The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy announced a total of $3,787,000 in continued funding for organizations managing consortia that develop models, provide technical assistance and share best practices to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

From the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, this issue brief discusses how there is currently a gap between the supply and demand of workers in the STEM labor force. As baby boomers are retiring, there is an increase need for jobs in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields to be filled, but too few students in the United States are training for such careers. In this brief, authors argue that career and technical education is an essential component to fill this much needed gap. Additionally, encouraging students to pursue STEM pathways early in their schooling will help students to acquire the preparation essential for positions in these careers.

Over 26 million adults in the United States do not have a high school degree and many of these individuals are classified as low-skilled. Many Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs, designed to provide foundational skills, are failing to place low-skilled students on a trajectory to enter credit-bearing postsecondary programs and earn postsecondary credentials. Accelerating Opportunity: A Breaking through Initiative, seeks to transform ABE programs in the United States to help low-skilled students move along educational pathways and into jobs that pay a living wage. Modeling their efforts after the Washington State Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program, 11 States throughout the U.S. are attempting to substantially increase the number of basic skills students enrolled in career pathway programs that lead to high-quality employment opportunities.

At the end of 2010, the unemployment rate for teens ages 16 to 19 in New York City was 40 percent, and youth aging out of the foster care system were faring even worse in the labor market. From the Center for an Urban Future, this study analyzed the challenges that foster youth face in attaining and maintaining employment once they age out of the foster care system. Authors also looked at protective factors in the foster care and workforce development systems that can help better serve this population, and offer recommendations for program improvement.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, created in 1996, is one of the key federal funding streams provided to states to assist low-income families. A critical aspect of TANF has been its focus on employment and self-sufficiency, and the primary means to measure State efforts in this area has been TANF's work participation requirements. When the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) reauthorized TANF, it also made changes that were generally expected to strengthen these work requirements. Given the impending extension or reauthorization of TANF, this testimony primarily draws on previous GAO work to focus on (1) how the welfare caseload and related spending have changed since TANF was created and (2) how States have met work participation rates since DRA. To address these issues, in work conducted from August 2009 to May 2010, GAO analyzed State data reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); surveyed State TANF administrators in 50 States and the District of Columbia; conducted site visits to Florida, Ohio, and Oregon, selected to provide geographic diversity and variation in TANF program characteristics; and reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, and research. In July 2011, GAO updated this work by analyzing State data reported to HHS since that time. In addition, GAO gathered information on caseload changes through its forthcoming work on TANF child-only cases.

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics developed an annual report detailing Federal data on children and families and described how the data can be used in research and to foster discussions among policymakers and the public. The data revealed both promises and challenges facing children across 41 key indicators, which included family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health.

The Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce, developed this report which forecasts that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education, which consequently, will require 22 million new workers to have postsecondary degrees. Authors project that we will be short by 3 million.

From the Center for Law and Social Policy, this issue brief provides an overview of using Poverty Impact Projections as a tool for policymakers to understand the impact of a given program or policy on poverty. Currently, no state has a process in place for projecting the impact of poverty, and authors discuss the importance of developing mechanisms to assess such an impact. Additionally, this piece includes examples of Poverty Impact Projections that states and research organizations have used in recent years.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway, through the Administration for Children and Families’ Children’s Bureau, authored these tip sheets to provide parenting skills, such as bonding, attachment, dealing with temper tantrums, raising grandchildren, and supporting teen parents. The compilation of tip sheets were created with input from experts in national organizations that work to protect children and strengthen families.

Disability.gov offers Partners in Employment, a free self-study course to help people with developmental disabilities build practical skills to find jobs. The course offers information on understanding the hiring process, supported and competitive employment, and how to identify worker strengths and skills to translate into a career.