When the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close, everything changed. Many meal providers found themselves rapidly adapting their operations to reach kids in their communities. This report presents innovations in child nutrition programs illustrated by case studies informed by interviews. The report includes innovative ideas pertaining to meals served, outreach, delivery, partnerships, and areas beyond food.

Families experiencing poverty and economic pressure have increased risk for child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and acts of violence by youth. This article highlights several programs that reduce rates of family and child poverty, including TANF, but it notes how TANF policies in particular have the greatest economic security policy discrepancies across states despite research that shows policies that increase access to money protect against family and youth violence. The article discusses research that indicates work requirements in TANF and other evidence-based interventions may protect against violence by increasing individual and family resources. However, one-size-fits-all work requirements may have unanticipated negative effects, such as an increase in sanctions that contribute to unemployment or under-employment when an individual cannot meet set requirements or leaving single mothers with less time to care for their children, which may increase the risk of child maltreatment.

This article identifies findings from a recent study which found that witnessing parental domestic violence can increase a child’s risk of depression and other mental health issues. The study included more than 17,700 Canadian adults who took part in a national survey on mental health. 22.5% of children who were exposed to chronic parental domestic violence during childhood had major depression at some point in their life, 15% had an anxiety disorder, and nearly 27% had a substance abuse disorder. In comparison, the rates among people with no history of violence between their parents were 9%, 7% and 19%, respectively.

This Mayo Clinic blogpost illustrates ways to recognize domestic violence in its many forms, including emotional, sexual, and physical abuse and threats of abuse. Further, the blogpost presents the cycle of an abusive situation, why the survivor should not take the blame in an abusive relationship, and challenges for special populations, and offers survivors tips on how to create a safety plan and where to find help.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) held the 2022 Regions V-VIII State TANF Virtual Meeting on July 19-21, 2022. This virtual event brought together TANF program representatives from OFA Regions V-VIII and focused on how programs can best address the needs of families beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting included sessions on TANF fundamentals and updates, how the shift to the virtual world has impacted TANF customers and agencies, and changes programs can make to improve their support of customers throughout their TANF journey.

Also, participants chose from concurrent peer-to-peer sessions to attend based on their role within their state (case management, data personnel, or administrative/leadership) to discuss topics including eligibility and work requirements, TANF essentials, the new normal, and refocusing the customer.

Linking government data between different agencies and departments is a powerful strategy to connect people to valuable benefits that they might otherwise miss. By linking data, the California Policy Lab helped the state of California measure how many Californians receiving safety-net benefits were at risk of not receiving federal stimulus payments, the state Earned Income Tax Credit, and the advanced Child Tax Credit – resulting in millions of dollars of federal aid delivered to non-filing Californians. This toolkit provides step-by-step guidance for government leadership and their staff on how to develop and execute cross-departmental data linkages by focusing on a case study on increasing the take-up of anti-poverty tax credits.

Compassion can be defined as “feeling for” others who are in pain with warmth, empathetic concern, and the capacity to understand their perspective and intentions. Compassion is necessary for staff in human service settings to effectively engage clients, understand the context surrounding their journey and personal goals, and accurately identify a path forward and appropriate support services. But if we consider compassion as a finite resource, what happens if it runs out?

This brief, which was prepared in conjunction with PeerTA Podcast Episode 2: Combatting Compassion Fatigue, focuses on emerging issues related to compassion fatigue within the context of managing teams. The brief addresses the following questions: What is compassion fatigue and how may it affect the teams I manage? What are the factors that lead to compassion fatigue? How might I recognize compassion fatigue within my teams? As a manager, what steps can I take to help mitigate the effects of compassion fatigue? What can I learn from other TANF programs that implemented strategies to address issues associated with compassion fatigue?

This webinar presented a conversation between the National Community Action Partnership and U.S. Digital Response (USDR) about incorporating user-centered design elements into workflows and services to reach and serve communities more effectively. The hosts discussed the USDR’s partnership with the Empire Justice Center and how user-centered practices enabled delivery of financial services to low-income families throughout the pandemic. Overall, they offered a clearer vision for how to design work with a distinct focus on the end user, along with tangible tips, takeaways, and recommendations to humanize processes therein.

This blogpost profiles how Covenant House in New York City, the largest service provider for homeless youth, has used motivational interviewing techniques since 2018. These techniques have been shown to be particularly effective in helping this population deal with depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues. It also explains how the Annie E. Casey Foundation supported Covenant House partnering with mental health technology startup, Lyssn, to tailor their motivational interviewing artificial intelligence to a more diverse youth population. The software, which complies with federal health privacy law, records motivational interviewing sessions and uses an algorithm to evaluate the interviewer’s performance. Additionally, a chatbot app, ClientBot, was created to simulate interviewing scenarios that help Covenant House staff practice motivational interviewing techniques.

This report overviews the design and implementation of the New Start Career Network, a statewide program that assists older, long-term unemployed New Jerseyans. The report examines the rationale behind the program and its design, notes the collaborators involved, and discusses the program’s services, including a website, webinars, online tools, and career coaching. It also reviews approaches to engaging employers as well as recruiting members and coaches. In addition, lessons learned, recommendations, and key elements for serving long-term, unemployed job seekers are identified.