Nearly 80 million individuals are enrolled in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), including nearly half of all children and youth in the United States. Many of the individuals served through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) funded programs are enrolled or eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. ACF released this Dear Colleague Letter to support states as they work to strengthen their implementation of Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment requirements to help ensure improved health outcomes for children and youth enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.

Maternal and infant health is an urgent priority, and a coordinated effort across health and human services is crucial to foster positive maternal health outcomes. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is responsible for many programs that support maternal and infant health, including home visiting, Head Start, childcare, Medicaid, TANF, child support, and others. ACF released this Dear Colleague Letter to assist human services providers in understanding their important role in addressing the syphilis epidemic by raising awareness and helping to facilitate access to early testing and treatment. Staff at human services agencies have a unique opportunity to intervene and help protect the health of pregnant women and babies by educating clients on the risks and encouraging early and regular prenatal care, including testing and treatment when necessary.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is working to strengthen the well-being of children, youth, and their families by integrating behavioral health services into the existing supports they rely on, such as social services and early childhood programs. ACF released these Dear Colleague Letters and compilations of resources to highlight the critical importance of timely, high-quality behavioral health crisis care and ensure that you are aware of how these resources can be accessed in your communities.

These resources accompany ACF’s webpage released earlier in 2024, which included a tip sheet for parents and caregivers and a series of short videos about mental health.

The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse released this Driver’s Guide for Young Dads to engage teenage fathers and young adult fathers and support them as they strive to be good dads, adopt healthy lifestyles, and establish effective parenting practices. Young fathers often face more and different challenges than older or experienced fathers in preparing for their new role as fathers. Not only are they still growing emotionally and intellectually as they transition into adulthood, but they also need to learn the ropes of parenting while weighing educational and employment options.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and significantly shifted how state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies offered services to youths with disabilities, particularly to students. WIOA requires state VR agencies to offer preemployment transition services (pre-ETS) to students with disabilities and to reserve at least 15 percent of their federal program funds for that purpose. This Social Security Administration resource describes the extent to which WIOA and pre-ETS access affected employment-related outcomes for youths with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income payments.

The Resilient Families Hub is a new initiative of the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and exists to understand the role of direct cash transfers in advancing economic stability and mobility in the United States. This initiative works with federal, state, and local governments and community-based organizations to provide subject matter expertise, research findings and evidence-based policies and practices around the targeted use of direct cash. Resilient Families’ publications and learning series will be published on this OFA webpage as they become available.

The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse released a toolkit which presents a compilation of resources that highlight the challenges and key issues associated with launching and sustaining a successful fatherhood program. This toolkit reflects the commitment of the Office of Family Assistance to improving outcomes for fathers, children, and families by providing strategic guidance to organizations that offer responsible fatherhood services.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation infographic discusses how various potential downsides to increasing earnings play out in the likelihood that recipients of TANF would accept a higher-paying job. The infographic touches on benefit loss and benefit cliffs, job stability, and the burden of reapplying for benefits.

This Office of Family Assistance resource answers these questions: May a state use TANF funds to provide a payment to an expectant parent before the birth of a child to cover costs associated with the preparing for a new child? Could the state have a similar allowance but after the child is born? If allowable, must the family meet a financial eligibility standard to qualify for such a payment?

The Native Wellness Institute is hosting a virtual training on February 5 and 6, 2025 to highlight lessons learned over the decades of best practices in working with Native youth and there will be opportunities to learn from peers. Topics include: 

• Building Trust and Relationship; 
• Living in Balance; 
• Healing and Harmony; 
• Healthy Relationships; 
• Engaging with Youth; 
• Social Media; 
• Culture and Belonging; and 
• Vision. 

This training is intended for anyone who works with Native youth in any capacity. There is a fee for participation.