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.

This blog post reflects the importance of executive functioning and learning at an early age and shows how playing with blocks demonstrates how critical executive functioning is to children’s learning. The blog post also offers strategies used for instruction on executive functioning skills and why these skills matter for children’s social-emotional development.

This report comprehensively examines brain fitness and executive functioning. The first part of the report defines brain fitness and why it matters and discusses brain fitness in the context of executive functioning; also explored are a classification system for programs increasing executive functioning and student success as well as program outcomes. The other half of the report is a school-based executive function program guide with program profile summaries and program costs to implement these initiatives.

This compendium introduces Executive Function (EF) skills and provides resources for additional understanding about these skills and how poverty and stress impact their development. The resources include videos, a guide to Goal, Plan, Do, Review and Revise (an approach used by human service professionals to build EF skills among their clients), applying behavioral science to address chronic scarcity, and links to podcasts.

From CEOs to frontline employees providing essential services, workers across the board have been impacted by the uncertainty, stress, anxiety, loss of earnings, and other emotional and physical trauma brought on by COVID-19. These experiences, whether neurological or emotional, can deplete executive functions. Written by an organizational psychologist, this article offers strategies organizations can use to reduce cognitive load and restore balance to employees returning to the office. The three strategies identified are rest, schedule breaks, and implement a phased return to the workplace; acknowledge and name feelings and hire a psychologist to meet with managers; and take steps to help with memory deficiency, including the use of assistive technology and memory tools. Organizations might also want to hold workshops on time management and organizational skills or bring in coaches to help employees use new technology.