Brief
Coordinating housing and financial capability servicesseems logical, but they have been historically disconnected,requiring residents to seek support outside of housing.Many nonprofit housing managers, public housingauthorities and housing counseling organizations arebeginning to offer financial capability services to clientsor are expanding on the services they have offered foryears. These organizations provide financial capabilityservices in-house or through partnerships, which canstreamline efforts to address client needs. (Author abstract)
Work activity among prime-age (25 to 54) men in America has declined precipitously, leaving seven million or more working-age men in the US outside the labor force. The causes are widespread and include a lack of postsecondary education, dependence on benefit programs, opioid dependency, the rising prevalence of criminal records, a lack of available jobs in economically distressed areas, and weakening cultural norms. A wide range of policies should be implemented to address these causes. These include increased education and training, subsidized jobs for the hard-to-employ, wage subsidies or…
This report presents findings from a study of the Children’s Institute, Inc. (CII), a multiservice organization in Los Angeles that combines a broad range of clinical and nonclinical services to meet the needs of children and families who have been affected by trauma. It begins by explaining that each year, CII serves more than 20,000 children and family members, and that CII’s range of activities, which it calls its Integrated Service Model, serve the “whole child, entire family.” Through its service model, CII provides a broad range of supports that the child and family may need to overcome…
This report describes the activities and outcomes of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a council designed to reduce recidivism among former prisoners and improve outcomes related to employment, education, housing, health, and child welfare. Comprised of more than 20 federal agencies, the Reentry Council coordinates and leverages existing federal resources, dispels myths and clarifies policies, elevates programs and policies that work, and reduces the policy barriers to successful reentry. The following accomplishments of the Reentry Council in its first five years are described:…
Brief
As states work to strengthen supports for young children's mental health, often with the goal of reducing the incidence of costly conditions at later ages, they face the question of how to finance new or expanded services. This brief examines states' use of Medicaid as a key source of funding for early childhood mental health (ECMH) services. It presents the results of a 50-state survey that gathered information from state administrators about Medicaid coverage and related policies concerning the following services for children from birth to age 6: child screening for social-emotional…
Although both men and women are involved in marriage, relationship matters are often considered the woman's domain. For practitioners offering marriage and relationship education (MRE), this general belief can often make engaging men in your program a challenge. Information is relatively sparse with regard to how men can be engaged in marriage education. There is research on men and commitment, and there are relatively frequent pop culture references to men and marriage regarding infidelity or gender roles, but very few resources are available for married men to support their relationship.…
In May 2009, the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC) and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) co-sponsored the conference "Toward a Common Understanding: Domestic Violence Typologies and Implications for Healthy Marriage and Domestic Violence Programs" at the Airlie Conference Center in Warrenton, Virginia. The conference brought together a diverse set of 35 experts to critically examine the underlying research on different types of intimate partner violence (IPV) and consider their implications for practice. This guide summarizes the conference…
Brief
The federal government created the child support program in the 1970s to secure financial and medical support for children whose parents live separately. Today, the program collects $32 billion per year in child support payments and serves more than 16 million children and families. Still, about 35 percent of child support obligations go unpaid each month. Parents who do not pay often lack the ability to do so, due to unemployment, disability, incarceration, or other (sometimes multiple) barriers. These parents leave a significant amount of child support unpaid, and collecting that support…
The McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University Silver School of Social Work recently partnered with the National Council for Behavioral Health to facilitate a yearlong Learning Community (LC), a promising methodology for helping organizations adopt and sustain practices and principles of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC). A total of 32 behavioral health organizations were enrolled in the LC, 92% of which reported having implemented trauma-informed care in at least six of the National Council’s seven TIC domains by the end of the LC, and 100% of which reported improving…
Brief
This brief explains families affected by co-occurring intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use face unique and interconnected needs and identifies promising practices and programs to meet the needs of these women and children. It begins by discussing the prevalence of IPV and substance abuse and the consequences of IPV, including health concerns and mental health concerns. Links between IPV and substance abuse are explored, and the impacts of IPV and parental substance use on children are then described. The following part of the brief outlines best practices for assessing…
