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2020-01-16
Institute for Child, Youth & Family Policy (ICYFP), Heller School For Social Policy & Management at Brandeis University;
Family and medical leave (FML) plays a vital role in helping workers balance their personal and family health needs. FML allows employees to take time off of work to address their own or a family member's serious health condition or to bond after the birth or adoption of a child. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is federal legislation guaranteeing job-protected unpaid leave to certain eligible workers to care for themselves or an immediate family member in times of illness, birth or adoption. However, access to the FMLA is limited by both eligibility and affordability, both of which are unequal across different racial/ethnic groups.
2020-01-01
Institute for Child, Youth & Family Policy (ICYFP), Heller School For Social Policy & Management at Brandeis University;
In this Policy Equity Assessment, we assess the capacity of the FMLA to address racial/ethnic equity and whether the FMLA impacts economic and health outcomes and reduces disparities for U.S. workers. Significantly, some of the populations who are least likely to have access to FMLA leave are also more vulnerable to certain health conditions, which means that they may be the most in need of, but the least likely to access, worker benefits that can help address health issues. We particularly emphasize the impact of the FMLA for working parents, given research showing that when a parent is present to provide care, children recover faster from illnesses and injuries, have shorter hospital stays and are more likely to receive preventive care.
2020-01-16
Institute for Child, Youth & Family Policy (ICYFP), Heller School For Social Policy & Management at Brandeis University;
Federal agencies monitor child and family wellbeing and consider children living with at least one adult working full time, year round as economically secure. However, an economically secure environment for children depends on much more than the number of hours their parents work. Economic security also requires wages that are high enough for children and families to live healthy lives.A more meaningful definition of economic security for children considers whether full-time working adults earn enough income to meet minimum living standards for children. diversitydatakids.org defines economically secure children as those living with at least one adult working full time, year round only if family incomes are over 200% of the federal poverty level. For example, to be considered economically secure, children living with at least one full-time working adult in a family of four in 2019 need to have a family income over $51,500.
2020-06-05
The Pension Rights Center;
There is now a helpful new guide for individuals who are going through a divorce and have questions about dividing retirement benefits.The guide -- created by the Pension Rights Center, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody, and the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life -- highlights tips for individuals going through a divorce. Many people do not know that they can ask for a share of a spouse's retirement benefit at divorce, but retirement benefits are often the largest asset in a marriage. It is important to take the right steps during the divorce proceedings and after, or a divorced person may not receive the benefits he or she is entitled to.The guide explains different types of retirement benefits, discusses special considerations for individuals in controlling or abusive relationships, and describes how to get a special court order called a QDRO and what to do with it. Family courts, organizations that assist survivors of domestic violence, and other groups that work with people going through divorce can use this guide to help individuals understand their retirement rights at divorce.This guide is among PRC's many activities designed to make the process of dividing retirement benefits at divorce more accessible and easier to understand. We've launched an Initiative on Women and Retirement at Divorce to ensure that women and other vulnerable people going through a divorce know that they need a QDRO, and to make the process of getting a QDRO more efficient and less costly. We have brought together stakeholders from all sides -- retiree organizations, women's groups, pension plans, employers, financial institutions, family attorneys and judges -- to develop recommendations for making the QDRO process easier for consumers and less burdensome for retirement plans.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-09-29
Generations United;
Nationwide, older adults are being cautioned to keep their distance from children because of the heightened risk of infection from COVID-19. But for some families—grandfamilies—that distance is impossible.Facing a Pandemic: Families Living Together During COVID-19 and Thriving Beyond elevates the unique needs of grandfamilies amplified by the pandemic. These grandfamily caregivers are the first line of defense for children during the pandemic, having stepped in when parents cannot raise them for many reasons, including cases where children's parents have died from Coronavirus.The report contains solutions to connect grandfamilies to critical supports during this crisis and to create system that will continue to serve them well. These include:State, tribal, and local governments deploying the use of COVID response dollars with grandfamilies in mindAuthentically engaging kinship caregivers, birthparents, foster parents, and young people in the design and implementation of services that impact themInvesting in and increasing the reach of kinship navigator programs to help grandfamilies connect to resources and supportsImproving access to Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) child-only grantsLicensing more relatives as foster parentsThe 2020 State of Grandfamilies Report was made possible with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Casey Family Programs.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-12-07
Heartland Alliance;
Opciones Saludables was a public health pilot program of Heartland Alliance, engagingmarginalized and hard-to-reach pregnant and parenting youth (PPY) at a critical tipping pointin their lives, along with their families, schools, and community organizations, in education andempowerment programming. The program aimed to reduce health disparities and increase thequality of life for young parents and their children now and in the future through direct service andsystems change.
2020-01-01
Wilder Research;
Wilder Research worked with staff from Ampersand Families to design a post-adoption follow-up study that focused on the outcomes of youth adopted as older children and the families who adopt. This report presents the results of interviews with youth adoptees and adoptive parents.
