This report describes the activities and outcomes of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a council designed to reduce recidivism among former prisoners and improve outcomes related to employment, education, housing, health, and child welfare. Comprised of more than 20 federal agencies, the Reentry Council coordinates and leverages existing federal resources, dispels myths and clarifies policies, elevates programs and policies that work, and reduces the policy barriers to successful reentry. The following accomplishments of the Reentry Council in its first five years are described:…
Depression is one of the most common mental health issues in the United States. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than six million men in the United States have depression in a given year and studies indicate that at least 10 percent of fathers are depressed both before and after their children are born. This brief provides an overview of previous research about men and depression, identifies factors associated with fathers’ risk of depression during the first year of their child’s life, and offers tips on how fatherhood programs can help fathers identify and…
With the rise in heroin and other opioid use, more relatives are raising children because the parents have died, are incarcerated, are using drugs, are in treatment or are otherwise unable to care for their children, according to the report. After years of decline, the numbers of children in foster care are increasing. Experts say the opioid epidemic is responsible for this trend. Alcohol and drug use are the most common reasons for removing children from their homes, next to neglect. More than 1/3 of all children placed in foster care because of parental alcohol or drug use are placed…
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project is the first major opportunity to use a behavioral economics lens to examine programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the United States. The project applies behavioral insights to issues related to the operations, implementation, and efficacy of social service programs and policies. The goal is to learn how tools from behavioral science can be used to deliver programs more effectively and, ultimately, improve the well-being of low-income children, adults, and families. This report presents findings from a…
This impact report from the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project presents findings from four tests of behavioral interventions intended to increase the percentage of parents who made child support payments and the dollar amount of collections per parent in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. These findings demonstrate that low-cost, low-effort behavioral interventions can improve child support outcomes. However, interventions that are more intensive may be necessary to increase overall child support collection amounts, perhaps because some parents have a limited ability to…
This impact report from the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project presents findings from four tests of behavioral interventions intended to increase the percentage of parents who made child support payments and the dollar amount of collections per parent in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. These findings demonstrate that low-cost, low-effort behavioral interventions can improve child support outcomes. However, interventions that are more intensive may be necessary to increase overall child support collection amounts, perhaps because some parents have a limited ability to…
