Strategies

Provide information and increase motivation to change or prevent problematic alcohol consumption in a short session; also called alcohol screening & brief intervention

Provide financial assistance to working parents, or parents attending school, to pay for child care

Use specialized courts to offer criminal offenders with drug dependency problems an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Provide at-risk expectant parents and families with young children with information, support, and training regarding child health, development, and care from prenatal stages through early childhood via trained home visitors

Expand refundable earned income tax credits for working individuals and families with low to moderate incomes

Use specialized courts to work with parents involved in the child welfare system who may lose custody of their children due to substance abuse

Adopt policies that allow custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to collect all child support paid by the non-custodial parent; no portion is retained by the state

Teach parenting skills in a group setting using a standardized curriculum, often based on behavioral or cognitive-behavioral approaches and focused on parents of at-risk children

Increase the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly compensation that employers may legally pay to workers

Provide home visiting services to low income, first time mothers and their babies, starting during pregnancy and continuing through a child’s second birthday