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Office of Human Services Policy (HSP)

The Office of Human Services Policy (HSP) conducts policy research, analysis, evaluation, and coordination on various issues across the Department, including but not limited to, poverty and measurement, vulnerable populations, early childhood education and child welfare, family strengthening, economic support for families, and youth development. HSP serves as a liaison with other agencies on broad economic matters and is the Department’s lead on poverty research and analysis.

The Division of Children and Youth Policy focuses on policies related to the well-being of children and youth. Projects range from quick-turnaround policy analyses to large-scale experimental studies, and major policy initiatives. Key areas include early childhood, early care and education, home visiting, youth development and risky behaviors, parenting and family support, child welfare and foster care, linkages with physical and mental health, methods for evaluating what works, and strategies for improving research and data in these areas.

The Division of Family and Community Policy focuses on policies affecting various low-income populations. This includes policy development around major initiatives such as homelessness and reentry. It also includes conducting and coordinating analysis, research, and evaluation on the safety net, economic mobility and opportunity, welfare-to-work issues, strengthening families and responsible fatherhood, child support enforcement, and domestic violence. Other key priorities include place-based initiatives, the role of social capital in human services, human trafficking, benefits coordination.

The Division of Data and Technical Analysis focuses on policies and programs concerning low-income and otherwise disadvantaged populations. The Division provides data analytic capacity for policy development through data collection activities, secondary data analysis, modeling, and cost analyses. The Division focuses on cross-cutting human services policy issues such as income, poverty, cash and non-cash supports for low-income families, employment, fertility, and child welfare. The Division also issues annual updates to the poverty guidelines and reports to Congress on indicators of welfare dependence.

Topic Areas:

Reports

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ASPE Issue Brief

Coordinating Integrated Prevention Approaches to Serve the Whole Person

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been working with researchers, human services agency leaders, and persons with lived experience to visualize, describe, and document models of prevention within human services.
Research Brief

Elevating Prevention and Promotion in Early Childhood Mental Health

Efforts to promote positive mental health and prevent the onset of mental health difficulties are crucial for supporting healthy early childhood social-emotional development and well-being.
Report, Research Summary

Factors that Impact the Child Support Program’s Role in Reducing Child Poverty: Convening Summary

This brief summarizes an expert convening focused on the child support program’s current ability and future potential to help address child poverty.Key Findings
ASPE Issue Brief

Building Successful Data Linking Teams for Child Welfare and Medicaid Agencies: Lessons Learned from the Child Welfare and Health Infrastructure for Linking and Data Analysis of Resources, Effectiveness, and Needs (CHILDREN) Initiative

Linking data across public systems is beneficial for a multitude of reasons including care coordination, improving research on populations engaged with multiple public services, and improving program integrity.
ASPE Issue Brief

Integrating Services to Strengthen Children, Youth, and Families and Prevent Involvement in the Child Welfare System

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been working with researchers, human services agency leaders, and persons with lived experience to visualize, describe, and document models of primary prevention within human services.
Fact Sheet

Exploration of Child Welfare Systems’ Experiences with Custody Relinquishment

This one-pager describes the research questions and objectives of a project exploring the use of custody relinquishment, or when children enter foster care primarily to obtain behavioral health or disability services.
Fact Sheet

Improving Services for Children and Families through Linked Child Welfare and Medicaid Data

This two-pager describes several child welfare and Medicaid data linking projects and lessons learned from those projects. For example, the brief highlights key lessons such as the value in providing states with support in navigating data governance and in strengthening and harmonizing data infrastructure on child welfare service.
Research Brief

Behavioral Health Treatment by Service Type and Race and Ethnicity for Children and Youth Involved with the Child Welfare System

Children and youth involved with the child welfare system frequently have behavioral health conditions and are high users of behavioral health services compared to children and youth in other Medicaid eligibility categories.
Report to Congress, Visualization

Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors: 23rd Report to Congress

The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-432) requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare an annual report to Congress on indicators and predictors of “welfare dependence.” That Act requires the report to include three programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)