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In San Francisco, where both housing costs and income inequality continue to grow, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is increasingly focused on supporting homeless children and families. To inform this work, SFUSD partnered with Stanford University's Graduate School of Education (GSE) and John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (Gardner Center) to conduct research aimed at helping SFUSD better track, understand, and support their homeless and highly mobile (HHM) student population. The researchers aimed to further advance understanding of the student assets that promote resilient adaptation and educational success of HHM students. Specifically, they examined how HHM students' social and emotional learning (SEL) skills--including self-management, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and social awareness--may support their academic achievement by addressing the following research questions: 1) What is the size and distribution of HHM students in SFUSD across different grades, schools, racial ethnicities, and language backgrounds? 2) How heterogeneous is this student population in terms of chronicity of HHM status, instability of living arrangement, placement in foster care, and number of siblings? 3) What promotes resilience and positive outcomes for HHM students? [This research was conducted with support from the Stanford/SFUSD Incentive Fund.]

Since 2014, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) has partnered with the Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University (Gardner Center) to support OUSD's efforts to assess, enhance, and scale their community schools work. They began by working with the district to develop a System Strategy Map to articulate the district's goals, desired outcomes, and key elements of the community school initiative. Their first year of research tested this theory of action by identifying key programmatic and organizational elements of community schools at mature sites, as well as initial trends in student outcomes. This report presents findings from the second year of their research collaboration (SY2015-16) which focused on three primary areas: (1) the role of the district in supporting community school implementation; (2) the experience of newer community school sites, as well as district staff, to better understand the process by which schools become community schools; and (3) understanding the expanding reach of community school implementation in OUSD as well as the relationship between community school participation and student outcomes through analysis of available administrative data. Three appendices are included: (1) System Strategy Map; (2) Research Methods; and (3) Additional Analysis of Student Trends.

In 2010, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) launched an initiative to transform all district schools into full service community schools. The community school design provides integrated supports to students and fosters a school climate conducive to academic, social, and emotional learning. Interventions span in-school and out-of-school time, and include students' families, to ensure that all students have the supports needed to be ready to learn and to develop the skills, habits, and mindsets that provide a foundation for academic and social success. These supports are delivered in strategic partnerships with community-based organizations, and coordinated through various structures including a Community School Manager at each school. As OUSD continues to scale community school implementation, leaders want to document and assess their current efforts with an eye to improving policies and practices that will help all schools reach the initiative's goals. This report and four related briefs present findings from the first year of a planned three-year collaboration between OUSD and the Gardner Center to study the district's community schools, drawing on qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in five community schools as well as analysis of district administrative data. The following tables are appended: (1) OUSD Study Schools: School Profile, 2013-14; and (2) School Health Center and Expanded Learning Participation Rates. [The authors would like to acknowledge the Oakland Unified School District and the Kaiser Foundation Hospital Fund for Community Benefit Programs at East Bay Community Foundation in supporting this work. They also acknowledge the contribution of Gardner Center colleagues Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Jamila Henderson, Nikki Riley, Maureen Carew, Efrain Brito, Nancy Mancini, Leslie Patron, and Amy Gerstein in the writing and conducting of this study. For the accompanying Knowledge Briefs, "Oakland Unified School District Community Schools: Supporting Students, Teachers, and Families. Knowledge Brief," see ED573276; "Teaching and Learning in Oakland Community Schools. Knowledge Brief," see ED573277; "Organizational Structures to Support Oakland Community Schools. Knowledge Brief," see ED573281; and "Integrated Services and Supports in Oakland Community Schools. Knowledge Brief," ED573283.]

Playworks is a program that aims to create "safe, inclusive school environments where kids can grow, lead, and thrive" (Playworks, 2013a). Through trained, full-time coaches focused on recess in low-income elementary schools across the country, Playworks provides opportunities for inclusive play, and physical activity. Based on prior research indicating that Playworks can improve school climate and reduce bullying, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Playworks, and two San Francisco Bay Area school districts partnered with the Gardner Center to study whether the positive outcomes of the Playworks program may reduce absenteeism by decreasing student aversion to coming to school. This study focuses on elementary and K-8 schools and students participating in Playworks and includes a comparison group of students in similar schools not currently participating in Playworks. The research design includes a series of multivariate regression analyses estimating the relationship between Playworks participation and student attendance. The following are appended: (1) Research Methodology; and (2) Tables of Regression Coefficients.

