A growing body of research suggests there is a high economic return to participation in Adult Basic Skills (ABS) programs. This research brief, from Portland State University, is the first of a series of Research Briefs that utilize data from the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning (LSAL) to examine long-term impacts of ABS program participation on a range of outcome measures. This first report considers the impact on their earnings. Subsequent reports will examine the impact of participation on literacy proficiency, General Educational Development (GED) attainment, engagement in postsecondary education, and voting in general elections (a measure of civic engagement).

This study, published by the Opportunity Collaborative, provides a detailed look at barriers to employment across the Baltimore region. Research was gathered through interviews with workforce development managers, as well as a survey of over 1,000 active job seekers. It views workforce barriers not as separate issues, but rather as a complex network requiring comprehensive solutions. Transportation is examined in context to associative issues including social barriers, racism, a lack of education, and housing – making it an important resource for understanding challenges to self-sufficiency. Findings report that low-income neighborhoods, which are constrained by limited public transport, are unable to access job centers across the city. Twenty-five percent of job seekers cannot access jobs via public transport, since job creation is increasingly happening outside of the city. When public transport is available, limited service schedules inhibit its effectiveness. This keeps off-peak workers from getting to and from work, and makes it difficult for individuals to easily travel between home, child care, and work.

This report from the Midas Collaborative details an evaluation of their Small Business Matched Savings Program over an eight-year period from March 2007 to February 2015. During this time, the program helped 302 low-income business owners expand their businesses through a combination of dedicated savings accounts, financial education, small-business training, and matching funds.

This MDRC report provides findings from the evaluation of Project Rise, which was operated between 2011 and 2015 by five organizations: three were in New York City; one in Newark, New Jersey; and one in Kansas City, Missouri. The project served 18- to 24-year-olds who lacked a high school diploma or the equivalent and had been out of school, out of work, and not in any type of education or training program for at least six months. The report describes how the program operated at each local provider, explains the extent to which participants were engaged, and presents findings related to achievement of the desired outcomes.

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 2016 report on Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors, from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), provides indicators and risk factors through 2013 for most indicators, reflecting changes that have taken place since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in August 1996.

Twenty years after the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996, the Manhattan Institute has published this report examining poverty trends over the past two decades. The report focuses primarily on child poverty, deep poverty, and extreme poverty rates.

In 2016, Utah Department of Workforce Services launched the “Family Employment Program (FEP) Refocus Academy” to train FEP case workers on Utah’s new family-focused case management model. The trainings were reinforced with coaching from FEP supervisors. These resources are from the coaching training that the supervisors received.

• Course 1: definition of coaching; elements of effective coaching; reasons behind coaching.
• Course 2: effective communications; how supervisors can develop effective working relationships with and motivate their teams; how to conduct effective coaching sessions.
• Course 3: practice coaching principles.

This newly released issue brief from the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) provides information and examples of how TANF agencies can support postsecondary completion for TANF recipients through work-study programs. Through these programs, TANF recipients may gain vital financial support while working toward credentials, as well as obtain relevant work experience that can improve their chances of finding a job that provides economic stability.

Jobs-Plus is a place-based workforce development model to help public housing residents find employment. The model was tested in six cities between 1998 and 2006 and is now being replicated across the United States. This infographic from MDRC presents the history of the program, shows the evidence behind the approach, and describes its three core components: on-site employment services, rent-based work incentives, and community support for work.

The most recent WIOA regulations described how education and workforce development partners can design and implement a key strategy in career pathways: Integrated Education and Training (IET). IET programs are designed to help participants seek goal-oriented, practical knowledge. This publication from CLASP provides examples of successful IET programs and includes resources for state and local leaders interested in utilizing IET promising practices in their communities.