The Office of Child Support Enforcement has issued the FY2020 Preliminary Annual Report, which includes data from all state child support programs and tables on collections, expenditures, paternities, orders established, and other program-related statistics. Tribal program data is not included in this initial report, but it will be included in the FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress. While the COVID-19 pandemic had widespread social and economic effects on child support programs nationwide that cannot be captured in the child support data collected, the FY 2020 report offers a glimpse of the pandemic’s impact on program performance.

The Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Community Services (OCS) announced a funding opportunity for the Community Services Block Grant CARES Act Rapid-Cycle Impact Projects. The funding will support the CARES Act goal of adapting service models to meet urgent community needs while testing proposed projects’ strategies to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Support will be provided for communities to utilize a rapid-cycle learning or continuous quality improvement approach to strengthen the effectiveness of a grant-funded program or service strategy. Up to 20 grants will be awarded. Applications are due by July 26, 2021.

This Dear Colleague Letter, addressed to ACF Grantees and interested parties, requests that ACF grantees raise awareness of the child tax credit for working families which takes effect on July 15, 2021. The letter identifies that families can learn about the credit at www.childtaxcredit.gov and that non-tax filer parents can also qualify for the tax credit by using the IRS’s Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign Up Tool to apply for benefits. The letter also highlights different ways to engage with working families and raise awareness of this significant benefit.

This one-pager lists locations and addresses of IRS Tax Assistance Centers (TAC) nationwide where the IRS will host AdvCTC (Child Tax Credit) Free Tax Prep Days in July 2021 to help families file 2020 tax returns so they are eligible to receive advance payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit. Most families are eligible to receive monthly payments of up to $250 per child ages 6-17 and $300 per child under age 6.

This Annie E. Casey Foundation annual publication provides data on child well-being among states and in multiyear comparisons from 2010 to 2019. Data in this review covers economic well-being, education, health, and family and community, including state rankings for these categories. There is also a separate section on how families fared during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 to explore the role Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs play in supporting mothers as they reenter their community after a period of incarceration. Reentering mothers must overcome unique and difficult barriers to ensure their well-being and reduce their chances of recidivism. In this discussion, a panel of researchers and practitioners provided an overview of the impact of incarceration on children, the needs mothers face upon their release, and various approaches that state TANF programs, Department of Corrections reentry programs, and local non-profit organizations take to support reentering mothers in addressing these needs. Presenters also highlighted success stories and lessons learned from their experience helping reentering mothers and discussed how TANF can partner with community reentry programs to help mothers succeed.

The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will host an e-learning event on July 6, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. ET to cover approaches for managing teams in a remote environment. Key objectives include identifying the common struggles with leading remote teams, the four principles to help lead remote teams more effectively, and tools to build trust and influence while working remotely. A registration fee is required for participation.

This research-to-practice brief explores different types of guardianship arrangements as part of a kin-first continuum as well as the positive impact and benefits of kinship care for placement. The brief also covers Federal programs and policies that support guardianship and the challenges to using guardianship as a permanency option.

The post-COVID-19 economic recovery presents challenges for governors and state leaders seeking to identify and address barriers that keep the workforce from returning to work and filling job vacancies. This National Governors Association report examines state actions to address these barriers, increase labor force participation among low-income populations, and engage employers to address hiring challenges. The report highlights initiatives that provide monetary incentives to return to work, ensure access to affordable child care, reinstitute job search requirements, utilize TANF waivers, and address hesitancy to return to workplaces due to health and safety concerns.

The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare project is testing a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) methodology to improve placement stability and permanency outcomes for children by strengthening the engagement of fathers and paternal relatives. The pilot study described in this report documents the BSC implementation, as well as how designated Improvement Teams worked with system partners to plan, test, and adjust engagement strategies.