Resource Library

Social service organizations and policy makers increasingly recognize that they can accomplish more and improve outcomes for those they serve when they work together with other organizations. They forge new partnerships, develop new relationships, and often implement changes to practice as a result of collaboration and coordination efforts.

Collaboration and coordination efforts occur along a continuum, from early planning stages towards more fully developed or mature levels of partnership...

The Behavioral Interventions Scholars (BIS) grant program supports dissertation research by advanced graduate students who are applying a behavioral science lens to specific research questions relevant to social services programs and policies and other issues facing low-income and vulnerable families in the United States. The third round of BIS grants was awarded in 2019 to three grantees.

Promising occupations for at-risk youth provide sufficient compensation and could put them on a path to becoming...

Even in a strong economy, some job seekers struggle to find and keep jobs. These individuals often have limited work experience, few educational credentials and job skills, and other characteristics such as criminal records or primary caretaking responsibilities that make it difficult for them to compete in the labor market. For decades, government entities, private foundations, and nonprofit organizations have developed programs to help disadvantaged job seekers...

The Breaking Barriers program, based in San Diego, California, provided employment services to lower-income individuals with disabilities. 

MDRC carried out a random assignment impact evaluation of the program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, in order to assess the effectiveness of the program at improving employment outcomes for program participants. Findings from that evaluation were released in September 2019...

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a model for helping people who have serious mental illness find employment. There is a good deal of evidence showing the model’s success, but less is known about the model’s effectiveness with those who have other types of disabilities and health conditions, such as physical disabilities or less severe types of mental illness...

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has a long history of supporting rigorous research and evaluation on the broad range of human services programs that fall under ACF’s auspices. Many of ACF’s programs have components aimed at supporting employment among low-income populations, and, consequently, OPRE regularly supports...

If a family needs help covering their expenses during a period of financial hardship, will they qualify for temporary cash assistance? If so, how much assistance can they receive each month, and for how long can they receive it? The answers to these questions depend not only on the family’s circumstances but also on where they live.

The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program is designed to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. A National Evaluation of 27 grants awarded in 2015 as part of the second round of HPOG grants (HPOG 2.0) is currently underway...

This is the first of three resources included in the report, Healing and Supporting Fathers: Principles, Practices, and Resources for Fatherhood Programs to Help Address and Prevent Domestic Violence. The resource provides suggested ways that fatherhood program staff can enhance program practices to engage fathers in addressing and preventing domestic violence...