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Policy Update: July 2018

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SRCD News Related to Child and Family Policy

SRCD Announces Child Evidence Brief Series Pilot Project

SRCD is pleased to announce the Child Evidence Brief Pilot Project. The project is designed to bring cutting-edge scientific information to inform child relevant policy decisions, specifically those anticipated to be a focus in legislative discussions in the U.S. Congress. A policy scan conducted every several months will help to anticipate issues that will be a focus of Congressional policy discussions. Issues that are suitable topics for Child Evidence Briefs are then identified by the Editor in consultation with the Editorial Team and Advisory Board. Briefs are authored by content-area experts, are peer reviewed, and are edited for clarity of communication to non-technical audiences. The Child Evidence Briefs are disseminated to each congressional office working on an issue, as well as to advocacy groups and other key stakeholders, with invitations to arrange follow-up in-person meetings. Over time and depending on the success of the pilot, SRCD may expand to summaries of the evidence on issues of high priority in state legislatures. The first two Child Evidence Briefs, prepared and disseminated in spring of 2018, focused on food insecurity and children and family-focused approaches to treating opioid addiction. In addition to bringing clear and succinct summaries of the scientific evidence to Congress regarding important child and family policy issues, a key goal is to increase the extent to which SRCD is viewed as a resource to policymakers on research related to children and families more globally. Click here for the full announcement about the Child Evidence Brief Pilot Project, including information on the Editorial Team and Advisory Board.

Spotlight on the SRCD Policy Fellow

Alaina Flannigan, Ph.D., is a Congressional Fellow whose placement is with the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) under Ranking Member Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. Click here to learn more about her work, including her role writing a chapter on rural housing in a nearly 200-page report on the rural economy and a forthcoming report on the economic costs of childhood poverty.

Legislative Branch Updates

FY19 Appropriations: Senate and House Committees Advance Labor-HHS-Education Bills

On June 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and approved S. 3158, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 on a 30-1 vote. The largest of the nondefense appropriations bills, the Senate Labor-HHS-ED bill provides a total of $179.3 billion in funding for FY19, an increase of about $2.2 billion over the FY18 funding level. The Senate bill provides $90.1 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, an increase of $2.3 billion compared to FY18; $71.4 billion for the Department of Education, an increase of $541 million compared to FY18; and $12.1 billion for the Department of Labor, a decrease of $92 million compared to FY18. The Senate Labor-HHS-ED bill garnered support from both sides of the aisle, with Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Labor-HHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittee calling it a “bipartisan compromise.” Additional details are available in the committee report. This bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration, where it is possible it will be bundled with one or more other Senate appropriations bills, most likely the Defense spending measure.  

After postponing the original markup twice, on July 11 the House Appropriations Committee marked up and approved a $177.1 billion spending bill to fund the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for fiscal year 2019. The committee passed the bill on a 30-22 vote, indicating it does not have the bipartisan support that the Senate Labor-HHS-ED measure does. The committee’s Ranking Member, Nita Lowey (D-NY) criticized the House Appropriations Committee’s process, stating, “The Senate is passing bipartisan bills and avoiding poison pill riders instead of…just wasting time on partisan bills with no chance of enactment.” Congressional Quarterly (CQ) reports that discussion of the more than 50 amendments being considered was “often contentious” and that the 13-hour markup left lawmakers on both sides “exasperated at various points.” Additionally, CQ reports that it is unclear if House leaders will even bring their Labor-HHS-ED bill to the floor for a vote, since the Senate wants to combine its Labor-HHS-ED and Defense spending measures and the House has already passed its Defense bill. If this turns out to be the case, the House might forego a floor vote on the Labor-HHS-ED bill and instead move immediately to resolving differences with the Senate’s combined bill. The June edition of Policy Update includes details on the funding amounts included in the House’s original draft bill. The committee report and a full list of adopted amendments is available here. 

For additional details on these bills, please see the Consortium of Social Science Associations’ (COSSA) analysis of both the House and Senate Labor-HHS-ED bills. 