Holding a summer job is a rite of passage in American adolescence, a first rung towards adulthood and self-sufficiency. However, over the past decade, youth employment during the summer has decreased significantly. Summer youth employment has the potential to benefit high school students' educational outcomes and employment trajectories, especially for low-income youth. Despite the potential importance of youth employment during summer, evidence of the impact of summer jobs on youth outcomes is limited to only a few studies. Our research examines summer youth employment, beginning with academic outcomes, by studying New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). SYEP provides jobs to youth ages 14-24, and due to high demand for summer jobs, allocates slots through a random lottery system, allowing for causal estimates of program impact. Our study uses student-level data from the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (the SYEP administrating agency) and New York City Department of Education, encompassing approximately 300,000 student SYEP applicants for the 2005-2009 program years. This paper examines the impact of SYEP on a wider range of academic performance outcomes, including test taking, passing rates and scores. It also attends to variation in these outcomes. Our findings suggest that SYEP has positive impacts on some student academic outcomes, and that these effects are heterogeneous. Future analyses will focus on examining program, student and school characteristics that might explain these variations. The following tables are appended: (1) Lottery randomization results; (2) Attrition in year following application to SYEP, Grade 8-11 and alternative program, 2005-08; and (3) Impact of selection on attrition, by grade.

This policy brief presents initial findings of the impact of New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) on academic outcomes for public school students. Despite the broad appeal of providing summer jobs for urban youth, there is little research documenting the relationship between summer employment and educational outcomes for high school students. Because SYEP participation is determined through a random lottery system, our research provides a causal estimate of the impact of summer work. This brief examines SYEP's impact on school attendance, test taking, and performance in the following school year.

In 1999, researchers conducted case studies on 12 states and multiple local sites to document how welfare reform and other changes affected child welfare agencies, following up on 1997 case studies. They conducted interviews with welfare and child welfare stakeholders and focus groups with child welfare workers. Respondents discussed the impact of welfare reform on child welfare and of direct challenges to child welfare. They emphasized continuing concerns about the quality and capacity of the child welfare system. In some states, these concerns led to the formation of commissions charged with assessing the child welfare system, while other states faced legal action. Respondents noted that frequent child welfare leadership changes affected child welfare priorities and agency responses to various situations. The mission of child welfare agencies continued to fluctuate between focusing on family preservation and on child safety as a top priority. One way that both federal and state governments sought to improve the child welfare system was by increasing oversight and making agencies more accountable for outcomes. Respondents acknowledged that most systems lacked sufficient resources to protect and serve children and families adequately. Child welfare workers reported that they have more clerical work, less decision-making authority, and less time to spend with children and families. (Contains 21 references.) (SM)

Alabama has a long history of providing a modest safety net for low-income families and children. This report examines Alabama's cash assistance, workforce development, child care, and child welfare systems for low-income families with children. Information comes from interviews with managers and front-line workers, focus groups with parents and child care providers, and interviews with child welfare administrators. The report begins with a profile of Alabama's demographic, economic, and political conditions, then presents an overview of the state's income support and social services systems, including caseload statistics. The next three sections each offer greater detail on specific programs and services, the administrative structure of the key programs, general service delivery, and important policies affecting each program and its client. First, Alabama's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF), the Family Assistance Program, is described, including Alabama's work-related component for TANF recipients, followed by a summary of the overall workforce development system. Next, the report covers Alabama's system for providing child care for both Family Assistance and non-welfare families. Finally, the child welfare system is described, particularly the interaction between child welfare and the welfare system. Key changes in Alabama's programs and delivery systems are summarized. (Contains 12 endnotes.) (SM)

Michigan is a leader in state efforts to gain more autonomy over social service programs. Many changes, including those made to the child care and child welfare systems, were part of the governor's blueprint for reform, To Strengthen Michigan Families. This report begins with a profile of Michigan's demographic, economic, and political conditions, then discusses its social safety net. The following three sections offer more detail on specific programs and services, examining recent changes, the administrative structure, general service delivery, and important policies affecting each program and the clients that the program serves. The first section describes Michigan's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the Family Independence Program (FIP), highlighting Michigan's work-related component for TANF recipients (Work First) and the overall workforce development system. The next section covers the state's system for providing child care for FIP and non-welfare families. The third section describes the child welfare system, particularly the interaction between child welfare and welfare reform. The report concludes by assessing Michigan's place in the spectrum of state approaches to welfare reform, workforce development, and child care and child welfare, then presents a summary of accomplishments and an examination of future issues and challenges. (Contains 17 endnotes.) (SM)

