prevention Plan under the Family First Prevention Services Act.

This report is an evaluation of Warren County, Ohio’s Child Assessment and Response Evaluation (CARE) project, a 24/7 rapid-response intervention for children at the scene of an overdose of a parent or loved one. It describes how CARE improved perceptions of children services and strengthened the existing foundation of cross-agency collaboration. The evaluation draws upon surveys and interviews with first responders, emergency dispatch, children services officials, and families affected by substance use disorders.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) conducted the 2021 National TANF Directors’ Meeting from September 20 - 24, 2021. During this concurrent workshop, representatives of the TANF Data Collaborative overviewed three pilot projects showcasing their experiences. California examined wage progression for TANF participants who have left the program. New York organized its data into cohorts and spells, which is valuable in providing information about the duration of TANF receipt, reentry, and basic outcomes, and Utah created an analytic file to examine characteristics that predict a cohort of “leavers” returning to TANF.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) conducted the 2021 National TANF Directors’ Meeting from September 20 - 24, 2021. During this concurrent workshop, panelists explored how Tribal TANF and NEW programs can consider expanding virtual services to motivate participants to pursue opportunities, especially those which may have been previously inaccessible. Speakers discussed a variety of strategies used in the past year to create virtual education and training opportunities and virtual case management services for clients, as well as how these offerings were developed, challenges along the way, witnessed successes, and recommendations for programs considering offering similar resources. This session concluded with a review of OFA’s Coaching for Success eLearning modules, which program staff can use to provide virtual coaching and mentorship to participants.

This report focuses on children who are entering group settings for their first child welfare placement. The study reviewed data on children – by age, gender, race and ethnicity, and urbanicity – with an initial out-of-home placement from 2012 to 2019 to determine how or if these factors played a role in their group care experience. They found a significant relationship between age, race and ethnicity, and the utilization of group placements. The study also explored how these factors are best understood within the context of the local child welfare system and its local service offerings.