People with low incomes may face various challenges to improving their financial situations. Employment and training (E&T) and financial capability services can help improve people's financial circumstances by providing them with useful skills, knowledge, and access to resources and opportunities. The Integrating Financial Capability and Employment Services (InFin) study, funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), was designed to learn about ways in which organizations provide E&T and financial capability services in an integrated manner. This OPRE report summarizes the study’s key findings about the approaches that organizations use to integrate these services, their motivations for doing so, details on the types of financial capability services involved, and participant perspectives on integrated services. It also discusses considerations for future research on the effectiveness of integrated models.

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), Kansas Judicial Branch, and the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health hosted a webinar where experts delved into the multifaceted challenges families often face, from mental health issues to trauma, violence, and substance use disorders.

Presenters also discussed the Well-Being in Family Court effort, which provides individual and systemic changes that help judges and staff:
· Understand the impact of stress and trauma on judges and court personnel.
· Assist families experiencing trauma and mental health conditions.
· Leverage early case interventions to improve case handling and stretch community resources.
· Navigate cases where mental health is potentially weaponized.
· Provide for child safety and well-being during family transitions.

Over 2.4 million children in the United States are living in grandfamilies. These are families where grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends are raising children because the children’s parents are unable to do so. This Generations United report aims to bring attention to the mental health and emotional wellness of grandfamilies, shed light on their resilience and challenges they face, and provide innovative solutions and resources to better support them. The report also includes policy and program recommendations for strengthening these families.

In 2022, the Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth), in collaboration with the White House Office of Public Engagement, hosted a virtual roundtable discussion on “Improving Mental Health Service Delivery for Youth and Young Adults with Marginalized Racial Identities.” The event highlighted how mental health policies can help states promote positive long-term outcomes such as higher employment rates for youth and young adults (Y&YAs), including Y&YAs with disabilities who belong to marginalized racial groups. This CAPE-Youth brief provides a summary of various ideas and strategies participants raised during the roundtable discussion, highlighting:

• Expanding culturally responsive mental health care;
• Increasing access to mental health supports; and
• Embedding mental health programs and supports into workforce systems.

This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration guide focuses on the process of adapting evidence-based practices (EBPs) for under-resourced populations who experience obstacles in obtaining healthcare services because of their socio-demographic characteristics, and the research supporting such adaptations. The guide provides examples of research on adapted EBPs for mental health and substance use disorders for clients with a wide range of demographic characteristics.

The U.S. Congress temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC) during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide economic assistance for families with children. Between July and December 2021, CTC increased the amount of money they provided per child and the eligibility criteria was expanded to reach more economically disadvantaged families. Using data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey and a quasi-experimental study design, this Health Affairs article examines the effects of the expanded CTC on mental health and related outcomes among low-income adults with children, and by racial and ethnic subgroup.

The influence of welfare and family self-sufficiency programs on a range of social well-being outcomes has received limited focus in research and evaluation. Therefore, the Measuring SUCCESS project, funded by The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), conducted focus groups with 44 caregivers to hear from them on how self-sufficiency programs and policies relate to families’ social well-being. This OPRE brief provides caregivers who contributed to the focus groups with a summary of how the research team incorporated their voice into the project. Several themes emerged from the caregiver focus groups, including mental health, nonfamilial families, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families’ successes as well as challenges.

In recognition of Financial Capabilities Month, the Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Employment First Community of Practice (E1st CoP) will be holding a series of webinars on access to Financial Planning for people seeking and maintaining Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) positions. The series begins on April 24th at 3:00 p.m. ET with the webinar, “Using Ticket to Work to Support Competitive Integrated Employment.” This webinar will help shed light on the benefits of Ticket to Work for the worker and the provider and will discuss how beneficiaries can make the most of the program without feeling burdened by administration, apprehension, and paperwork.