Higher family incomes are associated with a variety of positive effects on child well-being, and by connecting parents to career pathways in high-demand industries, states can foster more family stability. In this brief from Ascend at the Aspen Institute, the ways in which TANF funding can be used to support career pathway programs are discussed. The brief provides recommendations to help states increase access to career pathways (e.g., state and local service coordination), as well as a discussion of some benefits of gradually phasing out critical supports as parents start on the path to stable careers.

There are seven million or more working-age men in the United States who are not engaged in the workforce, and a variety of causes for this situation have been suggested. In this publication from the American Enterprise Institute, the authors address several of potential causes for the decline in work activity among these men and discuss policies that could be used to address the issues. The publication also recommends a focus on men with severe barriers to work, such as those with criminal histories or substance abuse issues and men who are noncustodial parents.

Girls and women who are at risk for justice system involvement or who are justice system involved have different pathways to involvement and different risk factors, so gender-responsive programs have been targeting services to girls and women who are at risk for entering the typically male-dominated system. In this brief, MDRC examines results from their evaluation of the PACE Center for Girls program in Florida to explain how gender-responsive principles work in practice. Components of gender-responsive programs, such as a strengths-based approach, are discussed, and experiences of girls in the program are shared.

Integrated Education and Training (IET) helps adults prepare for the workforce by combining basic skills training with training for in-demand occupations. In this report, compiled by CLASP, research about IET is presented, as well as guidelines for how IET fits into career pathways efforts. Funding for IET programs and additional services that can be offered to participants in IET programs (e.g., career navigation) are also discussed.

In this brief from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, strategies used by Responsible Fatherhood reentry programs to enhance the fathers’ parenting skills are discussed, such as building knowledge of child development, increasing communication, and providing assistance with child support. Also included are recommendations for practitioners who offer responsible parenting services to reentry populations.

Young adults are more likely to avoid poverty if they follow a “success sequence” in this order: earning at least a high school diploma, working full-time, and getting married before having children. This blog post from the Administration for Children and Families describes a recent report from the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Family Studies about millennials following this success sequence. The researchers found that 95% of millennials who married first before having children were not poor, but 72% of millennials who had children before marrying were poor. Millennials were also more likely to make it into the middle or higher end of the income distribution by age 28-34 if they married before having children. The blog post also describes ACF programs that can prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancy and promote healthy marriages.

The Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP) in New York City was recently evaluated; this report from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation presents implementation and early impact results from the evaluation. The YAIP program serves youth between ages 16 and 24 who are disconnected from school and work and offers support services and a temporary paid internship. The early outcomes indicate that program participation did increase the likelihood of employment and higher earnings for these youth, compared to participants in the control group, during the year after random assignment.

Rapid re-housing is a strategy to combat family homelessness; ideally it entails using housing identification services to provide families with permanent housing and a short-term rental subsidy while also offering supportive services, possibly including employment assistance. In this report, Heartland Alliance analyzes the implementation of these programs, using interviews with rapid re-housing providers to make suggestions that could strengthen the implementation of these initiatives. A focus of the recommendations is on ensuring that connections to stable employment or training are facilitated as part of the rapid re-housing process.

This issue brief from MDRC highlights key findings about job training programs that lead to success with various populations, including youth and dislocated workers. Of particular importance are programs with employer engagement and programs that are career-focused, both of which have been shown to be effective when implemented correctly. The brief shares recent innovations in career training as well as lessons learned from successful programs.

In this fact sheet from the Urban Institute, several ways in which states can promote economic development through investment in the workforce are profiled. Occupational and job training, customized training programs, workforce intermediaries, and apprenticeship programs are all discussed as strategies to help states build a skilled labor pool. In turn, the influx of skilled workers can promote economic development by meeting employer needs and supporting the growth of new business.