The U.S. Census Bureau released a report summarizing poverty rates by race and Hispanic origin for the United States, each separate State, and the District of Columbia. Poverty rates are also presented for selected detailed race and origin groups in the cities and towns with the largest populations of these groups. The American Community Survey's five-year data collection allowed for this analysis of poverty rates, an important indicator of community well-being.

The Institute of Research on Poverty (IRP) hosted Mr. Damon Jones, an economist at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, to talk about how the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other refundable tax credits can combine to create a large once-a-year payment for low-income tax filers, and how that payment structure affects the ways that those funds are used.

The Employment & Training Administration (ETA) have now made several of their most popular online tools available as mobile-optimized websites. These mobile tools will assist smartphone or tablet users locate American Job Centers, conduct online job searches, search for jobs for veterans, compare salaries for various occupations, and search for nearby job training providers. These changes are part of an ongoing effort to make workforce resources more accessible to a wider audience.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) released a report titled "Job Search Assistance Programs: A Review of the Literature." The report reviews research related to the relative effectiveness of various job search methods and the components of job search assistance (JSA) programs. The report provides an overview of current Federal JSA programs and the existing literature related to JSA with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged workers and heads of households.

Promising occupations for at-risk youth provide sufficient compensation and could put them on a path to becoming independent adults. To identify promising occupations, this brief examined four key features: 1) median earnings level, 2) education and training pre-requisites, 3) projected growth in labor-market demand, and 4) potential for individual advancement. Based on these criteria, opportunities in two fields are highlighted – health care and construction.  A number of work-based learning and career pathway programs are also discussed, including ACF’s Health Profession Opportunity Grants program. This brief was written as part of ACF’s Youth Demonstration Development project being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and the Chapin Hall Center for Children. (author abstract)

The Administration for Children and Families Family Violence Prevention and Services Program is pleased to announce the launch of Domestic Violence: Understanding the Basics, an online learning tool. This one-hour interactive eLearning module describes the dynamics and common tactics that characterize domestic violence, provides an overview of the scope and impact on individuals and society, explores the underlying factors that allow domestic violence to exist, offers insight into the various risks and choices that survivors face, and shares how to be part of the solution.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has released an early childhood and family homelessness resource list in order to reinforce the importance of access to quality early childhood services for young homeless children and their families. The resources listed clarify policy options for State Administrators of Child Care and Head Start Directors to ensure that more young children and their families are served in child care and Head Start programs.

The Accredited Online Colleges Web site posted an article providing Veterans with information on the utilization of funds awarded to them by the GI Bill towards a university education. This article addresses what kinds of education the post 9/11 GI Bill will pay for, any issues or barriers that may stem from this bill, as well as reasons for attending an accredited college. Lastly, this article provides a link to each State's Veterans Affairs Department.

The Institute of Research on Poverty (IRP) hosted Mr. Bryan Sykes, a sociologist at DePaul University, to talk about some of the barriers that former inmates encounter when trying to find work, as well as how the costs of incarceration disproportionately affect young African American men. He also talks about his work on off-the-books labor and how former inmates still face heavy discrimination to the informal economy.

CLASP released an article discussing the new changes that will occur in 2014 to the General Equivalency Degree (GED) test. This change will impact roughly 25.7 million people between the ages 18 and 64 who are without a high school diploma. A major change includes a redesign of the subject-matter tests to incorporate more college readiness standards, as well as moving the test to a computerized-only format. The new GED test will also consider five primary issues that have implications on the youth and young adults participating in the test. These include: test preparation and instruction costs; transitioning to a computerized version; availability of testing centers; and testing content and impact on current GED programs. While there is still controversy about the value of a GED versus a high school diploma, in high poverty communities, the GED may be the only viable option available for individuals like disconnected youth to access employment.