This blog post from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse provides information on opioid abuse among older adults ages 55 to 64. Older adults have experienced the greatest increase in drug-related deaths. A pattern of opioid misuse often begins with a life change, such as a divorce, an empty nest, or the death of a parent or spouse. Health care providers also tend to over-prescribe opioids to this age group due to the chronic pain they can experience. The author provides resources from the Centers for Disease Control for health care providers, and a guide to finding quality addiction treatment for older adults who are struggling with opioid addiction.

Domestic violence survivors often face challenges when trying to secure safe and affordable housing. This special collection from VAWnet provides resources to help providers of services pertaining to sexual assault, homelessness, and housing serve the housing needs of domestic violence survivors. The collection starts by describing the intersection between domestic violence and homelessness, especially for survivors of color. Next, the collection provides case studies illustrating partnerships between domestic violence organizations and affordable housing providers, and supplies four key strategies for helping addressing survivors’ barriers to safe housing. The collection also includes relevant public policies and statistics on the intersection between domestic and sexual violence, housing, and homelessness.

WorkforceGPS compiled this list of resources to serve the populations with barriers to employment that are targeted by H1-B TechHire grants. These populations include youth and young adults (ages 17-29), individuals with disabilities, individuals with limited English proficiency, and individuals with criminal records. There are resources tailored to each population, including toolkits, assessments, and manuals, to help them overcome their barriers and obtain employment.

There is currently limited evidence on the effectiveness of domestic violence program services. To fill this gap, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation contracted with the Center for Policy Research and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence to identify where the evidence base could be stronger for domestic violence programs. This report summarizes the current evidence on domestic violence and highlights innovative and concrete areas of opportunity for building the evidence base. While domestic violence programs do show some evidence of contributing to survivor well-being, the research is limited and often has methodological issues. The researchers found multiple opportunities for strengthening the evidence base, such as supporting researcher-practitioner partnerships, supporting culturally-relevant research, building on the current theory of change, and developing and validating new measures of program components and outcomes.

Sharing research results often includes intimidating graphics and jargon, so community members and practitioners may have difficulty accessing the information they need to plan their programs. This Urban Institute report details the Data Walk tool, which researchers can use to help community members review and interpret data, and strategize how to implement the results in their communities. In a Data Walk, community members walk through a series of stations where they can view data and discuss it in small groups with the help of a facilitator. The authors detail how to design, plan, and facilitate a Data Walk, and they also include examples of programs that have successfully used Data Walks to share research results.

Youth aging out of the foster care system face a variety of challenges, but building healthy and supportive relationships can help improve their outcomes. This Brookings Institution report highlights experiences from recent relationship-building programs targeted toward foster youth. The authors found four important lessons that researchers and policymakers can use when designing relationship-building programs for foster youth. Those lessons include the need for child welfare agencies to measure a youth’s relational capacities, designing relationship-based interventions for foster youth, tailoring services to the needs of each youth, and obtaining support from all partners involved in a foster youth’s case to reinforce relationships.

This MDRC report highlights early findings from the Jobs Plus Pilot Program Evaluation, which provides employment services for public housing residents. This study focuses on how the nine Public Housing Authorities selected as grantees implemented their four-year grant programs. In the first 18 months of the grant, all nine sites had begun implementing their programs and developing a variety of partnerships and employment services. The researchers found that the employment services offered were often generic and not tailored to individual needs, and that grantees needed more guidance on how to develop community support for work. Grantees voiced a need for more technical assistance in implementation, including clearer guidance and program standards.

This Child Trends blog post provides resources to help children cope after a hurricane. Children often suffer more than adults when exposed to natural disasters, and 14% of children in the U.S. have experienced a natural disaster. The authors analyzed nine major themes from resources and research on how to help children recover after exposure to a natural disaster. Those themes include understanding that reactions to trauma differ, creating a safe environment where a child’s basic needs are met, and keeping children busy. The post concludes with links to additional resources for children and caregivers.