The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to promoting the economic and social well-being of children, youth, families, individuals, and communities. As part of our work, we support the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy (OPS) to ensure individuals with a substance use disorder (SUD) are supported and connected to substance use treatment, human services, and other necessary resources. Harm reduction , an evidence-based approach critical to engaging with people who use drugs and equipping them with life-saving tools and information, is one of the four priority areas in the agency’s overdose prevention strategy. This brief provides information and resources about harm reduction services for young adults experiencing homelessness. Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) promotes the economic and social well-being of children, families, and communities across the country. As part of this mission, ACF actively listens to and engages with those it serves to ensure the compassionate and effective delivery of human services. The ACF Parent Engagement Report summarizes recent listening sessions ACF held with parents and caregivers from diverse backgrounds who have a range of experiences with ACF programs. The report shares a glimpse into the insights that parents shared from each of these listening sessions and highlights a few examples of how ACF has been and continues to be responsive to their feedback and recommendations. Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) promotes the economic and social well-being of children, families, and communities across the country. As part of this mission, ACF actively listens to and engages with those it serves to ensure the compassionate and effective delivery of human services. The ACF Parent Engagement Report summarizes recent listening sessions ACF held with parents and caregivers from diverse backgrounds who have a range of experiences with ACF programs. The report shares a glimpse into the insights that parents shared from each of these listening sessions and highlights a few examples of how ACF has been and continues to be responsive to their feedback and recommendations. Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

To: State, territorial, tribal, and local policymakers and administrators of systems, agencies, and programs responsible for children, youth, and family health and well-being Dear Colleagues, Thank you for the work you do each day to support children, youth, and families across the country. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) would like to highlight the critical importance of timely, high-quality behavioral health crisis care and make sure you are aware of how these resources can be accessed in your communities. Too many people are experiencing suicidal crisis or mental health-related distress without the support and care they need, and this is particularly true for children, youth, and families. Trends in suicide attempts and deaths by suicide have been increasing among adolescents and remain a major public health concern. In 2023, 3.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 (12.3 percent) had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year, 1.5 million (5.6 percent) made suicide plans, and 856,000 (3.3 percent) attempted suicide. Vulnerable adolescent populations exposed to adverse childhood experiences are at particular risk of suicide and related behaviors. Someone to contact: The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988 offers one-on-one, skilled, compassionate mental health and substance use support for anyone at any time. 988 counselors are trained to understand how an issue is affecting a person and share resources that may be helpful. People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org 24/7 for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one. The 988 dialing code is made up of a national network of more than 200 local crisis contact centers that are equipped to handle thousands of contacts each day. When someone calls 988, they first hear a greeting message. They are then given choices of who to connect with. The 988 Lifeline has specially trained counselors for veterans, Spanish speakers, LGBTQI+ youth and young adults, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. The 988 Lifeline uses Language Line Solutions to provide translations to callers in more than 240 additional languages, and is also working to ensure broad accessibility to make sure that all people can receive needed support, including those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, those with brain injury, and those with other disabilities. Since Congress designated 988 in 2020 and the three-digit number went live in 2022, there has been a significant investment of federal resources to scale up crisis centers across the country. 988 is an important step forward and offers an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen and transform behavioral health crisis care in our country. There are a number of other federally funded hotlines that offer critical support and intersect with topics related to emotional distress and crisis. Use your best judgment as to the most appropriate resource for the situation when directing the public to different hotline resources. For your convenience, a list of ACF- and select federally supported hotlines is included at the bottom of this letter (see Tables A, B). When suicide presents as a risk, please refer to 988. 911 should only be used for situations posing immediate physical danger, such as suicide attempts in progress, medical emergencies, or immediate threats to safety. Someone to respond and a safe place to go: The importance of trained face-to-face response The vast majority of those seeking help from the 988 Lifeline do not require any additional emergency interventions at that moment. However, there are instances when an in-person response is needed. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) outlines two core components that every community should work to have in place when these instances arise: mobile crisis teams that can reach individuals where they are in the community, and crisis stabilization facilities that can provide observation and stabilization services in a

