In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal waivers issued by the Food and Nutrition Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided flexibility that enabled child nutrition program operators to feed children amid challenges brought on by the pandemic, according to a new study. “Our study revealed how measures taken at the height
On May 24, 2023, Trust for America’s Health released its annual report, “Pain in the Nation 2023: The Epidemics of Alcohol, Drug, and Suicide Deaths.” The report finds that the rate of U.S. deaths due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide climbed 11 percent in 2021 to a record 209,225 deaths. Key findings include: Drug overdose
A new study in Pediatrics, released on May 22, 2023, found that high school students who have depression think they have greater access to guns than peers who don’t experience this mental health risk for suicide. Guns are the most common method of suicide among teens. The new study asked about guns at home or
The Center on Policy and Social Policy at Columbia University released a new policy brief on May 16th, 2023, titled “The Costs of Cutting Cash Assistance to Children and Families: Changing TANF work requirements could cost society up to $30 billion per year.” This brief, a response to the House-passed debt ceiling bill, is timely
The Administration for Children and Families released a new 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Prevention Services Evaluation Partnerships: Building Evidence for Mental Health, Substance Use, In-home Parent Skill-based, and Kinship Navigator Programs and Services. The three-year grants will support evaluations of “programs and services intended to provide enhanced support to children and families,
On April 28th, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 2021 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This survey is the largest public health surveillance system in the United States, monitoring a broad range of health-related behaviors among high school students. The 2021 surveys were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and
On Thursday, April 27, 2023, Child Trends announced that its State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States interactive has been updated with the latest available data. “This comprehensive resource offers state-level and national data on child maltreatment, foster care, kinship care, and permanency. These data help stakeholders understand the rates at which
State Child Abuse & Neglect (SCAN) Policies Database users can now download new state profiles for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Each state profile contains summary tables with the definitions and policies pertaining to the incidence of child abuse, neglect, and related risk in that state to
The Institute for Research on Policy hosted a webinar on April 5, 2023 titled “Expanded SNAP Benefits During The COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned.” Speakers for the event included Dr. Cindy Leung, Professor of Public Health at Harvard University; Chloe Green, Senior Policy Associate with the American Public Health Services Association (APHSA); and Dr. Marianne Bitler,
The Catalyst Center at Boston University hosted a webinar on Tuesday, April 4th 2023, titled The Impact of the Expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) on Families Raising Children with Disabilities. The webinar highlighted the findings from a recent research project in collaboration with the Catalyst Center, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University of St.