Children and Families

The National Association of State Budget Officers has a semi-annual report, with data gathered from all 50 state budget offices, that provides a narrative analysis of the fiscal condition of the states and data summaries of state general fund revenues, expenditures, and balances. The spring edition of the survey of the states details governors' proposed budgets.

This report proposes jobs for caregivers that would help alleviate two national concerns for caregivers: the need for quality employment and the need to still act as caregivers. It discusses ways to promote the well-being of older adults, individuals with disabilities, children, and their families by laying the framework for opportunities to improve the quality and increase the quality of caregiving employment to create jobs that meet family caregiving needs.

On May 26th, 2017 the Congressional Research Service released their report on H.R. 1628: The American Health Care Act (AHCA) that was passed in the House on May 4th, 2017. This report provides an overview of all the AHCA provisions. It also discusses how the bill includes a number of provisions that would repeal or modify parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

This is the annual report that records the accomplishments made for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 2016.

The Family Support Research and Training Center (FSRTC) published a report that identifies indicators to monitor, track, and evaluate family support services: demographics of the caregiving situation, the impact on families, and indicators to assess family support at the state level. It also details recommendations for improvements to national and state datasets. The recommendations are intended to aid researchers and policymakers in improving family support services nationwide.

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) announced the release of two new publications about employment, transition, and education for youth with disabilities. The publications are: "By Youth, for Youth: Employment," and "Supporting Families of Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: Learning from the Voices of Families."

The AARP Public Policy Institute published a report that examined what state Medicaid agencies need in order to effectively monitor the performance of managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) programs. Eight states with long-term experience operating and overseeing MLTSS were used to analyze monitoring capacities and develop promising practices. The states were: Arizona, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability published "Designing Statewide Career Development Strategies & Programs," a guide to help states assist youth and youth with disabilities prepare for employment and college. This is a two-part guide which includes a primer for youth career development and an implementation guide with promising practices from successful programs for states to model.

The United States Departments of Health and Human Services and Education released a policy statement on September 14, 2015, that declares that all children with disabilities should be allowed access to "inclusive high-quality" early childhood programs, "where they are provided with individualized and appropriate support in meeting high expectations." Presently, children with disabilities and their families face difficulties in accessing these programs that are available for their peers.

This report for the Department of Labor examines the workforce system's current efforts to provide assistance to youth with disabilities. The focus of the research is mainly at the local level, coming from practitioners to gain insight on what factors are in need of improvement. Data was obtained through surveys completed by representatives of Local Workforce Investment Boards with specific attention to the practices and policies currently in place.