Income inequality has grown over the last decade, along with changes in the safety net, demographics, and income reporting. In this working paper released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau, trends in material hardship are examined in seven categories: food, health, housing, bill paying, fear of crime, neighborhood problems, and the lack of consumer goods. Data for this study was pulled from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) for the period covering 1992 to 2011. The data suggests that income volatility is a real challenge for many households and that declines in hardship were present among the lowest income groups surveyed.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will host a hybrid event (with both in-person and virtual presentations) on October 13-14, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri that brings together SNAP E & T stakeholders nationwide to share best practices for increasing employment among SNAP households. The deadline to register is September 30, 2020.

This blogpost covers how the comprehensive Child First program has implemented home visits during the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing telehealth technology via phones or videoconferencing to provide treatment and deliver services. Key questions raised in the blogpost provide insight on telehealth accommodations made by home visiting teams working with families with limited technology or privacy concerns and how families have responded to these telehealth connections. The blogpost is drawn from interviews with Child First staff in 10 programs in Connecticut, North Carolina, and Florida.

This issue brief from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) addresses opioid misuse and opioid use disorder in the U.S. Hispanic and Latino population. The brief presents various challenges these communities face including discrimination and trauma, intergenerational substance abuse, language barriers, and other sociocultural factors associated with accessing prevention and treatment and recovery services.

The 20th Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS 2020), sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, will now be held virtually on October 13-15 and October 19-22, 2020. Panels will cover TANF Programs, Policies, and Populations; Employment and Mobility in the Labor Market; Youth Well-Being and the Transition to Adulthood; Strengthening Families, Fatherhood, Marriages, and Relationships; Evaluating Social Programs, Building Evidence, and Using Data; and Approaches to Alleviate Poverty and Expand Opportunity. Future information with registration details will be posted.

This report notes the relationship between living in poverty and the likelihood of incarceration, homelessness, becoming a single parent, or failing to complete high school. The report also highlights how poverty and its stress affect brain development as well as the capacity for problem solving and goal setting. The report includes important research developments that point to how brain science might be used to support the capacity of individuals to navigate poverty and related stress for personal mobility.

This fact sheet, as part of the Administration for Children and Families Resource Guide to Trauma-Informed Human Services, introduces the concept of “executive function” and discusses the concept’s applicability and importance to human services programs. There is also a synthesis of how relevant interventions and approaches foster executive function skills.

(See also Resources on "self-care" or "self-regulation" in the Resource Library)

 

This interactive webinar by Engagement Strategies, LLC was held on June 21, 2017 and featured presentations from Arapahoe Library District staff. The webinar educated participants on what executive function is, why it is important to learning and life success, and specific activities and books to help children in their care develop executive function and self-regulation skills.

This guide identifies the first step toward a conceptual understanding of executive function and self-regulation and how building executive functioning supports skills for life and learning. The guide also refers to other reports and multimedia presentations for additional information and in-depth coverage on capacity building, as well as an overview video.

This infographic provides a pictorial overview of executive functioning and how it relates to child development. The full text for the graphic is also provided and details misconceptions about the development of executive functioning skills, as well as the benefits to fostering positive executive functioning skills on literacy and numeracy in children.