This letter from the Acting Commissioner of the Office of Child Support Enforcement provides guidance on how individual tax rebates made under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to eligible noncustodial parents are subject to intercept for past-due child support payments. It also notes that TANF or Title IV-E foster care cases must have at least $150 in past-due support for the offset requirement to apply; non-TANF and non-Title IV-E cases must have at least $500 of past-due support for the offset requirement to apply.

This podcast, part of the Skilled America Podcast weekly series, offers a field report on how the Center for Employment Opportunities in New York and JEVS Human Services in Philadelphia are addressing increased demand for re-entry services as the jail and prison populations reduce to slow the spread of COVID-19. The podcast includes an interview with a JEVS Looking Forward Philadelphia program participant who shares his experiences in re-entry and what supports returning citizens need now and beyond their current circumstances.

This evaluation report provides summary findings of the Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) Program. Awarded by the Children’s Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families, RPG grants are partnerships between child welfare providers, entities that offer substance abuse disorder treatment, and other social service agencies that enhance child welfare for those children who are in or at risk of out-of-home placement because of a parent’s or caretaker’s substance abuse disorder. The study assesses results from 17 partnerships in 15 states that were initially funded in 2012. Continuing evaluations will be made for partnerships funded in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation tool assists current and future Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination grantees in identifying and evaluating efforts to build collaboration, assessing ongoing collaboration, and tracking progress of collaboration and coordination efforts. The assessment tool can help organizations build and strengthen partnerships, identify areas for changing practice, and improve coordination among human service providers and Tribal TANF agencies.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation will host a webinar on April 29, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET to discuss how states and counties can develop preventive child welfare practice models that are in alignment with the Family First Prevention Services Act. Discussion will cover Putting Family First, a working paper from the Annie E. Casey Foundation; core elements of child welfare practice models; the use of evidence-based case management strategies; roles of leaders in thinking about preventive services; and how to implement these models in the current COVID-19 pandemic environment. Presenters include representatives from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the National Implementation Research Network, and the Mecklenburg County (North Carolina) Department of Social Services.

The Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center (WINTAC) has identified a set of resources for Vocational Rehabilitation programs to use in distance service delivery to persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 crisis. This compendium, which will be updated frequently, includes resources related to COVID-19 in general, teleworking and telecounseling, effective practices for line staff to deliver services, online training opportunities, and technology and programs to facilitate remote services and organizational management. There is also a set of federal disability resources related to COVID-19 and COVID-19 resources for individuals with disabilities.

This research-to-practice brief describes the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration project and its integration of procedural justice principles into enforcement practices in six child support agencies in Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. The premise of PJAC is that if defendants perceive the dispute resolution process to be fair, they will comply with the outcome of the process, regardless of whether the decision was favorable to the defendant. The target population of the PJAC demonstration project is noncustodial parents being referred for civil contempt of court-mandated child support even when these parents have been determined to be able to pay it. Implementation of PJAC addresses noncustodial parents’ perception of the court system proceedings and reasons for nonpayment, how to improve consistency of their payments, and ways to promote their positive engagement with the child support agency as well as the other parent.

The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University has prepared guidelines to address the mental health and behavioral concerns related to preparedness and responses to COVID-19 and similar infectious outbreaks. Attention is paid to the interrelationship between psychological, emotional, and behavioral responses and their effects on response plans. These guidelines articulate four phases for responding to the COVID-19 crisis—preparedness, early outbreak response, later response and recovery, and mental health intervention planning to address the perceived and actual risks.

Abt Associates will host a two-panel webinar on April 23, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on how to transform child welfare systems to protect children, what programs are doing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how programs are supporting community-driven and evidence-based prevention efforts against child abuse and neglect. Panelists include researchers, field practitioners, and child welfare advocates. Participants may register for either or both panels and links to join the panels will be provided on the Eventbrite page the morning of the event.

This issue brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes the provisions of the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). EFMLEA was created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to provide limited emergency paid family leave for employees to take time away from work (when telework is not an option) if their children’s child care providers or schools are closed due to COVID-19. This brief also identifies considerations for facilitating lower income workers’ participation in EFMLEA and the availability of resources under this law. To support EFMLEA’s utilization, the brief highlights immediate education efforts to support parents in understanding eligibility and other requirements of this provision. There is also guidance on how to engage low-wage employers in EFMLEA awareness and the administrative requirements for compliance.