In 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL) launched the Youth Employment Works strategy to set a clear vision for young people in the workforce system and its public and private sector partners. This work is urgent and necessary to promote high…

Youth apprenticeships are structured, work-based learning opportunities that offer young people, particularly young people of color and those from low-income households, the opportunity to learn specialized skills that they can use throughout…

Experiments conducted in the mid-1990s show that a combination of work requirements and work supports substantially increased the employment of cash assistance recipients in Aid to Families with Dependent Children, while having little effect on…

This article notes that while the financial return from a bachelor’s degree is softening, even as the price of tuition and average debt load for college students remain high, high school graduates are so effectively encouraged to get a bachelor’s…

This Wisconsin Department of Health Services webpage includes a section featuring the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model. IPS is a supported employment model that helps people with mental health and substance use disorders find and keep…

January is National Mentoring Month—an opportunity to recognize the dedicated mentors whose wisdom, guidance, and positive examples set new workers on a path to success, and to affirm the value of mentorship in the career trajectory of jobs-…

The Works Wonders^® curriculum…

Youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems — sometimes referred to as crossover, dually-involved, dually-adjudicated, or dual-system youth — require a special focus. An intentional approach is needed because involvement…

For young parents juggling work, school, and child care, supporting their families while transitioning into adulthood can be challenging. Parents with low incomes and those who have been involved with the foster care or criminal legal systems…

Soft skills, also known as “noncognitive,” “employability,” “baseline,” or “twenty-first-century” skills, are the capabilities and habits that affect social-emotional abilities related to communication, social interactions, and problem-solving.…