Many factors affect a family's ability to care for their children. Families who can meet their own basic needs for food, clothing, housing, and transportation - and who know how to access essential services such as childcare, health care, and mental health services to address family-specific needs - are better able to ensure the safety and well-being of their children.
Partnering with parents to identify and access resources in the community may help prevent the stress that sometimes precipitates child maltreatment. Providing concrete supports may also help prevent the unintended neglect that sometimes occurs when parents are unable to provide for their children.
Child Well-Being and Noncustodial Fathers (PDF - 736 KB)
Solomon-Fears, Falk, & Fernandes-Alcantara (2013)
Congressional Research Service
Offers information on Federal programs that provide noncustodial fathers with economic assistance, family support, and job training and employment to address poverty of children and increase well-being.
Collaboration Between TANF and Child Welfare to Improve Child Welfare Outcomes Discretionary Grant Cluster
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Discusses projects funded that demonstrate models of effective collaboration between public assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child welfare agencies that will improve outcomes for children and youth who are in, or are at risk of entering, the child welfare system.
Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families
Maternal and Child Health Library
Helps service providers and families find available national, State, and local resources that can address child and family needs in areas such as education, health, mental health, family support, parenting, child care, and financial support.
Economic Security for Extremely Vulnerable Families: Themes and Options for Workforce Development and Asset Strategies (PDF - 854 KB)
Golden, Loprest, & Mills (2012)
Explores workforce and asset development strategies for improving the economic security of extremely vulnerable families, those facing major challenges beyond poverty. The paper also highlights opportunities to inform policy and support targeted research to advance this agenda.
Family Economic Success
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Describes an approach for addressing the difficulties that low-income working families face trying to improve themselves economically. The website offers information on a range of topics of interest to practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and the public.
Integrating Family Support Services into Schools: Lessons from the Elev8 Initiative (PDF - 298 KB)
D'Angelo, Rich, & Kwiatt (2013)
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Presents findings from Chapin Hall's evaluation of the Elev8 Full-Service Schools Initiative as a case study to reflect on the potential challenges and benefits of offering economic support services to families at schools.
Making Connections
Annie E. Casey Foundation
This initiative operates on the premise that families do better when they live in communities that help them to succeed. Information on theory, sites, results, and reading materials are provided.
Partnering With Families and Communities
National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections (2013)
Offers a webcast on the Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project (PIDP) in Los Angeles, CA, and discusses three strategies to support positive outcomes for children, youth, and families: decreasing social isolation by connecting families to each other; addressing issues of economic security; and increasing access to available resources.
Partnerships for Families: Stories and Lessons From Los Angeles Communities (PDF - 2,970 KB)
First 5 LA (2010)
Describes the Partnerships for Families concept and model and its success in building a comprehensive network of community services and supports for families. The report includes information on developing and maintaining collaboratives, achieving and sustaining improvements among at-risk families, and recommendations for communities, systems, and funders.
The Relationship Between Parent Immigration Status and Concrete Support Service Use Among Latinos in Child Welfare: Findings Using the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAWII)
Finno-Velasquez (2013)
Children and Youth Services Review, 35(12)
Offers policy recommendations and implications for child welfare practice that examine the gap between concrete services among Latinos investigated by child welfare and service referral and receipt.
Spotlight on Child Neglect Prevention (PDF - 431 KB)
O'Connor & McKenna (2012)
National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds
Research Review, 2(1)
Presents findings from a literature review on child neglect, including information on the definition of child neglect, risk factors for child neglect, and parent and child characteristics that are related to child neglect. This brief also reports findings related to community and cultural influences on child and Project Getting Access to Income Now (GAIN) in Wisconsin is highlighted as an innovative effort to test whether economic supports can reduce child maltreatment.