The Survey of Household Economics and Decision-making is the survey from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for tracking the financial circumstances of low- and moderate-income families and potential risks to their financial health. This year’s survey continues to track key topics related to financial outcomes, such as the effects of inflation on household finances, emergency savings, housing, returns to education, and retirement. New topics have been added on food sufficiency, caregiving, employment of those with a previous arrest or conviction, and homeowners’ insurance.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors will be hosting a virtual event on June 20, 2024 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, where researchers will share findings from the survey on trends in financial well-being and answer any questions on the financial conditions among low- and moderate-income populations based on the survey results.

An estimated 377,000 children are living in foster care. This staggering number is a measure of how we as a nation are faring in our responsibility to ensure that every child in every community has the opportunity to grow up in their own family connected to the people, places and cultures that will help them thrive. This Casey Family report shares examples of how communities are actively partnering with families to build the foundations of a better approach, how they are using new tools and approaches to better address the needs of families and children, and how they are investing effectively to ensure thriving families, safer children and supportive communities.

Although the relationship between hardship and child welfare system, CWS, involvement seems straightforward, it is far more complicated. On average, families encountering the CWS tend to have lower incomes, and rates of CWS involvement are highest in the sections of New York with the highest concentrations of families with incomes below the poverty level. Among those who are involved with child welfare services, co-occurring conditions such as substance misuse and mental health challenges, which hardships exacerbate, are also correlated with CWS involvement regardless of income. This Urban Institute report examines the relationships between hardship and CWS involvement.

This Chapin Hall report evaluates implementation of Multisystemic Therapy for Emerging Adults in Cook County, Illinois, which helps emerging adults with behavioral health needs reintegrate into community after time in an Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice youth center.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation is partnering with Urban Institute to conduct a study that seeks the perspectives of participants in programs funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies about:

• The environmental and climate exposures they and their communities face;
• How they view environmental and climate justice concerns;
• Mitigation and adaptation resources they can access or are aware of; and
• Additional resources and strategies useful to address these issues.

They are recruiting people participating in programs funded by the federal Administration for Children and Families and Administration for Community Living, as well as Community Action Agencies and other human services agencies. They seek participation from adults (18 and over) who are comfortable speaking English and live in different regions of the country so that a mix of climate change and environmental hazard contexts are represented.

The researchers are conducting the interviews and focus groups through July 2024 and are offering $50 gift card incentives to interview participants and $75 gift card incentives to focus group participants.

Review the flyers for additional information about participating in this study. Please contact Pam Winston at pamela.winston@hhs.gov or Anne Junod at ajunod@urban.org with any questions.

Child support programs across the country serve millions of families with low incomes. They establish paternity and child support orders, and they collect child support payments that can help increase family financial stability and contribute to positive long-term outcomes for children. However, many parents with child support obligations struggle to make regular payments. This can result in less financial support for their children, strained parenting relationships, and a potentially substantial accumulation of debt. This Building Evidence on Employment Strategies brief describes the efforts of two county child support agencies in Ohio to increase the availability of supportive services to parents who owe child support, with the goals of improving their employment outcomes, increasing their ability to meet their child support obligations, and improving their relationships with their children. This brief is a part of the BEES Project, which is studying a range of approaches to improve economic mobility and stability for families.

The Urban Institute and the Berkeley Opportunity Lab are co-hosting a webinar on May 23, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET where presenters will explore the impacts of providing cash assistance to low-income families with children, including the impact of cash assistance on investments on early childhood outcomes, reductions in child maltreatment, and long-term employment and educational outcomes of children. There will be discussions on how policymakers and researchers can leverage these insights to improve the well-being of some of the nation’s most vulnerable children.

The YouthNPower: Transforming Care Collective launched the first direct cash transfer (DCT) pilot for youth transitioning from foster care in 2023 and designed with young people who have lived expertise in the child welfare system. This New York City pilot is part of a larger research and advocacy project to document the impact of unconditional cash support for young adults who have recently left the child welfare system to learn more about the conditions facing young people as they navigate life after foster care, and to advocate for policy and program changes that will enrich their lives and help them thrive. This Center for the Study of Social Policy recording highlights a panel that shared:

• An introduction to the intergenerational YouthNPower collective and its approach combining research, advocacy, and organizing;
• Information about the Direct Cash Transfer pilot design; and
• Preliminary findings of the pilot’s Participatory Action Research.

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), Kansas Judicial Branch, and the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health hosted a webinar where experts delved into the multifaceted challenges families often face, from mental health issues to trauma, violence, and substance use disorders.

Presenters also discussed the Well-Being in Family Court effort, which provides individual and systemic changes that help judges and staff:
· Understand the impact of stress and trauma on judges and court personnel.
· Assist families experiencing trauma and mental health conditions.
· Leverage early case interventions to improve case handling and stretch community resources.
· Navigate cases where mental health is potentially weaponized.
· Provide for child safety and well-being during family transitions.

Over 2.4 million children in the United States are living in grandfamilies. These are families where grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends are raising children because the children’s parents are unable to do so. This Generations United report aims to bring attention to the mental health and emotional wellness of grandfamilies, shed light on their resilience and challenges they face, and provide innovative solutions and resources to better support them. The report also includes policy and program recommendations for strengthening these families.