Ramsey County, Minnesota’s welfare counselors draft long-term employment plans for their clients. Instead of pushing clients into getting the first available job, they create plans that are broken down into manageable steps. This article from Governing Magazine highlights this innovative approach and its benefits.

The Children’s Institute, Inc. (CII), located in Los Angeles, California, combines clinical mental health and other supports to serve children and families affected by trauma. This report from MDRC presents findings from an evaluation of CII’s service model and delivery of evidence-based practices.

In addition to academic, technical, and professional skills, today’s workers also need a set of personal success skills. Personal success skills are skills that allow adults to deal with challenges, relationships, and transitions involved in the workplace. This report from SRI Education and the Joyce Foundation highlights the need for unemployed and underemployed adults to hone these skills in order to build a sustainable career.

Ascend at the Aspen Institute offers a case study on Colorado’s two-generation efforts within their human services system. Some of the strategies implemented by Colorado include: more holistic practice models and policies; broad partnerships between state government, counties, nonprofits, and philanthropies; smart planning and resilient execution; testing and course adjustments; and embedding two-generation approaches into existing efforts, instead of creating separate programs.

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.

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.

This webinar, sponsored by the Pathways to Careers Network and presented by Women Employed and the Chicago Jobs Council, reviewed Career Foundations: Making Your Education Work for You. This new tool is designed to connect adult education with careers and increase the number of transitions to postsecondary education. This tool provides low-skilled adults connections to local occupational and academic programs to increase economic opportunity.

In this report from the Urban Institute, the authors identify and discuss 13 building blocks that they deem fundamental to advancing the economic mobility of low-income Americans. The building blocks include: family formation and stability; parenting skills; high-quality child care and early learning; elementary and secondary education; postsecondary education; employment and training; wages, wage supplements, and work supports; cash or near-cash safety net; asset formation and access to capital; health and mental health; criminal justice and safety; housing; and community building and social capital.