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Office of Human Services Policy (HSP)

The Office of Human Services Policy (HSP) strives to improve the well-being of children, youth, and families and break down silos across government. It does so by providing timely, actionable, cross-cutting policy analysis and research, and by leading cross-government coordination to address urgent human services challenges. The office works closely with federal, state, local, and private sector partners on issues including economic mobility and employment, child poverty and well-being, child welfare, family strengthening and fatherhood, early childhood education, youth development, community initiatives, child support, recidivism, and homelessness.

HSP advises the ASPE and other HHS leadership on human services policy matters. It leads and actively participates in interagency initiatives to align federal programming; conducts policy analysis and other research on human services and related issues; shares findings with and provides technical assistance to a diverse range of stakeholders; and coordinates development of HHS’s human services legislative proposals. HSP serves as a liaison with other agencies on broad economic matters and is the Department’s lead on poverty measurement.

The Office of Human Services Policy has three divisions:

  • The Division of Children and Youth Policy focuses on policies related to the well-being of children and youth, including early childhood education and child welfare, and leads the Children’s Interagency Coordinating Council and the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs.
  • The Division of Family and Community Policy covers policies to strengthen low-income families and communities and address barriers to economic mobility. The division leads the Interagency Council on Economic Mobility.
  • The Division of Data and Technical Analysis provides data analytic capacity for policy development through data collection activities, secondary data analysis, modeling, and cost analyses. The Division also issues annual updates to the poverty guidelines and reports to Congress on indicators of welfare dependence.

Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy: Jennifer Burnszynski

Reports

Displaying 81 - 90 of 965. 10 per page. Page 9.

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ASPE Issue Brief

Program Snapshot: Engaging Fathers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many human services organizations, including fatherhood programs, adapted their engagement approaches as the needs of the people they serve changed.

Fact Sheet: Approaches for engaging fathers in child support programs

Child support payments are associated with increased parent-child engagement, which can lead not only to better academic and social outcomes for children but also to better parent-child and parent-parent relationships. Moreover, child support payments lifted nearly three-quarters of a million families out of poverty in 2017.
ASPE Issue Brief

Child and Adolescent Mental Health During COVID-19: Considerations for Schools and Early Childhood Providers

COVID-19 pandemic’s social restrictions have prompted a surge in the mental health needs of children of all ages. Nationwide 4.3 million children/adolescents have been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of August 2021, and many of them have returned to early childhood and school settings. Schools and early childhood programs have long been essential settings for delivery of mental health services.
Research Brief

The Initial Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Youth (Birth to 24 years)

This brief provides a high level overview of the impact of COVID-19 on the development, emotional and behavioral health, social, and economic well-being of children and youth (ages birth to 24).Related Products:
Research Brief

The Impact of the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recession on Families With Low Incomes

The COVID-19 crisis has disparately harmed low-income households. Across the United States, systemic inequalities in employment, wage-earning, health, and well-being have been strained for sub-populations facing poverty or near-poverty conditions.
ASPE Data Point

Infographic: A Framework for Father Engagement in Services

This infographic visualizes a framework for father engagement in human services, detailing key approaches and strategies used by programs, organizations, and systems.  Related Products:
ASPE Data Point

Infographic: What is Father Engagement?

This infographic defines "father engagement" and highlights ways programs, organizations, and systems play a role in promoting father engagement in services.  Related Products:
ASPE Issue Brief

Issue Brief: Father Engagement in Human Services

Fathers want to and can play an important role in their children’s lives, but too often human services programs have not focused on supporting dads. This brief identifies approaches and strategies at the program, organization, and system levels to strengthen engagement of fathers by human services programs. 
Research Brief

Complex Rules and Barriers to Self-Sufficiency in Safety Net Programs: Perspectives of Working Parents

This brief discusses the perspectives of a group of working parents on receipt of federal benefits. Based on focus groups, it examines program design and implementation, participation barriers, and factors that could help working parents more readily reach financial independence. Highlights are:
Research Brief

Risks that Come with Increasing Earnings for Low-Income Workers Receiving Safety Net Programs: Perspectives of Working Parents

In focus group discussions with 44 working parents receiving assistance from one or more federal programs, many parents shared the view that increasing earnings involves a number of risks. Participants described the sequence of possible risk events as follows: