The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is working to strengthen the well-being of children, youth, and their families by integrating behavioral health services into the existing supports they rely on, such as social services and early childhood programs. This ACF announcement highlights the new behavioral health webpage that includes a tip sheet for parents and caregivers and a series of short videos about mental health.

The new behavioral health webpage includes audience-specific pages with resources about mental health and substance use for:

• Teens and young adults
• Parents and caregivers
• American Indian and Alaska Native Communities
• Service providers
• Grant recipients
• Early childhood professionals

In Massachusetts, when families with young children search for information about and connections to early childhood services, they face a complex maze rather than a coordinated early childhood system. This Urban Institute report highlights existing service coordination approaches in Massachusetts and is designed to inform the development of a comprehensive system of information about and connections to early childhood services for Massachusetts families with children from birth to age 5.

For all children and their families to thrive, they need to be safe and healthy, together in their communities. For all parents, raising healthy children requires not only ensuring their material security and physical wellness, but also helping them to understand the family and community they belong to and to define and develop their own positive identities, including around their race, language, culture, and history. This Center for the Study of Social Policy brief lifts the voices of community-based organizations striving to answer that call across the country, with the goal of highlighting and addressing the barriers that stand in the way of all families having the support they need.

Watch accompanying webinar here.

In 2020, the Urban Institute (UI) published a framework comprising 26 mobility metrics that can help communities understand and track the factors that most influence mobility from poverty. These metrics span three distinct but interconnected dimensions:

1. economic success,
2. power and autonomy, and
3. dignity and belonging.

To gain a nuanced understanding of local conditions, however, communities should supplement these metrics with local data, as well as the knowledge and lived experiences of community members. This UI resource offers insights into how two communities – Fresno, California and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - can effectively monitor progress toward their upward mobility goals.

More on the Mobility Metrics Framework!

Access to basic needs is key to a successful transition to adulthood, but gaps in the safety net leave many young people without the supports they need. To address these gaps, human services agencies are increasingly recognizing the importance of engaging young people with lived experience navigating safety net programs. This Urban Institute fact sheet highlights strategies human services agencies can use to develop strategic partnerships. It draws on insights from a series of workgroups with staff at human services agencies and youth-serving nonprofits, as well as young leaders.

This National Sexual Violence Resource Center and Just Detention International recording is accompanied by presentations and transcripts from the July 20, 2023 webinar. The resource offers suggestions on how to communicate about sexual violence as something that men experience and about what services are available for men who are survivors.

Helping young people understand the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships is a key part of preventing all forms of violence, including dating violence and human trafficking. By providing opportunities for youth to observe healthy interactions and practicing safe relationship skills, everyone can work to prevent human trafficking. This Administration for Children and Families blogpost offers healthy behaviors to practice with children as well as additional resources that can help build healthy relationships and prevent violence.

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) hosted a Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month Event in February 2023 and featured a panel of youth engaged in violence prevention efforts in their communities. This recording includes the remarks from Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and OVW Acting Director Allison Randall. The recording is accompanied by a transcript of the Associate Attorney General’s speech.

Recognizing and responding to teen dating violence requires an awareness of the prevalence of dating violence, indicators of abuse in relationships, and steps to take if someone is experiencing dating violence. Dating violence is often overlooked due to preconceived ideas about what abuse looks like in relationships or the false assumption that it is not prevalent in young people's relationships. This toolkit begins with an overview of teen dating violence for all audiences and the subsequent sections provide relevant information directed to parents and students as well as school staff. Case managers and advocates can navigate the modules for relevant resources.