The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Quick Start Action Planners (QSAPs) are web-based self-assessment tools designed to help state and local leaders identify areas of strength and challenges as they prepare their workforce systems for the implementation of WIOA. The WIOA QSAPs are designed to help leaders at all levels of the public workforce system plan for this transformation and prepare for implementation of WIOA. Once users obtain their results, they will be directed towards a WIOA Action Plan to assist them in implementing necessary changes, as well as other helpful resources. This webinar shows how to use the QSAPs, and illustrates how its results can be used as dynamic tool to start a dialogue between board members and workforce system partners.

This toolkit from the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration is designed to provide the workforce system with a framework, resources, and tools for State and local partners to develop, implement, and sustain career pathways programs. The toolkit includes the Six Key Elements of Career Pathways, facilitator tools, and resources.

The Institute on Assets and Social Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University published this guidebook to support human service agencies' efforts to incorporate asset building into their practices. This resource will help agencies delve into the complex economic challenges faced by diverse populations, address barriers to create longer-term strategies, and increase opportunity and well-being by focusing on and eliminating structural barriers that are shaped by race, ethnicity, and culture.

The West Coast Poverty Center released a new Poverty Research Flash, highlighting new research on the causes, consequences, and effective policy recommendations to poverty. This issue focuses on intra-year household income dynamics and adolescent school behaviors. The researchers speculated that parental stress resulting from income instability may translate into less effective parenting, which can lead to children’s declining school performance and engagement.

Between 70 million and 100 million Americans, or as many as one in three American adults, have some type of criminal record. Furthermore, between 33 million and 36.5 million children in the United States, or nearly half of all American children, have at least one parent with a criminal record. Even a minor criminal record can present obstacles to employment, housing, education, public assistance, financial empowerment, and more. This report advocates for a two-generation approach to address barriers to opportunity associated with having a criminal record. Additionally, the report offers policy recommendations to give parents with criminal records and their children opportunities to succeed.

In 2011, fourteen tribes and tribal organizations received grants from the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) for Coordination of Tribal TANF and Child Welfare Services to Tribal Families. These grants were designed to provide innovative and relevant approaches to coordinating services between TANF and child welfare systems. This report from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation summarizes the grantees’ experiences with direct services and interagency coordination thus far. One key finding was that most grantees reported challenges in staffing, engaging project partners, and retaining the highest-risk families. However, all of the grantees reported progress toward their goals.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation presents findings from a study of two behavioral interventions: one that used behavioral messaging postcards and text messages to encourage participation in an optional meeting, and one that made the meeting easier to attend. The meeting was for Paycheck Plus, an earnings supplement program in which participants had previously enrolled. The study found that behavioral messaging led to a significant increase in the percentage of attending participants, sending text messages in addition to postcards was more effective than solely sending postcards, and there was no significant difference in response rates between the phone and in-person participants. The evidence shows the promise of using behavioral insights in marketing materials for more effective outcomes, as well as the challenges of engaging a low-income, urban population.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Re-Integration of Ex-Offenders Program provides three main types of services to ex-offenders: mentoring, including one-on-one and group mentoring; employment services such as work readiness training, job training, job placement, job clubs, transitional employment, and post-placement follow-up; and case management and supportive services. This report summarizes the initial impacts of the RExO program on offender outcomes in four areas: service receipt, labor market success, recidivism, and other outcomes. The findings suggest that RExO significantly increased the number and types of services received by ex-offenders.

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED), and the Department of Labor launched the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration (ETJD). These complementary research projects are evaluating the effectiveness of 13 subsidized employment models in ten locations across the country. The programs target “hard to employ” groups, including TANF participants, people with criminal backgrounds, and young people out of school or work, and offers subsidies for learning employment skills while working.

According to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2014, 48.1 million people lived in food-insecure households. Food insecurity is defined as having limited access to food because of lack of money or other resources. Food insecure households are more likely to have children, be headed by a single mother, and live below 130 percent of the poverty threshold. This brief spotlight focuses on food insecurity and the importance of food assistance programs for family well-being.