The flexibility of a county’s workforce is crucial for success. The National Association of Counties will be hosting a webinar on January 18, 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, to showcase successful workforce programs in coal and manufacturing communities. This webinar is a collaboration between NACo’s Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities (BRECC) National Network and Counties for Career Success initiatives.

To learn more about workforce supports for system-involved young people, Urban Institute researchers identified programs that were using effective strategies to help system-involved individuals avoid detention or incarceration and find employment. The purpose of the study was to highlight examples of successful partnerships and effective partnership strategies involving community-based workforce service providers, public agencies, and stakeholders. Part of a series using findings from a multiphase study on community-based workforce development programs for youth and young adults ages 16 to 24 involved in the criminal legal system, this brief details the landscape of funding strategies and sources used by workforce programs, the blended funding approach and site-specific examples of what blending funding allows programs to do, and examples of how funders factor strategic planning and innovation into their funding decisions.

For people with disabilities, the decision to disclose information about a disability can be nuanced and complex. Creating an apprenticeship environment that is welcoming and inclusive for people with disabilities requires an understanding of an array of legal and ethical issues that are at play. This Jobs for the Future brief shares the various topics related to disability disclosure and self-identification, including the legal parameters regarding disclosure and other important matters that must be taken into consideration by apprenticeship sponsors, employers, providers of related technical instruction, and workforce partners, as well as program applicants and apprentices themselves.

The targeting and scale of missing Indigenous relatives is deeply concerning and rooted in historical injustices, marginalization, and socio-economic disparities. The connection between exploitation and the displacement of Indigenous communities underscores the importance of addressing the root causes of vulnerability. This involves enhancing collaboration between Indigenous leaders, law enforcement, and policy makers to develop effective strategies for prevention, intervention, and support for victims and their families as described in the findings of the Not Invisible Act Commission. This blogpost from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) and the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) provides resources for tribal leaders, Indigenous-led organizations, and state and federal partners committed to searching for missing relatives and loved ones. The resources include a podcast series on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, a paper on culturally based prevention strategies, online trainings on strengthening screening and trauma-informed responses to human trafficking – and more.

Service coordination can help people achieve and maintain housing stability, wellness, and independence by identifying and connecting the services and supports they want and need. A strategy to increase access to this service coordination is “braiding”, which laces together funds from multiple sources - each funding unique activities - to support a common goal while maintaining the specific program identity of each individual funding source. The Housing and Services Resource Center, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will host a webinar on January 31, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, which will feature two models for braiding funding streams across sectors to maximize the use of existing resources and broaden access to service coordination. Presenters will discuss program structure, funding and braiding process, partnerships, and outcomes, and participants will learn ideas for adapting these models to extend access to service coordination.

Benefit cliffs describe incremental increases in income that result in major, destabilizing losses to critical benefits. The cliffs are a major impediment to families successfully participating in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training (E&T) services and transitioning from assistance into family-sustaining wages. Depending on the state and wage, the new job may come with the loss of other benefits like Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as well. This American Public Human Services Assocation brief explores the challenges SNAP E&T participants face during the critical first months after they have obtained unsubsidized employment.

Read part one here.

Even in areas with strong public transit, many low-income families face transportation barriers that limit their access to good jobs. Vehicles for Change (VFC) is tackling this head-on, not just by providing cars, but by equipping individuals with the skills to maintain them and create a career path for themselves through their groundbreaking Virtual Reality (VR) Auto Technician Training Program. The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals hosted a webinar where attendees will hear about:

• The impact of reliable transportation and VR-powered skills training on breaking the cycle of generational poverty;
• A new training approach with VR; and
• National expansion plans.

Toxic stress and trauma are unfortunate and common experiences, affecting many individuals’ abilities to succeed in education, employment, and life at large. Recent studies show that 60-70% of adults have experienced at least one of the most common types of traumatic experiences, adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Individuals with two ACEs are 1.5 times more likely to have employment struggles, 1.4 times more likely to be absent from work (2 out of 30 days), and 1.8 times more likely to have financial issues. This Corporation for a Skilled Workforce blogpost explains different traumas and how trauma or toxic stress can show up in workforce development.

Latino parents with low incomes were especially hard-hit by COVID-19 pandemic-related closures and disruptions to their jobs and to their childcare arrangements — challenges exacerbated by Hispanic workers’ structural concentration within industries and occupations that offer few benefits and flexibilities needed to respond to childcare disruptions. This Hispanic Research Center brief presents findings on employment patterns among these parents and on workplace flexibilities adopted (or not) by the industries in which they are employed and discusses potential programmatic and policy interventions to support family well-being and childcare needs moving forward.