The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has released a guide for Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) in a report titled Navigating Federal Programs to Build Sustainable Career Pathways in the Health Professions. This report explains the requirements and performance accountability systems of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the workforce and adult education programs supported under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Titles I and II. The report also discusses specific strategies that States can use to overcome potential barriers caused by the disparate requirements of these programs.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) has recently released the Engaging Employers to Support Adult Career Pathways Programs issue brief as part of their ongoing effort to support the development of high-quality Adult Career Pathway (ACP) programs. The new issue brief provides strategies and promising practices that support States and programs tackling the issue of employer engagement.

In March of 2012, the WPTA Network collaborated with Arkansas's Career Pathways Initiative - a partnership between Arkansas's Department of Higher Education and Department of Workforce Services - to learn more about their program's growth and the successes with workforce-ready adults.

This podcast highlights the Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative (CPI), which provides a comprehensive set of academic and support services designed to enable low-income, low-skilled individuals to acquire the degrees and/or credentials required to obtain and hold jobs in high-demand, high-wage industries. Staff from the Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative explained the complexity of the collaborations necessary to provide services that enable low-income job seekers to receive educational services, as well as how to help participants understand the importance of education in addition to work activities and employment.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a Webinar on August 28, 2012 to provide Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) agencies, workforce organizations, and other human services stakeholders with an overview of the strategies that can be used to provide low-income individuals with stackable credentials that will lead to long-term, sustainable employment. The Webinar featured information on what stackable credentials and career pathways are and how they can help low-income individuals achieve success. Presenters also provided information on methods for stackable credential/career pathways program design, as well as methods for integrating these components into transitional jobs and subsidized employment programs, and encouraged collaboration between government agencies and community partners to better serve TANF participants. Presenters included representatives from Heartland Human Care Services - Heartland Alliance, the Minnesota FastTRAC Initiative, the New York City Parks Opportunity Program (POP), and the Edmonds Community College HPOG program - Creating Access to Careers in Healthcare (CATCH).

The Center on Law and Social Policy's Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success launched the Alliance for Quality Career Pathways (AQCP). The goal of the AQCP is to identify benchmarks for measuring high-quality career pathways programs. Currently, at least 10 States are conducting Statewide career pathways programs. Successful career pathways programs are tailored to the local context, so there is no one-size-fits-all model, but the goal of the AQCP is to identify a broad range of benchmarks that can be applicable to multiple industries, target populations, and program designs.