A new brief describing how Sacramento County’s Department of Child Support Services and its partner, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento, collaborated and incorporated youth voice to design the My Empowerment project. This project educates teens and young adults about the financial, legal, and emotional responsibilities of parenthood This design summary brief is part of our mixed-methods evaluation of the M.E. Project for the county. 

New brief on child care and early education workforce recruitment and retention strategies available from the BASE project This brief summarizes key themes from an environmental scan of strategies that are currently being implemented across the country to grow, advance, and retain the child care and early education workforce. As part of the scan, the team aimed to better understand the context in which these strategies were implemented and how they aim to reach or are tailored to specific groups within the workforce or prospective educators. The team identified 144 strategies through an initial search and screening, and conducted 36 interviews with key informants from implementing agencies and programs. 

This report presents a framework describing the range of factors that contribute to individuals’ ability to support themselves and their families; it also recommends tools for measuring varied aspects of individual and family well-being. The framework integrates and expands upon conceptualizations of self-sufficiency and well-being presented in prior research. Developed in support of the Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative, this report can inform policymakers and program staff aiming to understand the impact of programs like TANF on individual and family well-being.

Laura Peck joined MEF as a Principal Scientist and the Director of the Income Security and Economic Mobility domain in January 2024. Laura brings decades of experience as a leader in the field of impact evaluation and research methodology.

We are accepting applications for our summer internship program. Now in its fourth year, this is a unique opportunity for rising college seniors to get applied research experience. The 10 week internship includes a dedicated mentor, professional development opportunities, and a chance to work on a range of social policy projects. Learn more about the opportunity, including upcoming information webinars at our job listing.

We are expanding our food and nutrition portfolio in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service. We have begun four exciting new research studies on nutrition policies for the WIC and SNAP program.

For the WIC Customer Experience Landscape Assessment, we will conduct a web survey and use the results to develop best practices for collecting and reporting on WIC CX.

Under the WIC Participant and Program Characteristics (PC) 2024 study, we will work with Westat to collect longitudinal data and electronic benefit transfer data to bolster the biennial reporting on WIC participant demographics, income, participation in other benefit programs, nutritional risks, anthropometric status, hematological information, breastfeeding status, and food package prescriptions.

We will work with Mathematica on two studies: (1) the WIC & FMNP Outreach, Innovation, and Modernization evaluation which will determine whether State agency modernization efforts have increased enrollment, improved the participant experience, and reduced disparities in delivery of WIC and FMNP; and (2) Guidance for SNAP Eligibility and QC Interviews study which aims to improve the interview experience and expand equitable access to SNAP.

This brief is part of the Promising Occupations Achievable through Education or Training for Low-Income Families project funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families. This brief describes how individual and structural biases can influence the staff’s interaction with participants and the delivery of employment services provided by TANF programs, such as job search assistance, skills training, and one-on-one case management. The brief also provides concrete strategies that staff members delivering employment services can adopt when working with participants and strategies to combat biases at an organizational level that TANF program leaders can consider implementing.