Human-Centered Design (HCD) is a process and a mindset for addressing complex problems by designing solutions with those who will ultimately use the solution (i.e., end users). Because of its inherent focus on end users or recipients of services, HCD appears to have potential for promoting effective, efficient, and compassionate service delivery that is aligned with the mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

In 2018, ACF’s Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) initiated the Human-Centered Design for Human Services (HCD4HS) project to explore the viability of HCD in addressing the complex problems facing public sector human services programs. This project included a review of the knowledge base to define HCD and describe how it has been used and evaluated in the human services context, and a pilot study to evaluate the implementation of HCD, with a focus on assessing its evaluability. This report presents the findings from this pilot study.

Between 2010 and 2021, the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program funded two rounds of grants (referred to as HPOG 1.0 and HPOG 2.0) for education, training, support services, and employment assistance to prepare Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. This report examines the career progress and wage outcomes of participants in HPOG 2.0. The report compares the value of completing multiple entry-level trainings or obtaining multiple entry-level credentials against completing one entry-level training or obtaining one entry-level credential. Information is included that can help future program operators consider whether the time and cost for participants to take multiple entry-level trainings or obtain multiple credentials will lead to improved employment opportunities.

WorkRise will host a set of webinars from October 18 to October 20, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET as part of a three-day conference entitled, "Charting a Resilient Future for US Workers: Solutions to Navigate an Uncertain Economy." The webinars will highlight the highs and lows that workers and families have faced as a result of seismic shifts in the economy. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a once-in-a-lifetime economic shock, followed by a robust government response to stabilize the economy. Nearly three years later, a tight labor market has led to historic wage growth and better jobs—particularly for workers earning low wages. Inflation, however, has undermined these gains, and policies to control prices could lead to higher unemployment. Longer-term trends such as income inequality, automation, climate change, and demographic shifts pose uncertainty for the present and future of work.

The conference explores the challenge and promise of the current moment, innovative policies and practices aimed at improving job quality and economic mobility, and creative, cross-sector solutions that are turning risk into resilience so that workers, businesses, and communities can thrive. Each day’s webinar will be anchored around a specific theme – The Challenge and Promise of the Current Moment (October 18); Innovative Practices to Shape the Future of Work (October 19); Turning Threats into Opportunity (October 20) – with presentations from stakeholder networks, including workers, employers, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and advocates who will share actionable insights and solutions to navigate the road ahead. Workers will also share reflections on their experiences with economic uncertainty and their hopes about the future.

This report provides statistics on food security in U.S. households throughout 2021 based on the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement data collected in December 2021. Statistics showed that 10.2 percent of households were food insecure at least some time during the year, including 3.8 percent with very low food security. About 56 percent of food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest Federal nutrition assistance programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the National School Lunch Program during the month prior to the 2021 survey.

This report is the second in a series on the implementation and impacts of a novel program that sought to integrate Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) into an employment training program for young adults. To develop and implement the program, Family and Workforce Centers of America, a long-standing provider of employment training in St. Louis, Missouri, enhanced one of its traditional employment training programs to include lessons from a widely implemented relationship education curriculum, along with additional content on workplace relationship skills and personal finances. The integrated program called Career STREAMS (Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services) offered daily workshops for two weeks covering employment-related topics and information on HMRE, weekly booster sessions following the workshops, and individualized case management and job development services. This report documents the study methods, describes program costs and implementation, and presents program impacts after one year.

For much of 2022, the U.S. has enjoyed an unusually strong labor market. Unemployment is historically low, and job creation is well above the level needed to keep pace with population growth. By some measures, such as wage growth, the labor market is especially solid for many lower-wage workers. However, this does not mean that all workers are participating in the labor market at the rates they had prior to the pandemic. This blogpost summarizes research indicating less-educated couples became more likely during the COVID-19 pandemic to include only one labor force participant. The findings indicate that parents of young children report that caregiving is increasingly the reason given for their labor force nonparticipation.

Human-Centered Design (HCD) is a problem-solving and design approach that appears to have potential for promoting effective, efficient, and compassionate service delivery aligned with the mission of the Administration for Children and Families. However, implementation of HCD within human services is relatively novel. This brief presents a definition of HCD that is applicable to the context of human services delivery, differentiates HCD from similar design and problem-solving approaches, and describes how HCD is being used in human services. It also explores what is currently known about evaluation efforts to date including facilitators to HCD implementation.

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison will host a webinar on September 28, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET which will discuss research on the shift in work and family life among low-income parents. While labor market conditions have shifted significantly in the early 21st century, supports and resources available to families have not always kept pace with needs and demand. This has created particularly challenging circumstances for lower-income households with children and has highlighted the need for policy innovation. This webinar features presentations from researchers who contributed to “Low-Income Families in the Twenty-First Century: Effective Public Policy Responses,” a recent issue of The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Chief Evaluation Office, in partnership with the Department’s Employment and Training Administration, will host a webinar on October 13, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET to highlight key findings from the recently released Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project. During the webinar, there will be a screening of four short videos from the Department’s Evidence Coffee Break series, where researchers will share actionable information for practitioners thinking about designing or improving career pathways programs, and hold a live question and answer session with the study team.

Topics covered in the session include:
• How well has the career pathways approach worked?
• Launchpad occupations and why they matter for career pathways programs
• Career advancement from mid-level occupations for women and people of color
• Evidence-based insights for career pathways and other employment and training programs

Access to high-quality, accessible, and affordable early care and education is essential to the economic wellbeing of families and child care providers, who are fundamental for robust and resilient state and national economies. This blogpost notes that the lack of child care funding has led to significant tradeoffs resulting in inequitable policies and limited access for families who need it the most. Families with low incomes spend a higher percent of their income on care than high-income families. Unable to devote this share of resources, families with low incomes often face hard choices such as using lower-quality, less safe care; having to neglect other expenses like food; or even exiting the workforce completely. Investments that support a high-quality, accessible child care and early education system will pay long-term dividends for the economy.