This brief examines changes in Florida's welfare-to-work, child care, and child welfare systems since 1997, presenting information from visits conducted in 1999 and 2000. It profiles Florida's population, economy, and politics, reviewing its income support and social services safety net. Three sections detail current policies and recent changes in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and employment and training, child care, and child welfare. Key changes in Florida's social service delivery system are highlighted, noting their implications for understanding the effects of devolution and welfare reform. In 1996, Florida introduced the Wages and Gain Economic Self-Sufficiency welfare reform program. Three interrelated trends in social services emerged in 1997 and have grown since then: movement toward giving public-private boards responsibility for overseeing and administering services, devolution of responsibilities from the state to the local level, and contracting out of services previously handled by state agencies. Florida has moved toward greater integration of its workforce development and TANF programs. A significant change in child welfare is the impending privatization of services. Few changes have occurred in child care subsidy following federal welfare reform. Florida's strict policies have resulted in a very sharp decline in its welfare caseload. (Contains 12 endnotes.) (SM)

This brief updates an overview of welfare benefits and services in Texas in 1997, when House Bill 1863 and the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 first went into effect. Since 1997, Texas and 12 other states from the Assessing the New Federalism study have implemented many changes in social safety net services. This brief highlights Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) benefits and employment services, workforce development, child care, and child welfare. It presents a demographic, economic, and political overview of the state, describing its safety net structure and summarizing changes in caseloads since 1997. It examines changes in the TANF/workforce development, child care, and child welfare systems. Texas remains a low-benefit state with the highest rate of children without health insurance and nearly the lowest TANF and Medicaid benefit, eligibility, and coverage level among the states studied. Texas is ahead in implementing provisions of the Workforce Investment Act. Child care coverage has increased since 1997. Child welfare remains a state-administered system. The devolution of workforce development and child care programs to local workforce development boards has created large variation in service availability, quality, and efficiency statewide. (Contains 28 endnotes.) (SM)

Advocates, policymakers, and researchers have predicted that changes in the welfare system brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 would increase the number of children who are abused and neglected, referred to child protective services, and placed in foster care. This study examined how welfare reform has affected child welfare caseloads, summarizing trends in caseload data before and after welfare reform. It focused on testimonial data from various state and local respondents about the effects of welfare reform they have observed on families' involvement with the child welfare system, and it documented research efforts underway to study the effects of welfare reform on child welfare. Overall, there was no evidence to suggest that federal welfare reform to date has had a significant effect on child welfare caseloads. Caseload data and testimony of over 350 state and local respondents supported this conclusion. The study identified potential areas of concern for policymakers related to: specific populations that may be vulnerable; unmet training needs of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and child welfare agency staff; the potential effects of additional sanctions and time limits; and the scope of the research underway and planned to assess the effects of welfare reform. An appendix presents findings from other welfare reform studies. (Contains 60 references.) (SM)

Given recent changes to child welfare financing brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, there is a need to track spending for child welfare services. This report documents states' total child welfare spending from federal, state, and local sources in state fiscal year (SFY) 1998; changes in total spending since SFY 1996; changes in federal, state, and local spending since SFY 1996; states' spending on contracted services in SFY 1998; and how funds were used for out-of-home placements, adoption, administration, or other services. Data come from the 1997 and 1999 Child Welfare Surveys. States provided expenditure data for programs, case management, administration, and operation of child welfare systems. These data included staffing and administrative expenses and expenditures on services provided by other agencies under contract to the child welfare agency. States also provided expenditure data from federal, state, and local resources and categorized how funds were used. Overall, states expended at least $15.6 billion on child welfare services in SFY 1998; states were increasing their claims for Title IV-E funds; little funding was targeted for prevention services; states' heavy reliance on nontraditional federal funds for child welfare continued; within out-of-home placements, the focus of state-only funds had shifted; reliance on local spending was increasing; and states expended at least $3.4 billion on contracted services in SFY 1998. (SM)

This study provides updated information about states' kinship care policies for children in foster care based on a survey conducted in 1999. Almost all states give preference to and seek out kin when placing a child in foster care. However, states vary in the way that they assess and support kinship care. Most states assess kin differently than nonkin foster parents. Some kin receive foster care payments while others are supported with lesser payments. The paper also analyzes the impacts of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) final rule on kinship care and discusses the challenge of creating kinship care policies that ensure child safety and address the unique needs of kin. The ASFA requires that a state's kinship care standards be the same as its nonkinship foster care licensing requirements, but it does not require that policies be uniform across the states. (Contains 4 figures, 6 tables, and 43 references.) (SLD)