2020-03-01
Wilder Research;
This report presents a description of the women and children served by Women's Recovery Services programs and outcomes for families during the third year of the five-year grant.
2020-10-01
David and Lucile Packard Foundation;
he first five years of children's lives are fundamental to their growth and development. Many children in this age group spend a substantial amount of time being cared for by extended family, friends, or neighbors. Informal care—or Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) care —is both an affordable and a flexible form of care and a way to provide children with a warm, nurturing environment with a trusted caregiver. In 2014, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation's Children, Families, and Communities program launched a 10-year Informal Care Strategy to support FFN caregivers — both nationally and within California — as they provide the kinds of nurturing and enriching experiences children need early in life to reach full potential.Engage R+D has been the evaluation partner of the Packard Foundation for its Informal Care strategy since 2016. Individual-level and cross-cutting evaluations of its FFN grants showed promising results in terms of their ability to have positive impacts on caregivers. However, as of 2019, the Foundation had not yet conducted a comprehensive study of the third phase of its investment strategy, which related to scaling the most promising practices. This report synthesizes a range of lessons and implications for those interested in supporting and scaling FFN programs, including funders, community organizations, and advocacy groups.
2021-03-05
AARP Public Policy Institute;
Medicaid is the primary funder of long-term services and supports (LTSS) in the United States. It provides those services and supports either through institutional care (i.e., nursing home care) or home- and community-based services (HCBS). This report explains that one cost-effective HCBS option with multiple advantages is to pay family members to provide care for older people and adults with physical disabilities.Pandemic Phenomenon: Long-Term Care Concerns MagnifiedThe COVID-19 outbreak has intensified longstanding problems in long-term care. Nursing homes were among the first COVID-19 "hotspots" in the United States, with their residents' death rates far exceeding the general population. Meanwhile, the pandemic has only exacerbated nursing homes' challenges related to social isolation, and the physical and mental harms from isolation are well documented. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated the ongoing nationwide shortage of direct care workers and high turnover within the industry.What Gets in the Way of Enabling a Promising ResourceIn spite of the advantages of providing pay for family caregivers, the concept has met certain barriers. One of the most common restrictions states impose is that a person may not hire his or her spouse as a paid caregiver, with the rationale that caring for one another is a responsibility inherent in the spousal relationship. In a pandemic environment, of course, this restriction can force spousal caregivers to work outside the house and bring in an outside caregiver, both of which raise the risk of infection. Concerns about family members committing fraud by billing for hours not worked has also motivated restrictions even as fraud is, in fact, extremely rare.Paying Family Caregivers Benefits Families and TaxpayersFamily caregiving already serves a critical role in mitigating the growing strain on the LTSS system, in part by expanding the caregiver pool. As Americans continue to live longer, family members are providing ever more complex care at home, often for longer periods of time. A family caregiver's responsibility to provide that high level of care can make it difficult or even impossible for them to maintain another job. Therefore, paid family caregiving answers multiple needs:The person who needs care can age at home, which is the preference for the vast majority of people who need LTSS.The family caregiver earns modest income, mitigating the impact of lost job hours.It is a lifeline to families who cannot otherwise afford to care for their family member.Costs are kept lower. One analysis found the average monthly cost for self-directed care was $1,774 in 2019, compared to $6,175 for a semi-private nursing home room.Costly institutionalization is delayed or avoided entirely.ConclusionWhen COVID-19 cases began mounting during the spring of 2020, state Medicaid agencies lifted some restrictions and allowed more family members to be hired and paid as caregivers. States should now consider implementing permanent policies that encourage and facilitate paid family caregiving, and invest in support services for caregivers. Current Medicaid reimbursement rates are not sufficient to attract enough direct care workers into the professional home care workforce, and COVID-19-related budget shortfalls and balanced budget requirements mean reimbursement rates will not be raised any time soon.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2021-02-01
National Alliance for Caregiving;
The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) presents From Momentum to Movement: Developing a Unified Strategy to Support Family Caregivers Across the Nation.This report is aligned with NAC's mission of building partnerships in advocacy that improve the lives of family caregivers. In 2019, NAC convened its Annual Conference of Caregiver Advocates to explore the need for a unified strategy to address family caregiving as a public health issue. By amplifying feedback from that conference and engaging the collective expertise of the National Caregiver Advocacy Collaborative, as well as several advocates involved with state caregiving plans at various stages of development, NAC continues its mission of building out partnerships to advance the goal of a unified caregiving strategy to support family caregivers across the nation.From Momentum to Movement represents the first iteration of a living document and compilation of resources to help guide advocates in developing statewide caregiving strategies that address community-level needs. This report presents a strategic process to foster the development of actionable goals in new state plans. It also includes core policy recommendations in person-centered domains intended to coordinate alignment across key global, national, and state-level priorities and to strengthen movement toward a robust, unified caregiving strategy for caregivers across the lifespan.Click "Download" to access this resource
