The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) promotes the economic and social well-being of children, families, and communities across the country. As part of their mission, ACF actively listens to and engages with those it serves to ensure the compassionate and effective delivery of human services. The ACF Parent Engagement Report summarizes recent listening sessions ACF held with parents and caregivers from diverse backgrounds who have a range of experiences with ACF programs. The report shares a glimpse into the insights that parents shared from each of these listening sessions and highlights a few examples of how ACF has been and continues to be responsive to their feedback and recommendations.

The American Public Human Services Association will release a three-part series on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) case processing. This brief explores how AI is currently used, and how it might be used in the future, to support administrative actions that agency staff complete when processing customers’ SNAP cases. This brief was informed by input from APHSA’s wide network of state, county, and city members and national partners in the human services and related sectors.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended society physically, socially, emotionally, and for many, economically. Early childhood home visiting programs were able to help families with economic issues but also faced challenges in doing so. Early childhood home visiting programs had to shift from in-person home visits to virtual visits and adapt planned content to serve families with pressing economic needs. Home visiting staff also had to contend with their own pandemic-related challenges, including stress, isolation, and the logistics of caring for their own families while trying to support the families they served. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report examines the economic experiences of families with children ages birth to 5, families, or pregnant family members during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how select early childhood home visiting programs supported families’ economic well-being during the pandemic.

The Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth) is hosting a webinar on April 8, 2024 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to provide an overview of CAPE-Youth's new mental health policy brief. Speakers from the White House Domestic Policy Council and state governments will highlight ways that policymakers can:

• Expand culturally responsive mental health care;
• Increase access to mental health supports; and
• Embed mental health programs and supports into workforce systems.

To boost the economy and create conditions for equitable economic advancement for all, employers must focus on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of Black working moms and other populations facing systemic barriers. This Jobs for the Future resource highlights challenges impacting Black working mothers in the workplace along with opportunities for support.

March is Women’s History Month and this Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) resource highlights women’s roles in human services programs and shares OPRE’s projects that are helping to build evidence on the human services workforce. The resource includes early care and education, home visiting, head start, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Chapin Hall and the American Public Human Services Association co-hosted a webinar on March 21, 2024 where they presented findings from their national survey of child welfare leaders. Presenters included the team that created and conducted the survey as well as the Acting Commissioner / Executive Deputy Commissioner for the New York State Office of Children and Families, who discussed barriers in aligning across human service agencies to better support families.

The earlier families attain stability, the better overall outcomes are for communities and individual families, and that is why investing in parents under the age of 24 and their children is key to building thriving communities. This American Public Human Services Association paper highlights key takeaways from their work with young families, providing an overview of the young families work and its early years, key takeaways along with highlights, and ending with opportunities for future work in the young families’ space.

The purpose of the Next Steps for Rigorous Research on Two-Generation Approaches (NS2G) project was to build the evidence base for two-generation approaches. Two-generation initiatives combine economic security services for parents with accessible, high quality early care and education for children, and hold promise for improving family well-being. In this recording, co-hosted by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and Ascend at the Aspen Institute, NS2G team members describe the work that two-generation initiatives conducted to strengthen approaches to intentionally coordinating services for caregivers and their children. Presenters shared tools and techniques that can be used by other two-generation initiatives to strengthen their approaches.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the HHS Task Force to Prevent Human Trafficking, released the National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework. Building on decades of work to prevent violence, this framework is a resource for organizations, communities and governments seeking to strengthen efforts to prevent human trafficking. It reflects research and best practices in violence prevention and health promotion, as well as the expertise of people who have experienced human trafficking and allied professionals.

A video announcing this framework is available, where co-chairs of the HHS Task Force to Prevent Human Trafficking, Acting Assistant Secretary Jeff Hild and Assistant Secretary Admiral Rachel Levine, discuss key elements of the Framework.

Interested in learning more about upcoming opportunities to #Partner2Prevent human trafficking? Sign up for updates from the Office on Trafficking in Persons.