This Child Trends Research Brief reviews the neighborhood support index in terms of how neighborhoods can affect children and families. Research has shown that recreation centers in disadvantaged neighborhoods are associated with reductions in crime and violence. Additionally, researchers have found that neighborhood characteristics, such as too few play areas, heavy street traffic, or too many abandoned homes, can have a negative impact for children. Utilizing data from the 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health, authors construct a Neighborhood Support Index.

From the Rand Drug Policy Research Center, this study reviews how outcome data can be used in measuring the performance of substance abuse treatment programs for teenagers. Researchers also identified barriers to performance measurement that raise questions about the practicality of using outcome data to assess substance abuse treatment programs.

From the Alliance for Children and Families, this Practice and Policy Focus provides information on family poverty in the United States. This resource offers information on strategies to improve the well-being of families in poverty, which include empowering families with financial management training and other resources available to address barriers to economic self-sufficiency.

Nancy Cauthen, Ph.D., Deputy Director, National Center for Children in Poverty, testified before the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, House Committee on Ways and Means. Her remarks are included in this testimony speaks of the importance of measuring poverty in a way to best identify who needs assistance and what kinds of assistance. Additionally, in order to address poverty in the United States, income poverty as well as material hardship must be addressed.

From the Finance Project, this strategy brief gives information on the use of TANF funds to finance out-of-school programs to improve outcomes for children. Authors provide information on three strategies for out-of-school initiatives for children and innovative programs from states across the country.

This discussion paper, from the Urban Institute, summarizes how States are serving clients with multiple barriers on their TANF caseloads and provides information on recent changes in States’ approaches to serving this population. Authors interviewed TANF program officials in the States of California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Early care and education has become a reality for many young children with an increasing number of working parents in the United States. The early years for children are extremely important for future development and prove the need for high-quality early care and education for low-income families. This resource, from the Urban Institute, found that more than half of children younger than the age of six in low-income families are enrolled in early care and education programs.

The Workforce Strategies Initiative published this update on how community colleges and sector initiatives are collaborating to benefit businesses and low-income workers seeking. As there is a continued demand for workers educated beyond high school, 43 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 64 in the United States are not educated beyond a high school level.

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics seeks to enhance and improve consistency in data collection and reporting on children and families. This 2007 resource provides a set of key indicators that measure important aspects of children’s lives. The indicators included in this report met the following criteria: easy to understand by broad audiences, objectively based on substantial research connecting them to child well-being and easily estimated using reliable data; balanced, so that no single area of children’s lives dominates the report; measured regularly, so that they can be updated and show trends over time; and representative of large segments of the population, rather than one particular group.

Published through Child Trends, this newsletter includes information from the National Survey of Children’s Health, which provides state-level data on children’s health and wellbeing. Additionally, authors provide information on new data tools and resources on child welfare.