This report examines county-wide approaches for addressing substance use among high school age youth. Approximately 30 percent of high school students report using alcohol, 20 percent of youth report binge drinking, 20 percent report marijuana use, and nearly 12 percent of high school students report using illicit or injectable drugs. The report notes that while overall alcohol, tobacco, and drug use have decreased among youth, the complexity of substance abuse requires increased emphasis on prevention, intervention, and treatment strategies at the county level.

This report highlights how public sector human services decision-makers identify and use needed evidence. Recommendations are made on how these leaders can contribute to a broader use of various types of evidence. The report concludes with a literature review of 27 sources related to policymakers’ evidence needs and delves into the types of information policymakers want and need to make decisions on social policy pertaining to areas such as child welfare and youth employment.

This blogpost profiles Youth Support Partners, a program from the Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Department of Human Services, which intends to give a voice to youth who engaged in the child welfare system in their relationship with assigned caseworkers. This voluntary program allows participating youth to set the frequency of appointments and is a less structured approach for youth to set self-care and personal development goals. Youth Support Partners also promotes a collaborative communication process between caseworkers and youth in assessment.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) brief offers a summary and updated review of the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) initiative. OPRE reviewed 21 program models identified as fitting the evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model.

This MDRC series includes six podcasts that reflect evidence-based programming for education and social programs, at both the design and evaluation stages. Podcast speakers include MDRC researchers and field practitioners and cover: Using Data-Driven Strategies for Program Improvement, Replicating CUNY’s ASAP Model in Ohio, Can Aligned Instruction Prevent Pre-K Fadeout, A Practitioner-Researcher Partnership for the Grameen America Program, Steps to Upward Mobility: Lessons from Three Youth Employment Programs, and How to Improve College Placement Using Multiple Measures.

This blogpost by the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) highlights the activities of ACYF’s Children’s Bureau and Family and Youth Services Bureau, which both support states, faith-based and community organizations, tribes, and other entities that provide necessary services to assist children, youth, and families in finding hope while experiencing trauma. The Commissioner outlines the importance of communities taking a whole child and whole family approach when developing multi-disciplinary systems of care.

This Mathematica report identifies the characteristics of SNAP program households and participants at national and state levels during the federal Fiscal Year 2018. The report also includes SNAP eligibility requirements and benefit levels for all 50 states during the same time period.

This Urban Institute report is an evaluation of the Family-Centered Community Change (FCCC) approach, launched by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, at three pilot sites: Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas. The three FCCC sites adopted two-generation approaches in the areas of early childhood education and child care, partnerships with local elementary schools, after-school care, job-training opportunities for adults, financial education and literacy, and coaching to assist parents with goal setting. This five-year evaluation began in 2013 and concluded in 2018.

By March 2020, states are required to submit WIOA Unified and Combined State Plans for the period of 2020-2023. To assist States and their partners, the Departments of Labor, Education, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services hosted a webcast series highlighting content and submission requirements for the State Plans. Topics covered included dislocated workers, the Wagner-Peyser Act, Unemployment Insurance, Adult Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation.

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison will host a webinar on January 15, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT to discuss the Pathways to Prosperity and Well-Being program. This program is a comprehensive systems transformation approach that addresses policy formulation, program management and supervision, and program implementation and practice. The webinar will include presentations from representatives of human services agencies in Olmsted and Dakota counties in Minnesota, as well as discussions by evaluators from the University of Minnesota’s Future Services Institute about the program’s design and initial implementation.