To: State, territorial, tribal, and local policymakers and administrators of systems, agencies, and programs responsible for children, youth, and family health and well-being Dear Colleagues, Thank you for the work you do each day to support children, youth, and families across the country. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) would like to highlight the critical importance of timely, high-quality behavioral health crisis care and make sure you are aware of how these resources can be accessed in your communities. Too many people are experiencing suicidal crisis or mental health-related distress without the support and care they need, and this is particularly true for children, youth, and families. Trends in suicide attempts and deaths by suicide have been increasing among adolescents and remain a major public health concern. In 2023, 3.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 (12.3 percent) had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year, 1.5 million (5.6 percent) made suicide plans, and 856,000 (3.3 percent) attempted suicide. Vulnerable adolescent populations exposed to adverse childhood experiences are at particular risk of suicide and related behaviors. Someone to contact: The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988 offers one-on-one, skilled, compassionate mental health and substance use support for anyone at any time. 988 counselors are trained to understand how an issue is affecting a person and share resources that may be helpful. People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org 24/7 for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one. The 988 dialing code is made up of a national network of more than 200 local crisis contact centers that are equipped to handle thousands of contacts each day. When someone calls 988, they first hear a greeting message. They are then given choices of who to connect with. The 988 Lifeline has specially trained counselors for veterans, Spanish speakers, LGBTQI+ youth and young adults, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. The 988 Lifeline uses Language Line Solutions to provide translations to callers in more than 240 additional languages, and is also working to ensure broad accessibility to make sure that all people can receive needed support, including those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, those with brain injury, and those with other disabilities. Since Congress designated 988 in 2020 and the three-digit number went live in 2022, there has been a significant investment of federal resources to scale up crisis centers across the country. 988 is an important step forward and offers an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen and transform behavioral health crisis care in our country. There are a number of other federally funded hotlines that offer critical support and intersect with topics related to emotional distress and crisis. Use your best judgment as to the most appropriate resource for the situation when directing the public to different hotline resources. For your convenience, a list of ACF- and select federally supported hotlines is included at the bottom of this letter (see Tables A, B). When suicide presents as a risk, please refer to 988. 911 should only be used for situations posing immediate physical danger, such as suicide attempts in progress, medical emergencies, or immediate threats to safety. Someone to respond and a safe place to go: The importance of trained face-to-face response The vast majority of those seeking help from the 988 Lifeline do not require any additional emergency interventions at that moment. However, there are instances when an in-person response is needed. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) outlines two core components that every community should work to have in place when these instances arise: mobile crisis teams that can reach individuals where they are in the community, and crisis stabilization facilities that can provide observation and stabilization services in a

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has a number of newsletters to share information with our partners and stakeholders. They contain important news and updates about ACF's programs and key issues at the heart of our mission to foster health and well-being for the compassionate and effective delivery of human services. Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

ACF Agency Wide resource Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

Within the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris Administration, ACF has taken action to stabilize the child care industry, support children and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, provide desperately needed economic relief, restore a child welfare focus at the border, and advance racial equity and supporting underserved communities. During the first 100 days, ACF has: Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.

In 2008, the Children’s Bureau (CB) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded 17 cooperative agreements (subcontractors) to support the development of infrastructure needed for the high quality implementation of grantee-selected evidence-based home visitation programs to prevent child maltreatment. CB/ACF funded Mathematica Policy Research and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago to design and conduct a participatory and utilization-focused cross-site evaluation of the subcontractors’ programs. The primary purpose of the cross-site evaluation was to augment the existing evidence base by identifying successful strategies for adopting, implementing, and sustaining high quality home visiting programs to prevent child maltreatment. The national cross-site evaluation included four domains: (1) systems change and infrastructure building, (2) fidelity to evidence-based home visiting models, (3) cost analysis, and (4) a process study. The project will archive data used to assess the fidelity to five evidence-based home visiting models, including data on staff and participant characteristics, service data, and the Working Alliance Inventory, an instrument design to assess home visitor-participant relationships. Data were submitted by 48 implementing agencies from 16 of the EBHV subcontractors. These data describe service delivery between October 1, 2009 and June 30, 2012. Researchers who are interested in this Restricted dataset should email NDACAN to request the dataset codebooks before they decide to apply for this dataset. Investigators: Boller, K., Daro, D. A., Del Grasso, P., Cole, R., Paulsell, D., Hart, B., Coffee-Borden, B., Strong, D., & Hargreaves, M.

In 2008, the Children’s Bureau (CB) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded 17 cooperative agreements (subcontractors) to support the development of infrastructure needed for the high quality implementation of grantee-selected evidence-based home visitation programs to prevent child maltreatment. CB/ACF funded Mathematica Policy Research and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago to design and conduct a participatory and utilization-focused cross-site evaluation of the subcontractors’ programs. The primary purpose of the cross-site evaluation was to augment the existing evidence base by identifying successful strategies for adopting, implementing, and sustaining high quality home visiting programs to prevent child maltreatment. The national cross-site evaluation included four domains: (1) systems change and infrastructure building, (2) fidelity to evidence-based home visiting models, (3) cost analysis, and (4) a process study. The project will archive data used to assess the fidelity to five evidence-based home visiting models, including data on staff and participant characteristics, service data, and the Working Alliance Inventory, an instrument design to assess home visitor-participant relationships. Data were submitted by 48 implementing agencies from 16 of the EBHV subcontractors. These data describe service delivery between October 1, 2009 and June 30, 2012. Researchers who are interested in this Restricted dataset should email NDACAN to request the dataset codebooks before they decide to apply for this dataset. Investigators: Boller, K., Daro, D. A., Del Grasso, P., Cole, R., Paulsell, D., Hart, B., Coffee-Borden, B., Strong, D., & Hargreaves, M.