WorkforceGPS is hosting a webinar on April 23, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET, where participants will hear about the critical role of family engagement in the success of reentry programs for individuals returning to their communities after incarceration. By involving families in the reentry process, programs can create a supportive environment that fosters positive outcomes, such as employment, for returning individuals. Presenters will feature a representative from a reentry employment opportunity funded program, a participant from the program, a family member of the participant, and an employer.

This Mathematica resource is part of the evaluation of Promoting Opportunity Demonstration (POD), which provided modifications to Social Security Disability Insurance program rules to determine if a benefit offset formula can promote employment, reduce people’s dependence on benefits, and decrease the program’s administrative complexity. This publication is a study of how disability beneficiary work behavior responds to a rule change that replaces a cash cliff, a threshold above which benefits reduce to zero, with a benefit offset ramp. This resource provides an analysis of mechanisms indicating that administrative burden, the limited size of the incentive, and individual and systemic barriers to employment for people with disabilities likely contributed to the limited impacts.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention month. The 2024 theme is "Doing Things Differently: Moving from the Challenge to the Change,” which was designed to encourage Administration of Children and Families (ACF) partners to continue building communities that ensure families have access to fundamental supports, such as housing, food, transportation, and child care. This ACF resource highlights supporting families with a holistic perspective that recognizes the interdependence between parents and children, and offers outreach materials.

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) is offering On-Site Technical Assistance (TA) to strengthen, develop, and/or expand the capacity of tribal and native advocacy programs and communities' responses to intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and sex trafficking. The NIWRC staff will collaborate with each selected On-Site TA recipient to create an agenda specific to their program and tribal community. The NIWRC TA application is due April 22, 2024.

On April 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the award of $10.5 million to fund the first year of four, five-year cooperative agreements aimed at developing strategies to assist youth and young adults with disabilities — particularly in underserved communities — in successfully transitioning into the workforce. This DOL news releasee announces that Connecticut DOL, Kansas Department of Commerce, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and the New York DOL received the awards.

The application of lived experience to various aspects of program and policy development is ascendant in the social sector, but the evidence base hasn’t caught up. This Center for Behavioral Design and Social Justice report examines the benefits of including people with social service systems experience in designing, implementing and evaluating policies and programs. It highlights the role of “intersectional professionals” — individuals who have both personal and professional experience with the child welfare, juvenile justice and other human service systems.

While the financial security of U.S. households is frequently studied, comparatively little research focuses on the economics of American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) households specifically. The Center for Indian Country Development is helping to fill this gap with new analysis of a key annual survey of American households: the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Household Economics and Decision-making (SHED). This Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis resource highlights:

• Statistical techniques that enable an AIAN-focus;
• Results detailing AIAN respondents’ financial security; and
• Persistent barriers to economic opportunity for AIAN households.

In 2023, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report on reducing intergenerational poverty. Jesse Rothstein, a member of the committee that developed the report, is on the Institute for Research on Poverty’s newest podcast episode to share the research and findings on several of the key drivers of intergenerational poverty. In this episode, Rothstein discusses policy approaches that may help to interrupt the poverty cycle and why that matters.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) promotes the economic and social well-being of children, families, and communities across the country. As part of their mission, ACF actively listens to and engages with those it serves to ensure the compassionate and effective delivery of human services. The ACF Parent Engagement Report summarizes recent listening sessions ACF held with parents and caregivers from diverse backgrounds who have a range of experiences with ACF programs. The report shares a glimpse into the insights that parents shared from each of these listening sessions and highlights a few examples of how ACF has been and continues to be responsive to their feedback and recommendations.