This Brookings Institution blog reviews the impact of SNAP in reducing food insecurity by geography. Presently, there are almost no differences in SNAP benefit formulas by state except Alaska and Hawaii. Data shows that geographical variation in food insecurity results from higher food prices in some states, which is associated with diminished SNAP purchasing power and greater food insecurity.

This fact sheet from Child Trends provides data analysis on food insecurity levels, as of 2016. Trends discussed include percentage of children living in food-insecure households, household food insecurity levels by race, and food insecurity prevalence for children in single parent and married couple households.

This study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service provides a national analysis about the state of household food security. National data identifies food insecurity prevalence by selected household characteristics, level of food spending by the same selected household characteristics, and participation rates by household in Federal food and nutrition assistance programs.

Data analysis in this U.S. Government Accountability Office report shows that nearly 2 million at-risk college students did not report receiving SNAP benefits. The report also highlights the risk factors for food insecurity among this population. This analysis is based on survey results from 14 colleges and discusses resources that these higher education institutions provide to students to address food insecurity and help them apply for Federal food and nutritional assistance programs.

This U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service report illustrates the demographics and economic circumstances of SNAP participants, including age, disability status, household size and composition, benefit level, and households with earnings and those receiving other cash welfare benefits. Changes in SNAP participant characteristics over time are also discussed.

Family engagement has been identified as a key factor in children’s early learning and development at a cognitive and social level. Since few ways exist for early care and education (ECE) programs to determine the strength of family engagement supports and to identify areas for improvement, the Georgia Family Engagement Assessment and Planning Tool (FEAP-T) was developed. This National Center for Children in Poverty report presents findings from a FEAP-T pilot, suggests that the FEAP-T be revised, and highlights ways a revised tool could help strengthen family engagement practices in Georgia’s ECE programs.

The National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families will host a webinar on March 19, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET to discuss best practices for coordinating care, delivering trauma-informed services, and offering treatment for opioid-addicted teens and young adults.

This Child Trends blog post illustrates how family engagement is now being recognized as falling along a continuum of services that support children’s development. The authors distinguish between home visiting, which works more with parents to improve outcomes for their children, and early child care and education that is more child-focused. The use of a family engagement continuum addresses these complementary roles that center on communications and how we engage families to set and achieve child and family goals.

The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) developed this Administration for Children and Families Family Room Blog, which highlights three FYSB programs working to prevent or intervene against teen dating violence: the Specialized Services for Abused Parents and their Children grant program, the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program. Each of these programs offers direct services such as parent education, fosters the creation of support groups, or engages in behavioral interventions. This blog post also discusses partnerships between FYSB and other Office of Family Assistance programs, including the launch of PAIVED (Preventing and Addressing Intimate Violence when Engaging Dads) within the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood initiative, which reviews approaches that federally funded Responsible Fatherhood programs could take regarding domestic violence prevention among fathers.

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) seeks reviewers and chairpersons for the 2019 ANA Objective Panel Reviews. In May and June 2019, they will conduct remote reviews for the following panel sessions: Native Languages: Esther Martinez Immersion (EMI), Preservation and Maintenance (P&M), Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE), Social and Economic Development Strategies for Alaska (SEDS-AK), and Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS). A two-week online training will be available in mid-March and is a requirement to be assigned to a panel review session. Information about reviewer and chairperson requirements, remote review expectations, and indication of interest is provided. If interested, please click here to participate.