The Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, released a food access research atlas that presents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other Census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility. The mapping tool also provides food access data for populations within Census tracts and offers Census-tract-level data on food access for download for community planning or research purposes. Users are also able to create maps showing food access indicators by Census tract using different measures and indicators of supermarket accessibility, view indicators of food access for selected subpopulations, and download Census-tract-level data on food access measures.

The University of Kentucky's Center for Poverty Research released a discussion paper that explores whether the safety net reduces food insecurity for families and children who receive any of the five major safety net programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Medicaid. The results indicated that the various safety net programs do improve food security.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway released a fact sheet that outlines the process by which federal legislative actions and policy changes influence State and Tribal child welfare systems and service delivery.

This statute ended the Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare entitlement program, replacing it with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, which provides cash assistance to needy families and requires families to make verifiable work efforts to leave welfare. It also allowed funds to be used to encourage the maintenance and formation of two-parent families. A second block grant under the statute provided funds to states to subsidize child care for low-income families.

The Colorado Department of Human Services released a resource book that shares information about many of the programs that have been supported through Colorado's TANF program. Resources range from prenatal care facilities, juvenile assessment centers, and refugee assistance programs, to mental health resources and fatherhood organizations.

This report presents results from the early implementation of the study of the Impact of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families, referred to as the Family Options Study. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the study measures the relative impacts of four interventions commonly employed within local communities to help families experiencing homelessness. The study compares the impacts of: community-based rapid re-housing (CBRR), project-based transitional housing (PBTH), permanent housing subsidies (SUB), and the usual care (UC) emergency shelter system in 12 communities.

The Wilson Foundation released a report that summarizes findings from the Service and Housing Interventions for Families in Transition (SHIFT) Longitudinal Study. The SHIFT study examined the effectiveness of different housing and service models in helping families who are experiencing homelessness establish and maintain residential stability and self-sufficiency. The characteristics, experiences, and challenges of the families are presented, followed by the outcomes including housing stability, economic independence, maternal mental health, maternal substance abuse, and child functioning. Characteristics of successful family members as well as those who met challenges in establishing and maintaining residential stability are also explored. The findings are intended to inform policies that address housing stability and self-sufficiency among families.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) released a paper that explores four areas of work-family policy related to low-income working families: unpaid family and medical leave, extended paid parental or family leave, paid sick leave, and efforts to expand employees' control over work shifts, hours, and other circumstances of their jobs. The paper outlines the ways in which these supports can be facilitated by public policy to enact change.

The Institute for Research on Poverty released a discussion paper exploring the reasoning behind why some low-income Americans do not capitalize on nongovernmental free food assistance programs in their communities. The study focused on data collected from 63 in-depth interviews with low-income residents from San Francisco who did not use this available assistance. Overall, the report indicated that respondents did not feel that the free food assistance outweighed the psychological costs involved with accepting assistance. Such psychological costs include moral objections with accepting food from others and the emotional toll of accepting assistance.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) released a letter that discusses the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Summer Food Service Program, a program that ensures that children have access to meals when school is not in session.