House Passes Bipartisan Opioid Package

On June 22, the House of Representatives voted 396-14 to pass H.R. 6, a bill that will serve as the legislative vehicle for many of the 55 bills the House has already passed related to the opioid crisis. This vote concluded two weeks of votes in the House on opioid measures (more information about the bills passed during this two-week period is available in the June edition of Policy Update). H.R. 6 incorporates numerous proposals from the House Energy and Commerce Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, and this legislative package was spearheaded by the chairs and ranking members of those two committees. Regarding the legislation, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairmen Greg Walden (R-OR) said, "This is one of the most significant congressional efforts against the drug crisis in our nation’s history, but we must continue to legislate, evaluate, conduct oversight and work together to provide new solutions.” This legislative package now goes to the Senate for consideration. 

Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Paid Family Leave

On July 11, the Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy of the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing entitled "Examining the Importance of Paid Family Leave for American Working Families." Subcommittee Chairman Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) opened the hearing by stating that “overwhelming majorities of Americans support paid sick leave and maternity leave. Paternity leave and family leave also have strong public support, yet views on the structure and funding of a paid leave program vary.” Senator Cassidy also used his opening statement to outline three reasons to support paid leave for workers, which included: 1) improving maternal and infant health outcomes; 2) helping families manage work and home responsibilities, especially low-income families who are currently the least likely to have access to paid leave; and 3) supporting workforce and economic growth by incentivizing parents and caregivers to remain in the workforce. Subcommittee Ranking Member Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) then gave his opening statement, which built on many of Senator Cassidy’s points, noting that the current lack of paid family leave is bad for the economy and is holding families back. Senator Brown also highlighted the bipartisan nature of this issue, stating that “members of both parties are coming together to recognize this simply isn’t acceptable in a rich, modern economy, and acknowledging that we have to expand our social insurance to include paid family medical leave.” 

Witnesses discussed a range of issues, including: the need for policies to reflect the evolving needs of the workforce and reduce barriers to parents balancing work and family; the need to find solutions that do not decrease the employment opportunities available to working parents; that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not offer some sort of paid leave; the fact that there is evidence that paid leave is overall good for business, including benefits to profit, productivity, employee morale, and employee retention; a discussion of the FAMILY Act, which proposes an earned, portable benefit that would come at a relatively low cost to both employers and employees; the need to ensure that paid medical leave is included in the conversation as well, not just parental leave; and proposals to allow new parents to claim a temporary Social Security benefit. Witnesses included: U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa); U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York); Andrew Biggs, Ph.D., Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Vicki Shabo, Vice President for Workplace Policies and Strategies, National Partnership for Women & Families; and Carolyn O'Boyle, Managing Director, Deloitte Services, LLP. Click here to watch the full hearing and read witness testimonies.   

Congressional Briefing on Workforce Partnerships in Higher Education

On July 10, Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) hosted a congressional briefing entitled “Innovative Workforce Partnerships in Higher Education.” The briefing focused on the rapidly changing higher education landscape and the workforce and education innovations required to ensure that students succeed in this environment. The briefing largely focused on SNHU’s College for America program, a competency-based education model that relies heavily on workforce partnerships. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) opened the event by discussing the necessity of meeting both the needs of students and employers, stating “As I travel across New Hampshire, the top priority I hear from businesses is the need for more highly skilled workers who are equipped, well-trained, and ready to take on the jobs of the 21st century innovation economy. At the same time, it is important that we are meeting the needs of the ever-changing student population and addressing challenges they face, including balancing work, school, and family commitments.” Senator Hassan also noted that there is a divide between people who can see themselves in the increasingly digital future economy and those who cannot, and the need to do everything possible to include everybody in the new economy.  

Following Senator Hassan’s remarks, Dr. Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University, moderated a panel discussion that included College for America (CfA) students and graduates, as well as representatives from CfA’s workforce partners. The panel discussion covered a wide array of topics, including: the positive impact that workforce partnerships have had for both the employee/student as well as for their employers; the importance of the personalized coaching that CfA students receive and how this is a support they might not have access to in a more traditional college setting; that what really matters to employers is that employees have a skill or competency, thus employers really see the value competency-based models provide; the fact that many of the coaches providing support to CfA students are CfA graduates themselves or graduates of similar programs, therefore they intimately understand the challenges many students are facing and are well equipped to help them navigate those challenges; and that our current laws related to higher education were written for a system that looked completely different than the reality of today’s higher education landscape. Several common themes emerged in multiple panelists’ remarks, including an emphasis on how important student supports are in both traditional and non-traditional degree programs, and how ultimately degrees and credentials pay off, but skills are also extremely important when it comes to employability, and competency-based models allow students to use and build upon existing skills to gain their degrees or credentials.  

