The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, with MEF Associates and the Urban Institute, are conducting this study to better understand financial capability interventions delivered in the context of employment and training (E&T) programs serving low-income individuals.

Research links financial capability to important outcomes for low-income households, but financial capability levels are low, on average, among low-income individuals. Financial capability interventions, such as financial education, coaching, and counseling, intend to improve economic outcomes by building financial skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy, as well as expanding access to resources and opportunities to promote positive financial behaviors. E&T programs provide opportunities to deliver these interventions, but there is currently little evidence on the effectiveness of this channel.

The study aims to build more evidence for policymakers and practitioners about the extent, forms, and practices of incorporating financial capability interventions into E&T programs serving low-income adult populations. The study also aims to help establish a basis for research and evaluation in this area.

This report identifies barriers and opportunities that exist for older workers accessing online programs, with a focus on their digital skill levels. The report analyzes 2017 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies Survey data, as well as American Community Survey data to understand how older workers’ poverty status and access to broadband, internet, and computers and other devices is associated with digital skill levels. Report findings are also complemented by information collected during interviews with leaders of programs to support digital skill training for older adults.

A year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of individuals remained out of work. This report presents data on labor market weakness and describes how the COVID-19 recession has exacerbated inequality and how the threat of long-term unemployment particularly impacts people of color. This report makes the case for a permanent subsidized employment program to respond to short-term needs and support disadvantaged workers even in economically better times. It highlights research on the benefits of subsidized employment for program participants and communities. It also highlights lessons learned from the TANF Emergency Fund, enacted during the Great Recession, and the value of subsidized employment in hard economic times as a means to recover from the COVID-19 economic downturn.

Governor Chris Sununu and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recently released "Helping Business Thrive and Families Prosper", a paper on the impact of the “Cliff Effect” on New Hampshire’s families and employers. The paper examines how these “benefits cliffs” keep families from climbing up and out of poverty and into self-sufficiency, the resulting workforce challenges for employers, and action steps for policymakers, employers, and other stakeholders to work collectively to end the Cliff Effect.

During the 2020 Whole Family Approach Institute, participants received specialized support related to service integration, received peer-learning opportunities as well as access to expert presentations, and learned about building blocks critical to Whole Family Approach success. They also learned practical insights to improve the design of a Theory of Change, Logic Model and plan for data collection and use. Resources, presentations, session handouts, and a series of videos are available.

The family-centered coaching approach allows staff to partner with families holistically, taking into account their strengths and goals, challenges, and systemic barriers. This toolkit offers strategies, tools, and resources that can help programs, agencies, case managers, coaches, and others change how they work with families striving to reach their goals by planning for and intentionally changing the way coaching is delivered to families. A key goal of the toolkit is to encourage caseworkers to work with families toward a coaching philosophy that places the participant in the lead, with staff playing a critical supporting role. The toolkit offers a framework that incorporates multiple approaches, with goal setting as a key technique of supporting families in making the changes they need.

This blogpost illustrates how to cope with negative emotions spurred by holidays and family gatherings. The blogpost presents the Change Triangle to providers as a guide to help clients work with emotions and the ways they avoid them, as well as steps to “work the triangle” and identify and be with emotions so they stay connected with themselves. Vignettes explain how two individuals used the Change Triangle, and five suggestions are presented to help families and individuals get through the holidays.

Children and youth are dealing with new challenges due to COVID-19, like social distancing, changes to their routines, and a lost sense of security and safety, making them especially vulnerable to feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed. For some children, these challenges are exacerbated by the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on their communities. Black and Hispanic Americans, in particular, have faced a disproportionate share of COVID-19 cases. The tools offered in five interactive videos, tailored for either younger children and their parents or for youth and teens, help support their emotional wellbeing by guiding an understanding about how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all connected.

During the holiday season, families are dealing with stress from multiple sources, including navigating how to safely gather given the COVID-19 safety protocols. This National Child Traumatic Stress Network fact sheet offers parents and caregivers a set of strategies and ideas to make the holiday season special. These strategies include starting a family conversation on what has changed and how family members are feeling, finding ways to make connections, making small moments matter, keeping a routine, and noticing good things. The fact sheet also suggests ideas for self-care and notes on how to find available help and support.

This online fact sheet begins with an illustration of the body areas affected by stress and a list of anxiety symptoms. The fact sheet follows with several questions about holiday depression, anxiety, and stress, and their causes, risk factors, symptoms, and signs. Questions include: How do health care professionals diagnose and treat holiday, anxiety, stress, and depression? What kinds of specialists treat them? What are possible complications and the prognosis? and Is it possible to prevent holiday depression, anxiety, and stress?