Mathematica | Family Support

Welfare to Work Orientation Videos

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:09:48 Z

In collaboration with CDSS, Mathematica developed five CalWORKs orientation videos covering Welfare to Work; potential potholes and detours; activities; supportive services; and participant perspectives.

Strengthening a Family-Serving Organization

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:43:00 Z

Lessons learned from a partnership between Agape Child & Family Services, Mathematica, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Using predictive modeling to strengthen child welfare systems

Fri, 15 May 2026 15:30:54 Z

Predictive modeling with advanced machine learning can help child welfare agencies support their practice and case management. Mathematica partners with child welfare jurisdictions to move from use case selection to model development, implementation, and measurable improvement.

CalWORKs Combined Continuous Quality Improvement and Community of Practice Workgroup Convening

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:27:00 Z

This combined convening of the HVP Continuous Quality Improvement and Community of Practice workgroup provided an overview and exploration of the Understanding and Expanding the Reach of Home Visiting Family Engagement Toolkit.

Learn, Innovate, Improve

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:54:00 Z

Toolkit to help Agape leadership pursue innovation

Parent Experiences in the Regional Partnership Grants Program: Findings from an Exploratory Study

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 16:31:00 Z

This brief summarizes findings from an exploratory study with parents enrolled in services provided by two Regional Partnership Grants (RPG) projects. The study examines the factors that led to parents’ substance use issues and child welfare involvement and their experiences with RPG services.

Regional Partnership Grants Cross-Site Evaluation Annual Report October 2024-September 2025

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 21:27:00 Z

The annual report describes the major activities and accomplishments from October 2024 through September 2025 for Mathematica’s contract to conduct the cross-site evaluation and provide technical assistance (TA) for the seventh cohort of the Regional Partnership Grants (RPG).

Zachary Parolin Wins the 25th David Kershaw Award and Prize

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 20:16:00 Z

Zachary Parolin of Oxford University has received the David N. Kershaw Award for his research on poverty and opportunity and will deliver the Kershaw Lecture at APPAM’s 2025 Fall Conference.

Family Engagement Toolkit

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 13:24:20 Z

A set of resources to help home visiting programs reach more communities by strengthening their outreach, recruitment, and retention efforts.

New ACF Toolkit Builds Evidence To Strengthen Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Programs

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 Z

ACF and Mathematica have released a new toolkit that elevates local evaluations across the healthy marriage and relationship education program portfolio and supports a unified body of evidence to inform future program design and support improved outcomes.

Strategies to Improve Youth and Young Adult Study Enrollment

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 17:07:00 Z

This brief describes enrollment challenges for the Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) summative evaluation and highlights the strategies used to improve study enrollment.

Regional Partnership Grants Cross-Site Evaluation: Annual Report, October 2023–September 2024

Wed, 21 May 2025 15:47:24 Z

The annual report describes the major activities and accomplishments from October 2023 through September 2024 for Mathematica’s contract to conduct the cross-site evaluation and provide technical assistance (TA) for the sixth and seventh cohorts of the Regional Partnership Grants (RPG).

Navigating GenAI in Child Welfare: Quick-Start Guide for Agency Leaders

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 15:16:00 Z

Generative AI offers child welfare agencies tools to enhance case management, predict outcomes, and allocate resources more effectively. This tip sheet equips leaders with strategies for responsibly implementing AI while prioritizing well-being and safety.

Welfare to Work Handbook

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:54:00 Z

The CalWORKs Welfare to Work (WTW) Handbook provides information including enrollment, goal-setting, activities, supportive services, hourly requirements, and exemptions. The handbook has been revised through a human-centered lens and aims to help participants set and achieve their goals.

CalWORKs Home Visiting Program Findings of the Outreach Pilot

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 18:26:00 Z

The CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (HVP) launched an outreach pilot in November 2023 and 20 counties volunteered to participate. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) conducted the pilot in response to the Communication and Outreach strategy recommendations made in 2022 meetings of the Continuous Quality Improvement Workgroup. This pilot focused on increasing awareness of the CalWORKs HVP program and participant enrollment. Counties tailored automated voicemail messages and emails for selected CalWORKs program recipients who had not participated in HVP services in the prior year and had a child younger than age two. The CDSS sent the county-specific voicemails and emails to recipients. This resource summarizes the lessons learned in the pilot.

Building Skills and Peer Connections to Improve Mothers’ Mental Wellness: Implementation of Western Mass MOMS

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 18:06:00 Z

This report shares findings from a descriptive and cost study of Western Mass Mental Health Outreach for MotherS PartnershipSM (Western Mass MOMS). It explores the design, implementation, and cost, based on the MOMS Partnership model to improve the emotional well-being of mothers and help them reach education and employment goals.