Congressional Briefing on the STOP School Violence Act

On July 11, Sandy Hook Promise and The School Superintendents Association, in coordination with Representative John Rutherford (R-FL), Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL), Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY), and Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA), hosted a congressional briefing entitled “Keeping Our Students Safe: Implementing Violence Prevention Programs and the STOP School Violence Act.” Representatives Rutherford and Deutch provided brief opening remarks, noting that the STOP School Violence Act provided $50 million in grants from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to state and local education agencies to bring evidence-based programs to schools to train students and staff in violence prevention. A panel discussion followed, which covered a range of issues related to school safety and in particular, prevention and intervention programs and strategies. Topics discussed included: an overview of the four prevention programs that Sandy Hook Promise offers to students and educators across the country free of charge; that funding from the STOP School Violence Act would allow Sandy Hook Promise to implement these programs in more communities; the importance of physical, emotional, and psychological security in schools, but the reality that often only physical security is prioritized after an incident of school violence; a discussion of the National Association of School Psychologists’ Framework for Safe and Successful Schools, which is a research-backed framework to improve school climate; discussion of the Averted School Violence Database, which includes important insights for researchers and practitioners into the effectiveness of school safety practices, physical security, and intervention strategies; and the importance of having a strong evidence base to back up these programs. Speakers included: Lauren Alfred, Vice President of Policy and Partnerships, Sandy Hook Promise; Mark Barden, Managing Director, Sandy Hook Promise; Dr. Justin Henry, Superintendent, Goddard (KS) School District; Dr. Frank Straub, Director of Strategic Studies, The Police Foundation; and Dr. Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, Director of Government Relations, National Association of School Psychologists. An archived webcast of the event is available here.

Dr. Elizabeth Albro Named Commissioner of the National Center for Education Research at IES

On July 5, Dr. Mark Schneider, Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), announced that as of July 9, Dr. Elizabeth Albro will be the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Research. The National Center for Education Research, one of four centers within IES, supports rigorous research with the aim of addressing significant educational issues in the United States. In his announcement, Dr. Schneider noted,  “Dr. Albro’s career has been dedicated to building bridges between the basic sciences of learning and education practice” and “throughout her career, she has been committed to ensuring that the findings from federally funded research are shared widely with the public.” Dr. Albro received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Chicago and served on the faculty at both Whittier College and Wheaton College as well as an early childhood educator.

SRCD is particularly delighted to note that Dr. Albro first came to the Institute of Education Sciences through a placement as an SRCD Policy Fellow. Following her fellowship, she stayed on at IES, contributing to the work of the institute in progressively more senior roles, including as a Program Officer, Associate Commissioner of Teaching and Learning, and as Acting Commissioner of Education Research. Schneider’s announcement notes that Dr. Albro has played a key role in overseeing important research grant portfolios such as the Cognition and Student Learning and the Reading and Writing portfolios. She has also played a key role in launching large scale research efforts such as the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative, the National Research and Development Center on Cognition and Mathematics Instruction, and the Early Learning Network.  

Dr. Arthur Lupia Named to Head NSF Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate

On July 9, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that Dr. Arthur Lupia has been named to head the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate as of September 1, at the conclusion of the term of Dr. Fay Lomax Cook.  Dr. Lupia is currently the Hal R. Varian Collegiate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, and also chairs the board for the Center for Open Science as well as the National Academies Roundtable on the Communication and Use of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Lupia noted in the NSF press release announcing his appointment that “NSF’s social, behavioral, and economic science programs support work that makes people safer and improves their quality of life. I look forward to contributing to an agency that fills a critical national need by funding basic social science research. From detecting reading problems before they become evident to enhancing eyewitness procedures to ensure a greater degree of accuracy in the justice system, SBE impacts every aspect of society.” Dr. Lupia’s research focuses on decision-making under adverse circumstances and how to strengthen it. Dr. Lupia has also served on the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) Board of Directors and recently participated in a panel discussion at COSSA’s 2018 Science Policy Conference on Reestablishing Trust in Social Science and Data. 

