Government agencies collect vast amounts of administrative data in their day-to-day activities, primarily for program operations. But the information is less often used as a research tool or fully harnessed for its evidence-building potential. This brief is the fourth in a series of publications from MDRC about the Temporary Assistance for Needy…

The Survey of Head Start Grantees on Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) was conducted in program year 2019-2020 with a nationally representative sample of Head Start program directors and Head Start managers/coordinators to understand how Head Start grantees use T/TA of all types and from all sources. Head Start program directors completed…

Approximately 1.3 million K-12 public school students across the United States were identified as experiencing homelessness in 2019-20. In all cases, the stress, instability, trauma, and school mobility created by homelessness increase risks to physical, social, and emotional health and to educational engagement and achievement. Districts play an…

This brief report provides facts about Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) on the following topics: (1) What is the purpose of the IDEA Part C early intervention?; (2) Early intervention service delivery in Washington, July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016; (3) Primary early intervention services; (4) What are the expected child outcomes?;…

A survey was distributed to Part C early intervention (EI) service coordination (SC) stakeholders in one state in order to gain a deeper understanding of service coordinator knowledge, skills, and motivators for professional growth and recognition. Survey participants (N = 107), including dedicated service coordinators, program managers, social…

This Report to Congress is required by Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act, as amended. The report provides information about the role of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which is authorized under the CCDBG Act. This report covers fiscal year (FY) 2016 and (FY) 2017. The data and analysis contained in…

This Report to Congress is required by Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act as amended. The report provides information about the role of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which is authorized under the CCDBG Act, in improving access to high-quality child care in states, territories, and tribes. This…

This report highlights the critical role family literacy and learning play in breaking down barriers between different learning contexts and engaging hard-to-reach adults and children in education. This report was developed as part of a family learning project initiated by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) in 2016. Based on the…

Postdeployment family reintegration and relationship breakdown among combat veterans has received considerable attention from the Department of Defense and the media. Social interventions have been developed as a family strengthening strategy. In this article, we present a university-Wounded Warrior partnership where a relationship enhancement…

This Report to Congress is required by Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act as amended. The report provides information about the role of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which is authorized under the CCDBG Act, in improving access to high-quality child care in states, territories, and tribes. The data…

This report presents early implementation and operational lessons from the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) evaluation. Funded by the Administration for Children and Families, SHM uses a rigorous research design to test the effectiveness of a new approach to improving outcomes for low-income children: strengthening the marriages and relationships…

Although Early Head Start (EHS) is a federal-to-local program, there are opportunities for collaboration at the state level that have expanded in recent years. State leaders can seize opportunities to break down silos and create collaborative state systems and programs to better meet the needs of vulnerable young children in their states. This…

This Report to Congress is required by Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) as amended. The report provides information about the role of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) in improving access to high-quality child care in states, territories, and tribes. The data and analysis contained in this report are…

Family support programs have proliferated in many different settings in response to an increasing emphasis in the public policy arena on a family support strategy. These guidelines for effective family support practice represent the consensus of family support practitioners as assessed in focus groups with over 2,000 staff and parent participants.…