Young adulthood is a crucial period that can determine a person’s success later in life by setting a trajectory for work experience, education and training, and financial stability. Unfortunately, many previously incarcerated young adults face collateral consequences from policies and laws that make it difficult to obtain employment and education even after they are released from incarceration. This Center for American Progress issue brief offers recommendations and highlights promising practices at the state and local levels for improving the economic outcomes of reentering young adults, addressing barriers to reentry, and reducing recidivism.

WorkforceGPS will host a virtual session on July 27, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET that will provide technical assistance to workforce-oriented entities looking to better identify occupational segregation, which perpetuates wage disparities and hinders career advancement. In attending, participants will learn tangible ways to access and use publicly available data to understand the impact of occupational segregation in their communities. The webinar will feature a live demonstration of disaggregating publicly available data and will also feature guest speakers who will share practical examples of how data can be used to inform program practices and policies.

In 2014, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a treatment improvement protocol manual entitled Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services, as well as Concept of Trauma, which served as a landmark publication that has influenced service provision beyond the areas of behavioral health and health care. Trauma continues to be a cross-SAMHSA priority, given its significant role in behavioral health prevention, treatment, and recovery. This updated guide expands the discussion presented in SAMHSA’s earlier resources, specifically focusing on tools and strategies for implementing a trauma-informed approach (TIA). The guide highlights the need for organizational assessment of readiness and capacity before implementing TIA and describes strategies for such assessments.

Family economic well-being — including financial, material, and related socio-emotional resources — can support a family’s long-term stability, a positive home environment, and children’s healthy development. Yet, 1 in 10 families with children live below the poverty line. Early childhood home visiting (ECHV) has the potential to support families’ economic well-being. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration initiated the Supporting Family Economic Well-Being through Home Visiting project to better understand how to define and measure family economic well-being and to learn how ECHV agencies have supported or could support it. This report summarizes the findings from targeted reviews of literature and practice documents from ECHV and related fields, such as social work, child welfare, and employment- and income-focused supports.

The Launch Pathways Initiative (Launch) is a national college and career pathways initiative focused on advancing high-quality, equitable, and sustainable pathways models at scale. The Launch Partners provide technical assistance to twelve teams from eleven states, organized into two cohorts: the Impact Cohort and the Innovation Cohort. While state teams in both cohorts focus on building more equitable and sustainable college and career pathways systems, the cohorts will follow two distinct paths. This New America blogpost provides a glimpse into the work of the Impact Cohort.

The Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides states with unprecedented amounts of funding to deploy broadband infrastructure, improve affordability, and ensure meaningful adoption in communities. Governors are investing in high-speed internet to grow economies and empower people to fully participate in digital society. Yet up to 205,000 fiber optic technicians, as well as thousands of additional engineers and construction workers, will be needed over the next five years to realize these goals. During the National Governor Association’s (NGA) 2023 Broadband Leaders Workshop, participants gathered to share best practices and discuss opportunities and challenges presented by different broadband measures. This NGA commentary explores three promising models for expanding the broadband workforce: leveraging sector partnerships, investing in apprenticeship, and partnering with community colleges.

The Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) Program is at the forefront of federal efforts to promote ongoing program learning and improvement in workforce policy by incorporating evidence building as a permanent feature of the program. In 2018, amendments to Section 306(c) of the Social Security Act permanently authorized RESEA and allocated funding for state evaluations. RESEA Evidence-Building Week will consist of four virtual panel sessions between August 8 – 10, 2023 which will highlight and celebrate the efforts and accomplishments of states in evaluating their RESEA Programs.

The capacity to plan for, design, and conduct evaluations takes appropriately allocated resources, expertise, technical assistance, and tools to create over time. WorkforceGPS will host a virtual session on July 26, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET that will highlight the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration’s efforts and those of two state workforce agencies to expand or build evidence and implement evaluations as required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. Along with representatives from Washington State and North Carolina, presenters will share insights about the evaluation and research community of practice, describe lessons learned from past Evaluation Peer Learning Cohorts (EvalPLC), and provide information about the next round of applications for the 2023 EvalPLC.

This alert is to ensure that NO family served by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) loses their medical coverage because of a lack of knowledge about the renewal process. Resources to support agencies as they help individuals renew coverage are provided below.

The key information that families need to receive:

• UPDATE contact information with the State Medicaid agency.
• RESPOND to the Medicaid renewal form when it comes in the mail. If they don't, they may lose their coverage even if they are still eligible.
• PARENTS should respond even if they are not eligible or enrolled in other coverage. Their children could still be eligible for coverage.
• CHECK OTHER OPTIONS: If no longer eligible for Medicaid, they should check if they can get coverage through their employer or through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace at www.healthcare.gov.
• To receive state-specific Medicaid renewal templates to help get the word out about the above information, contact a local Medicaid official.

For individual outreach, please consider these resources for office posting and distribution:

• State-specific Unwinding Flyers (in English and Spanish)
• State-specific information to help families update their contact information.

The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services has developed a Communications Toolkit to help people with Medicaid or CHIP take steps to renew their health coverage or find other coverage options. This Toolkit includes important messages and sample materials (drop-in articles, social media messages, and flyers).

Looking for something that can give specific actions to different community partners? This Call to Action lets different groups (e.g., states, unions, employers, the health care community) know what they can do to spread the word and get people's heath care renewed.