Two-generation models aim to interrupt the cycle of poverty by providing services for low-income children and their parents. However, the models themselves vary widely and policymakers and practitioners need guidance on how to best design them to achieve their ambitious goals and capitalize on their multiplier effects. This brief from the Urban Institute builds on the insights from the Housing Opportunities and Services Together (HOST) Demonstration and presents an updated theoretical framework for two-generation models. The framework emphasizes the importance of using family goals as the lens for targeting individual family members, setting individual goals, and aligning tailored solutions.

This brief from the Family Welfare Research and Training Group looks at the experience of individuals after participation in Maryland’s Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program. The findings indicate that a substantial number were “disconnected leavers” with no source of income after they exited the program. Disconnected leavers are those who are simultaneously not participating in the workforce and not receiving cash assistance, whether TCA benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The brief provides a profile of short-term disconnected leavers and shows how they differ from longer-term disconnected leavers.

More than 5 million U.S. children have had a parent in jail or prison at some point in their lives. The incarceration of a parent can have as much impact on a child’s well-being as abuse or domestic violence. However, while substantial amounts are spent on corrections, few resources exist to support family members left behind. This report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shares proposals to address the increased poverty and stress experienced by the children of incarcerated parents.

This resource from CLASP presents 12 key lessons from the Work Support Strategies (WSS) initiative, which provided grant funds and technical assistance to help six states (Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, and Idaho) analyze their service delivery systems and implement improvements to ensure that more families get the full package of work support benefits for which they are eligible. The information can help leaders and advocates in other states review programs and streamline processes to ensure that low-income working families can access and keep benefits for as long as they are eligible.

Evidence suggests that neighborhoods matter for low-income individuals’ life trajectories. Extensive federal and foundation resources have been devoted to “place-based” strategies designed to help individuals by addressing the communities where they live. Two main strategies have emerged: 1) attempts to help people living in settings of concentrated poverty move to areas of economic opportunity, and 2) efforts to improve or preserve neighborhoods for current and future residents who have low incomes. This brief from MDRC summarizes information from recent studies of these strategies. For example, there were long-term benefits, such as higher incomes and college attainment, for children who were 12 or younger when their families moved to lower-poverty neighborhoods through the federal housing voucher program. However, encouraging low-income families to move to higher-income neighborhoods cannot be the only policy response. Instead, there must be complementary and interconnected strategies to improve neighborhoods for low-income residents and increase their mobility.

To inform local stakeholders of implementation strategies of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in Colorado, The Colorado Workforce Development Council held a regional meeting in Alamosa on June 16, 2015. Handouts from the meeting are available by visiting this website.

 

The COPES tool from EdITS focuses on how personal values impact occupational selection and job satisfaction. Individuals take the test in 20-30 minutes and the results can be used to supplement programs in educational and industrial career counseling.

The Self Directed Search tool from Hollandcodes.com & Paint Careers With Colors is a career planning test that assesses an individual's interests, abilities, and personality and matches them to occupations or education based on this information. The test has different versions, including an easy to read version for adults and high school seniors.