NICHD Launches Process to Revise and Update Strategic Plan

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is launching a collaborative process involving engaging both internal and external stakeholders to review and update its strategic plan. As noted on the NICHD website, NICHD has been a source of leadership in research focusing on children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. Yet the institute is at a point in time when there are both important challenges (such as the use of opioids among pregnant women) and new opportunities (such as the potential contributions of genome sequencing) that have implications for public health more broadly. The goal of the strategic planning process will be to review NICHD’s research portfolio with these new challenges and opportunities in mind to refocus the scientific efforts of the institute. A Strategic Planning Working Group has been established by NICHD to inform this effort, and public input on the strategic plan is welcome via email or through NICHD’s Facebook and Twitter pages (using #NICHDStrategicPlan for comments).  

Child and Family Policy Research Meetings in DC

Kids' Share 2018: Federal Spending Trends on Children

On July 18, the Urban Institute hosted an event on their annual Kids’ Share report, entitled “Are Kids Getting Shortchanged in the Federal Budget? Findings from Kids’ Share 2018.” The annual Kids’ Share report, produced by the Urban Institute and supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Peter G. Peterson Foundation, examines federal outlays and tax investments in children and families. The 2018 report found that in 2017, only 9 percent of the federal budget was spent on children. The report also indicated that expenditures on children are largely concentrated in tax and health programs, with more than three-fifths of expenditures coming from tax provisions or health programs. The three largest sources of federal support for children are Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Child Tax Credit. Meanwhile, many of the best known federal programs focused on children, such as Head Start or home visiting programs, actually make up a very small portion of federal spending on children. The report also includes future projections indicating that over the next decade, the kids’ share of the budget is projected to drop to 6.9 percent, as spending on entitlement programs and interest payments on the debt consume an increasing portion of the budget. Panelists included: Karen Howard, Vice President, Early Childhood Policy, First Focus; Julia B. Isaacs, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute; Maya MacGuineas, President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; and Samantha Vargas Poppe, Director, Policy Analysis Center, UnidosUS. The discussion was moderated by C. Eugene Steuerle, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute. Heather Hahn, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute, provided an overview of the Kids’ Share 2018 findings prior to the panel discussion. To read Kids’ Share 2018: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children Through 2017 and Future Projections, click here. An archived webcast of the full event is available here.

Federal Reports and Requests

Reports

New Reports and Briefs from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation 

Several new publications are available from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:  

(1) Encouraging Attendance and Engagement in Parenting Programs: Developing a Smartphone Application with Fathers, for Fathers This brief describes a new smartphone-based application called DadTime that is used to improve father engagement with and attendance at parenting programs. 

(2) Research and Evaluation Capacity Building: A Resource Guide for Child Care and Development Fund Lead Agencies This resource guide contains a list of selected publications and other tools to support states, territories, and tribes seeking to build research and evaluation capacity. 

(3) Supporting the Psychological Well-Being of the Early Care and Education Workforce: Findings from the National Survey of Early Care and Education This report addresses the linkages between various early care and education workforce supports and teachers’ psychological well-being.

(4) State TANF Policies - A Graphical Overview of State TANF Policies as of July 2016 This brief presents a graphical overview of some policy differences across states in TANF policies.

(5) Reflections on the Relevance of “Self-Regulation” for Native Communities This brief discusses the disconnect between the focus on the ‘self’ implied in the self-regulation literature and the community-centered orientation of tribal communities. 

(6) Understanding Bayesian Statistics: Frequently Asked Questions and Recommended Resources This guide outlines Bayesian statistical approaches particularly in the context of federal research and decision-making.

(7) Bayesian Methods for Social Policy Research and Evaluation This brief summarizes key themes that emerged from a meeting hosted by OPRE with a diverse range of participants to discuss Bayesian methods for use in social policy research and evaluation.

