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Office of Human Services Policy (HSP)

The Office of Human Services Policy (HSP) strives to improve the well-being of children, youth, and families and break down silos across government. It does so by providing timely, actionable, cross-cutting policy analysis and research, and by leading cross-government coordination to address urgent human services challenges. The office works closely with federal, state, local, and private sector partners on issues including economic mobility and employment, child poverty and well-being, child welfare, family strengthening and fatherhood, early childhood education, youth development, community initiatives, child support, recidivism, and homelessness.

HSP advises the ASPE and other HHS leadership on human services policy matters. It leads and actively participates in interagency initiatives to align federal programming; conducts policy analysis and other research on human services and related issues; shares findings with and provides technical assistance to a diverse range of stakeholders; and coordinates development of HHS’s human services legislative proposals. HSP serves as a liaison with other agencies on broad economic matters and is the Department’s lead on poverty measurement.

The Office of Human Services Policy has three divisions:

  • The Division of Children and Youth Policy focuses on policies related to the well-being of children and youth, including early childhood education and child welfare, and leads the Children’s Interagency Coordinating Council and the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs.
  • The Division of Family and Community Policy covers policies to strengthen low-income families and communities and address barriers to economic mobility. The division leads the Interagency Council on Economic Mobility.
  • The Division of Data and Technical Analysis provides data analytic capacity for policy development through data collection activities, secondary data analysis, modeling, and cost analyses. The Division also issues annual updates to the poverty guidelines and reports to Congress on indicators of welfare dependence.

Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy: Jennifer Burnszynski

Reports

Displaying 391 - 400 of 973. 10 per page. Page 40.

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Assets, Poverty, and Public Policy: Challenges in Definition and Measurement

This report reviews the definitions and measures of assets and asset poverty in existing theoretical and empirical studies and suggests ways to make them more relevant for future research and policy development. In doing so, the report establishes a conceptual foundation for an emerging field of inquiry that focuses on the role of assets in social policy. [45 PDF pages]

Ensuring Quality in Contracted Child Welfare Services

In 2006, ASPE funded the Child Welfare Privatization Initiatives Project to provide information to state and local child welfare administrators who are considering or implementing privatization reforms. The project has produced papers on a range of topics providing insights about factors that should be considered when approaching or improving upon privatization efforts.

Using Data to Monitor and Improve the Work Participation of TANF Recipients: Examples from New York City and Utah

This practice brief profiles two strategies, one statewide and one local, for analyzing, reporting, and using data to hold case managers and administrators accountable for increasing the work participation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients.

Providing Unpaid Work Experience Opportunities for TANF Recipients: Examples from Erie County, New York; Montana; and Hamilton County, Ohio

This practice brief profiles three work experience programs that engage nearly all work-ready TANF recipients in unpaid work activities, either alone or in conjunction with education and training. Unpaid work experience is designed to mirror regular employment in the paid labor market.

Providing Paid Employment Opportunities to TANF Participants Engaged in Vocational Education Programs: Examples from Denver, Colorado; Kentucky; and California

This practice brief profiles three programs, two statewide and one local, that provide work opportunities to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients who are participating in vocational education programs.
Report to Congress

Indicators of Welfare Dependence: Annual Report to Congress, 2008

The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 requires the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare annual reports to Congress on indicators and predictors of welfare dependence.  The 2008 Indicators of Welfare Dependence, the eleventh annual report, provides welfare dependence indicators through 2005, reflecting changes that have taken place since enactment of the Personal Respons

Role of Faith-Based and Community Organizations in Providing Relief and Recovery Services After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

This report examines the relief and recovery services provided by faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The study included a telephone survey of 202 FBCOs that provided services and in-depth case studies of eight selected FBCOs. [116 PDF pages]
Case Study

Achieving Higher TANF Work Participation Rates: Case Studies from Maryland and Utah

This practice brief profiles the multi-pronged, comprehensive approaches taken by Maryland and Utah to increase their state's work participation rates. Both states have more than doubled their state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation rates within a one-year period.

Strategies for Increasing TANF Work Participation Rates: Summary Report

This brief describes a range of strategies states have implemented to achieve higher Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation rates. It describes four broad categories of strategies: (1) creating new work opportunities for TANF recipients; (2) administrative strategies; (3) TANF policy changes; and (4) creation of new programs.
Research Brief

Indicators of Welfare Dependence: 2008 Research Brief

June 2009