Relative Strength A Report on the Family's Place in Workforce Development Initiatives This report explores family-centered employment strategies, beginning with a look at the reasons why some families live in poverty. Read More
Feeding Our Future Growing Up Healthy with WIC This brief highlights the impact of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) on very young children. Read More
Good Policy Requires Good Data Assessing Child Well-Being in Every State When it comes to making decisions aimed at enhancing the lives of children, policy makers are missing a vital resource: strong state-level data. One answer? The National Survey of Children’s Health, which offers quick, clear state-level statistics on a wide range of child wellness factors. Readers will learn about this survey, why it’s so great and how it must to grow to realize its full potential as a tool for helping child welfare programs and policies succeed. Read More
Opportunity Passport - June 2015 Data Brief This brief shows the impact of the Opportunity Passport™ financial literacy campaign on youth leaving foster care. Read More
The Need for Self-Evaluation Using Data to Guide Policy and Practice This descriptive guide provides examples of data tools as they related to the self-evaluation process for Family to Family sites and child welfare services. Read More
Engaging Employers to Benefit Low-Income Job Seekers Lessons Learned from the Jobs Initiative Despite the crucial role of employers in creating opportunities for low-wage, entry-level workers, there's little research on employers’ perspectives. This report sheds some light on the topic from data collected as part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Jobs Initiative. Read More
Moving Up Is A Steep Climb Parents’ Work and Children’s Welfare in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Jobs Initiative Researchers spent 18 months following families to better understand how parental employment intersects with child well-being. Their study focused on 10 low-income families from two Jobs Initiative sites — Seattle and Milwaukee. The goal? Learn how workforce development impacts a parent’s job mobility and if this mobility — or lack thereof — affects their kids. Read More
Summary of Research Findings: Awareness, Use and Perceptions of KIDS COUNT Among Congressional Staff A KIDS COUNT Working Paper This report presents Congressional staff knowledge and usage of KIDS COUNT data. Read More
A Very Intense and Complex Balancing Act A Reflection by Former Making Connections Oakland Director Fred Blackwell This interview gives readers an inside look at the ups and downs of managing a foundation initiative at the local level. Read More
When Work Supports Don’t Support Work A Case for Parental Health Coverage in Mississippi This brief tells how Mississippi’s work support system fails to support working families. Readers will learn about gaps in the state’s parental health insurance coverage and explore policy ideas aimed at addressing these gaps while also strengthening the health and economic security of low-income families. Read More
