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.

The Utah Family Employment Program Agreement of Mutual Responsibility establishes terms of partnership between the TANF customer and Department of Workforce Services (DWS) employment counselor to ensure that the customer understands what is required to participate in the Family Employment Program. It is presented here in both English and Spanish.

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 Academy consists of seven training modules plus follow-up activities. The Case Management I Training module addressed Motivational Interviewing, assessment, and engaging with TANF participants. The resources include: Motivational Interviewing I Skills, Sample Questions to Elicit Responses from Customers, Assessment in Action, Family Employment Program: Agreement of Mutual Responsibility (in English and Spanish), Talking Points on the Utah DWS Substance Abuse Determination Process, and a Coaching Guide on Identifying Case Management Skills and Strategies to Use When Working with Customers who Demonstrate Difficult Behavior.

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 Academy consists of seven training modules plus follow up activities. These Academy Training Strategy materials illustrate how the Academy is delivered and include: a cohort training schedule; a timeline for training module rollout throughout the year; and a description of “Throughput Rounds,” which is a tool for supervisors to assess skill transfer and reinforce learning.

The National Hire Network Clearinghouse provides contact information for state-specific government agencies and community-based organizations that can assist people who have criminal records. Assistance may include providing job-related and legal services, answering questions from individuals with criminal records, or offering referrals to other useful organizations.

These worksheets from the Battered Women’s Justice Project are designed to help family court practitioners record, summarize, integrate and synthesize information gathered about abuse; consider implications for family court processes; and ensure that practitioners’ actions are directly responsive to the actual implications of the abuse for each particular family.