(8) Bridging the Opportunity Divide for Low-Income Youth: Implementation and Early Impacts of the Year Up Program This report documents the implementation and early impacts of Year Up—a national training program for urban young adults aged 18-24.

(9) Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 1.0) Impact Study Interim Report: Program Implementation and Short-Term Impacts This report documents the implementation and short-term impacts of the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program, a program designed to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients for jobs in the healthcare field.

(10) Improving Economic Opportunity through Healthcare Training: Short-term Impact Results from the First Round of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 1.0) This report summarizes short-term impact results of the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program, a program designed to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients for jobs in the healthcare field.

(11) Using Psychology-Informed Strategies to Promote Self-Sufficiency: A Review of Innovative Programs This brief reviews five different employment programs implementing self-regulation skills training in order to improve participants’ employment outcomes.

(12) New Perspectives on Practice: A Guide to Measuring Self-Regulation and Goal-Related Outcomes in Employment Programs This brief aims to help employment programs use and measure goal-related outcomes related to individuals' self-regulation skills.

New Reports and Briefs from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Several new publications are available from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:  

(1) Child Care Subsidy Duration and Caseload Dynamics: A Multi-State Examination from 2004-2014 This brief provides an examination of the amount of time that low-income families from 32 states received child care subsidies. 

(2) How Many Families Might be Newly Reached by Child Support Cooperation Requirements in SNAP and Subsidized Child Care, and What are Their Characteristics?This infographic summarizes variation across states in child support cooperation requirements in SNAP and subsidized child care and  then presents information about the characteristics of custodial and noncustodial parents that may be subject to cooperation requirements in SNAP and subsidized child care.

(3) Cross-Domain Instability in Families with Some College Education This research brief examines instability across key areas of family life in families in which parents have some college education, and the characteristics of those most likely to experience instability.

(4) The Opioid Crisis and Economic Opportunity: Geographic and Economic Trends This research brief examines relationships between indicators of economic opportunity and the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use in the United States. 

New Reports from the Institute of Education Sciences

Several new reports are available from the National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Department of Education:

(1) English Language Program Participation Among Students in the Kindergarten Class of 2010–11: Spring 2011 to Spring 2012 This Statistics in Brief examines differences in the student and school characteristics of kindergartners who participated in instructional programs designed to teach English language skills and students who did not participate in such programs in the kindergarten class of 2010–11. 

(2) Working Before, During, and After Beginning at a Public 2-Year Institution: Labor Market Experiences of Community College Students This Statistics in Brief explores the demographics, enrollment intensity, and 3-year attainment and persistence of students who started in public postsecondary 2-year institutions in 2011–12 in relation to their employment before, during, and after their postsecondary enrollment.

(3) Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2014-15 (Fiscal Year 2015) (NCES 2018-303) This First Look report presents data on public elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures at the local education agency (LEA) or school district level for fiscal year (FY) 2015.

(4) Paths Through Mathematics and Science: Patterns and Relationships in High School Coursetaking This report examines mathematics and science coursetaking in high school and associations between early mathematics coursetaking and subsequent science coursetaking.

(5) Four Years Later: 2007–08 College Graduates' Employment, Debt, and Enrollment in 2012 This Statistics in Brief describes the employment, debt-related, and enrollment experiences as of 2012 among students who completed their bachelor’s degrees during the 2007–08 academic year.

(6) Outside Jobs for Regular, Full-Time Public School Teachers This Data Point describes the percentage of regular, full-time teachers with jobs outside the school system including variation by region. 

Federal Funding Opportunities

This month’s FFO highlights a National Institutes of Health (NIH) opportunity which encourages innovative research to enhance the quality of measurements of dietary intake and physical activity. Applications may include development of: novel assessment approaches; better methods to evaluate instruments; assessment tools for culturally diverse populations or various age groups, including children and older adults; improved technology or applications of existing technology; statistical methods/modeling to improve assessment and/or to correct for measurement errors or biases; methods to investigate the multidimensionality of diet and physical activity behavior through pattern analysis; or integrated measurement of diet and physical activity along with the environmental context of such behaviors. Completed applications are due by 5pm local time of applicant organization on October 5, 2018 (R01) and October 16, 2018 (R21). Click here to read about these and other funding opportunities.