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.