The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented economic crisis with inequitable effects. Overall employment figures mask the disparate impacts on some communities of color, women, and low-wage workers. These groups were more likely to lose jobs, reduce hours worked, or withdraw from the labor market.
Office of Human Services Policy (HSP)
The Office of Human Services Policy (HSP) conducts policy research, analysis, evaluation, and coordination on various issues across the Department, including but not limited to, poverty and measurement, vulnerable populations, early childhood education and child welfare, family strengthening, economic support for families, and youth development. HSP serves as a liaison with other agencies on broad economic matters and is the Department’s lead on poverty research and analysis.
The Division of Children and Youth Policy focuses on policies related to the well-being of children and youth. Projects range from quick-turnaround policy analyses to large-scale experimental studies, and major policy initiatives. Key areas include early childhood, early care and education, home visiting, youth development and risky behaviors, parenting and family support, child welfare and foster care, linkages with physical and mental health, methods for evaluating what works, and strategies for improving research and data in these areas.
The Division of Family and Community Policy focuses on policies affecting various low-income populations. This includes policy development around major initiatives such as homelessness and reentry. It also includes conducting and coordinating analysis, research, and evaluation on the safety net, economic mobility and opportunity, welfare-to-work issues, strengthening families and responsible fatherhood, child support enforcement, and domestic violence. Other key priorities include place-based initiatives, the role of social capital in human services, human trafficking, benefits coordination.
The Division of Data and Technical Analysis focuses on policies and programs concerning low-income and otherwise disadvantaged populations. The Division provides data analytic capacity for policy development through data collection activities, secondary data analysis, modeling, and cost analyses. The Division focuses on cross-cutting human services policy issues such as income, poverty, cash and non-cash supports for low-income families, employment, fertility, and child welfare. The Division also issues annual updates to the poverty guidelines and reports to Congress on indicators of welfare dependence.
Topic Areas:
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Early Childhood and Child Welfare
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Economic Mobility and Employment
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Family Strengthening
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Poverty and Measurement
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Strengthening Communities
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Social Services Delivery and Implementation
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Vulnerable Populations
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Youth
Reports
Displaying 101 - 110 of 964. 10 per page. Page 11.
Advanced SearchTrauma-Informed Approaches: Connecting Research, Policy, and Practice to Build Resilience in Children and Families
Trauma-informed approaches provide a framework for preventing and addressing childhood trauma and building resilience in children and families.
Low-Income Workers’ Eligibility for Emergency Paid Family Leave
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 Congress enacted emergency paid family leave (Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA)) for use by parents when their children are unable to attend school or child care due to the crisis.
Employment and Wages in the Child Care Industry: Insight from the Great Recession
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing child care providers across the country to close. Between February and April 2020, employment in the child care industry dropped by about one third, losing 360,000 jobs. We do not yet know how this will affect the longer-term economic health of this sector. This has implications for the supply, quality, and price of child care for low-income families.
Reducing Recidivism and Improving Reentry through Economic Impact Payments during COVID-19
Economic Impact Payments under the CARES Act can increase economic independence and labor force attachment among individuals reentering from incarceration through helping cover basic expenses while individuals seek employment and get on their feet.
Report
A Compendium of Administrative and Survey Data Resources in the Administration for Children and Families
This compendium is an effort to understand and document the data collected by ACF that is or could be used for evidence-building purposes. It includes summaries of twelve major ACF administrative data sources and seven surveys.
Facilitating Low-Income Families’ Use of Emergency Paid Family Leave: Considerations for Human Services Agencies in Supporting Workers and Their Employers
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 Congress enacted emergency paid family leave (Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act) as well as emergency paid sick leave. This brief suggests lessons for facilitating the use of emergency paid family leave by lower-income families, drawing on research by ASPE on families’ participation in state paid family leave programs.
Virtual Case Management Considerations and Resources for Human Services Programs
By Annette Waters, Pamela Winston, and Robin Ghertner April 1, 2020
IV-E Prevention Toolkit: Appendices
This toolkit aims to help states develop a plan for Title IV-E prevention services, and to assist states in planning a comprehensive array of services to help prevent the need for foster care placement (“prevention services”) by braiding Title IV-E prevention services reimbursement with Medicaid and other funding mechanisms.
IV-E Prevention Toolkit: Determining Priorities, Goals, and Actions
This toolkit aims to help states develop a plan for Title IV-E prevention services, and to assist states in planning a comprehensive array of services to help prevent the need for foster care placement (“prevention services”) by braiding Title IV-E prevention services reimbursement with Medicaid and other funding mechanisms.