Innovative 988 Crisis Service Systems for Children, Youth, and People with Disabilities

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:37:00 Z

This brief describes innovative state approaches to providing crisis, stabilization, and recovery-oriented supports and services for children, youth, and people with disabilities through the integration and partnership of crisis services systems with other service systems. The brief describes partnerships and strategies of five states (Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) that have focused on developing crisis services for these populations.

Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies Project: Evaluation Design Report

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 19:17:00 Z

This report describes the designs of the descriptive, cost, and impact studies of the four programs included in the NextGen Project. It describes how programs were identified and selected, and the research questions, the study design, the data collection strategy, and the analytic approach for each.

CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (HVP) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Partner Convening Meeting Recording

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 20:49:00 Z

This meeting summarized the HVP CWI workgroup report, the outreach pilot, and highlighted promising and emerging practices from three counties.

Regional Partnership Grants Cross-Site Evaluation Design Report for Seventh Cohort of Grant Recipients

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 16:50:00 Z

This report describes the cross-site evaluation design for the seventh cohort of RPG projects (RPG7). It presents an overview of the design for the RPG7 cross-site evaluation, including a conceptual framework to guide the evaluation, research questions, data sources, and data collection methods.

Coordinating Integrated Prevention Approaches to Serve the Whole Person

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 15:26:00 Z

This brief highlights efforts made by nine integrated human services initiatives to center families’ strengths and needs and coordinate access to resources and services to prevent child welfare involvement and/or homelessness and increase the use of economic supports.

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

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:04:00 Z

This brief summarizes an expert convening focused on the child support program’s current ability and future potential to address child poverty.

The Creative and Collaborative Progression of YARH

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 17:31:00 Z

As a multiphase program with each phase building on the previous one, YARH required collaboration, creativity, and transparency among federal funders, grantees, local evaluators, the cross-site evaluation technical assistance team, and youth and young adults with child welfare experience.

Building Evidence for a New Intervention or Program Takes Time

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 00:00:00 Z

This brief uses the term evidence broadly and focuses on various types of evidence that, over time, can contribute to a solid understanding of a new program or intervention.

Designing an Implementation Evaluation: A Guide for Regional Partnership Grant Recipients

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 20:49:19 Z

The evaluation technical assistance brief provides a step-by-step guide for how Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) projects might plan for an implementation evaluation.

Listed Home-Based Child Care Providers and Child Care and Early Education Policies Series: Child Care and Development Fund Subsidies

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:36:00 Z

This research brief is part of the Home-Based Child Care Supply and Quality (HBCCSQ) project and examines HBCC providers’ subsidy funding receipt, preferences, and payment arrangements. It is part of a series presenting a national analysis of listed HBCC providers’ public policy interactions.

Listed Home-Based Child Care Providers and Child Care and Early Education Policies Series: Health and Safety Regulations

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:21:00 Z

This research brief is part of the Home-Based Child Care Supply and Quality (HBCCSQ) project and examines HBCC providers’ interactions with, perceptions of, and responses to regulations. It is part of a series presenting a national analysis of listed HBCC providers’ public policy interactions.

Listed Home-Based Child Care Providers and Child Care and Early Education Policies Series: Quality Rating and Improvement Systems

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 15:41:00 Z

This research brief is part of the Home-Based Child Care Supply and Quality (HBCCSQ) project and examines HBCC providers’ participation and progress in quality rating and improvement systems. It is part of a series presenting a national analysis of listed HBCC providers’ public policy interactions.

Youth At-Risk of Homelessness Summative Evaluation Infographics

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:49:00 Z

These infographics provide overviews of both the data sources used in the YARH-3 summative evaluation impact and implementation studies, and the Pathways and comparison programs involved in the summative evaluation.

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

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 15:05:00 Z

This 1-page brief explores four key themes for successful service integration to prevent child welfare system involvement, drawing from findings across nine sites that participated in the ASPE-sponsored ‘Case Studies in Supporting Prevention through Program Integration’ project.

Advancing Family Economic Mobility in Mississippi Through a Peer-to-Peer Statewide Learning Network

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 14:04:22 Z

Mathematica conducted a process evaluation of a Mississippi statewide learning community from May 2022 to December 2023. This brief describes the activities of the learning community and includes takeaways related to how facilitators planned and facilitated meetings, meeting attendance, how sharing and learning occurred, what participants learned and collaboration examples, and progress the group made towards its goals.

Advancing Family Economic Mobility in New England: A Regional Learning Community on Parent Engagement and Leadership

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:23:59 Z

Mathematica conducted a process evaluation of a New England regional learning community from December 2021 to December 2023. This brief describes the activities of the learning community and includes takeaways related to how facilitators’ planned and facilitated meetings, meeting attendance, how sharing and learning occurred, what participants learned and collaboration examples, and changes participants made to their agency or states’ practices, policies, and programs.

Evaluation of Child Support Enforcement Cooperation Requirements in SNAP

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 19:49:55 Z

This congressionally mandated report presents the most comprehensive picture to date about the implementation and effects of the cooperation requirements in SNAP, and how this policy requirement is experienced and perceived by families with low incomes.

