This webcast from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity features Dr. Yvette Jackson, the author of The Pedagogy of Confidence: Inspiring High Intellectual Performance in Urban Schools. She discusses the importance of focusing on students’ strengths to inspire learning and high intellectual performance, especially for low-income students. The discussion is led by Anthony Rebora, Editor of Education Week Teacher and the Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook.

This update to Maryland’s legislatively-mandated Life after Welfare research study describes the characteristics and post-welfare outcomes of 9,788 families who left Maryland’s welfare program, Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), for at least one full month between January 2004 and March 2014. The report presents information on clients and their cases at time of exit, tracks employment outcomes and welfare utilization over time, and analyzes the use of work supports.

This resource from FindYouthInfo.gov consists of an interactive mapping tool to locate federally supported youth programs in communities across the United States. Users are able to search by full address or zip code, and then can click on the program markers to see the program title, CFDA number, department, funding agency, recipient name, and full address.

Iowa’s Reliable Employment and Child Support Help program, or REACH, aims to improve the financial well-being of children by increasing the engagement of non-custodial parents in Polk County through different service offerings. The non-custodial parents are provided with job development, child support assistance, and parenting and financial education training.

This issue brief features examples of career pathways initiatives that incorporate the work of employers, educators, and workforce development practitioners. It describes principles for successfully implementing career pathways programs that allow hard-to-employ populations to enter and advance in the workforce.

“Our American Story” is an interactive virtual community of low-income families, service providers, and community leaders seeking to increase economic opportunity for all by sharing their personal stories. Contributors share personal stories of how they or other people have been assisted by child care, affordable housing, low-income tax credits, and many other important services.

This report from the Work Support Strategies (WSS) initiative describes leadership among state health and human services officials implementing large-scale systems reform. The WSS initiative is a multi-state demonstration that offers six states the support needed to integrate and streamline delivery of work support benefits, like SNAP, Medicaid, and child care. The report offers lessons based on surveys of staff and leaders in WSS states, including communicating a clear vision for serving clients, promoting shared accountability for achieving goals, and making progress on those goals.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) developed this ACF Confidentiality Toolkit to help jurisdictions successfully navigate the delicate balance between privacy and security with the delivery of efficient and effective services. The ACF Confidentiality Toolkit analyzes, explains, and aids states and local jurisdictions in the navigation of a number of federal laws that impact the implementation of human services. Embedded throughout are sample documents from across the country from which jurisdictions using the Toolkit can borrow freely.

This blog entry highlights new issue briefs that examine three types of programs relating to youth in or transitioning out of foster care. The program topics are education, financial literacy and asset-building, and employment. Each brief contains recommendations for policymakers and program staff to consider when conducting future evaluations of independent living programs. The briefs demonstrate the unique needs and circumstances of youth in foster care.