Resource Library

The Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services (STREAMS) evaluation is a random assignment impact study and in-depth process study of five healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) grantees funded by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). To maximize its contributions to the evidence base and to inform future program and evaluation design, STREAMS is examining the full range of populations...

Financial support from fathers can lead to important improvements in child well-being. Financial support from noncustodial fathers, often provided through formal child support payments, can make up a substantial part of the income of single-parent families and lead to reductions in child poverty (ACF 2016; Sorensen 2010; Meyer et al. 2008; Takayesu 2011). Child well-being can be improved when child support programs enable and enforce fathers’ financial support for children...

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.

Hotlines for victims and survivors of domestic violence and/or dating violence (DV) are an important source of information and support for individuals seeking intervention and preventative care services. However, evaluation research on the impact of these programs is not widely available. The Accomplishments of the Domestic Violence Hotline, Online Connections, and Text (ADVHOCaT) project describes the activities and short-term outcomes for those contacting the...

Collecting data from center-based early care and education (ECE) settings poses unique challenges. Center directors and teaching staff have limited ability to participate in data collection activities because of time pressures and the immediacy of issues that arise in providing care to young children. Centers also vary widely in their size, funding, staffing and organizational structures, and quality, so instruments and methods for collecting data must be flexible enough to capture variation...

Economic trends have made postsecondary education increasingly important to self-sufficiency, but research suggests that far too many young people in foster care will not have the educational credentials needed to succeed in this economy without additional supports. Specifically, young people in foster care enroll in college at lower rates than their peers and are less likely to persist through the end of their first year when they do enroll...

The Tribal Home Visiting Program, part of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), is a federally funded initiative that supports the provision of home visiting services to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) families and children. The program, also known as Tribal MIECHV, is overseen by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration and was authorized...

The American-Indian Alaska Native Head Start Family and Children Experiences Survey (AI/AN FACES 2015) was planned over two years, with advice from members of a work group comprised of Region XI Head Start Directors, ACF partners, University-based tribal early childhood researchers, and the study research organization. In the Fall of 2015 and Spring of 2016, data were collected from children, families, and Head Start Programs. Using data from AI/AN FACES 2015, this research brief...

High school-based healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs, funded by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, represent one opportunity for reaching youth who are experiencing teen dating violence (TDV) and connecting them with help.

Healthy relationship programming can play an important role in preventing and responding to intimate partner violence (IPV). Healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) initiatives, funded by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, present an opportunity for reaching adults who are experiencing IPV and connecting them with help.