Design and Analysis Plan for the Impact Study of Work Success

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 19:58:00 Z

This report describes the design and analysis plans for the evaluation of Work Success. It discusses why Work Success is expected to affect employment and economic security, the process for conducting random assignment, and data sources. It describes the analytic approach to estimating impacts.

Modifying the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Mindfulness Curriculum Implemented with Transition-Age Youth and Young Adults in Foster Care

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 17:35:43 Z

This brief describes the process of modifying the mindfulness curriculum that is part of each dialectical behavior therapy module within the Youth Transitions Partnership for transition-age youth and young adults who are in foster care in Alameda County, California.

About Project IMPROVE

Mon, 08 Jan 2024 18:36:00 Z

This one-page document shares information about Project IMPROVE and how state and local TANF agencies can get involved.

Business Process Management

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 15:53:00 Z

Human services programs can improve staff and participant experiences by using strategies from business process management (BPM). This brief, created for OFA’s Project IMPROVE, shares examples of human services programs that have applied BPM strategies and outlines how programs can do similar work.

CalWORKs Home Visiting Program HVP Continuous Quality Improvement CQI Partner Convening

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 19:01:00 Z

This convening gathered CDSS’s partners to share an overview of the Home Visiting Program (HVP) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) report, including recommendations that the CalWORKs HVP CQI workgroup identified to enhance the program and to describe how the recommendations have informed CDSS activities, including a current pilot.

For Healthier Mothers and Babies in California, Start with Safety: Strategies to Address and Prevent Intimate Partner Violence

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 13:07:00 Z

This policy brief highlights evidence-informed strategies and opportunities to integrate intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention services into maternal health care and capitalize on the opportunities presented by recent maternal health initiatives in California.

Employment Coaching Programs Short-Term Impacts Briefs

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 13:46:00 Z

These four program impact briefs present short-term impact findings for each of the four employment coaching programs participating in an experimental study conducted as part of the Evaluation of Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations.

Strengthening the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Home Visiting Program

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 21:37:00 Z

CDSS partnered with Mathematica to explore the use of whole-family approaches in the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (HVP) and facilitate the workgroup’s activities.
This report provides an overview of the CalWORKs HVP and describes the CalWORKs HVP Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) workgroup, including an overview of meeting topics and activities.
Discusses the needs of families who participate in the CalWORKs HVP and how the program is implemented. Summarizes program outcomes, strengths, and areas for improvement that emerged from the CalWORKs HVP evaluation and reflection sessions. Outlines CalWORKs HVP CQI workgroup recommendations in light of current CalWORKs HVP implementation, strengths, and areas for improvement

Tips for Incorporating Peer-Based Strategies in Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) Programs

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:21:00 Z

The purpose of this tip sheet is to provide tips for SRAE and similar programs that seek to design and implement peer-based strategies.

Youth At-Risk of Homelessness: An Early Picture of Youth and Services – Descriptive Report

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 18:21:00 Z

This report describes services offered to youth and young adults with foster care histories through Colorado’s Pathways to Success comprehensive service model and comparison programs. It also describes characteristics of service providers and of the youth and young adults enrolled in the services.

Serving Young Fathers in Responsible Fatherhood Programs

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:12:00 Z

This white paper explores common challenges that Responsible Fatherhood (RF) programs face in recruiting and engaging young fathers in their services. It also offers strategies that programs can use to help overcome these challenges.

Figuring It Out: Serving Young Fathers in Responsible Fatherhood Programs

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:02:00 Z

This brief summarizes common challenges Responsible Fatherhood programs face in recruiting and engaging young fathers (that is, younger than 30) in their services. It also highlights potential strategies that programs can use to overcome these challenges.

Child Support Learning Agenda: A Brief Synthesis of Select Child Support Literature

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:14:00 Z

The purpose of this brief is to summarize the findings from select child support literature identified by OPRE and OCSS and highlight remaining knowledge gaps.

The Power of Partnerships

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 17:52:00 Z

This brief distills lessons learned from the Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare project about partnerships that might be relevant to fatherhood programs and describes ways fatherhood programs can use partnerships.

Guide to Publishing Research Data for Secondary Analysis

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 12:24:00 Z

This brief highlights considerations for planning for the publishing of data files throughout the life cycle of federally contracted research.

Father Engagement in Child Welfare

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 17:29:00 Z

This brief shares lessons that can be helpful for fatherhood programs seeking to strengthen community and service partnerships, solidify the importance of father engagement, prioritize racial equity initiatives, integrate fathers’ voices into services, and document their programs’ engagement efforts.

Predicting Participation in Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Programs

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 12:15:00 Z

This research-to-practice brief describes findings from the special topic report (STR) about what workshop- and participant-level factors might predict greater participation in healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood (HMRF) primary workshops.