In this podcast, Teresa Davenport provides a framework for how O*NET helps with the transferability of skills in a regional re-employment context. Joining Teresa is Hope Clark, who provides a case study on how O*NET is integrated into TORQ, a software package that is used to target local jobs for people who have recently become unemployed.

This report is from the Urban Institute and outlines how the tax system can be used to enroll uninsured children into Medicaid and SCHIP programs. In 2004, 89.4 percent of uninsured children who qualified for Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program lived in families who filed Federal income tax forms, and this method can be an effective outreach strategy to reach these vulnerable families.

As the 2008 tax filing deadline is fast approaching and millions of families are struggling in the economic recession, this report, from the Children’s Defense Fund, found that low-income families lose billions of dollars each year to predatory commercial tax preparers and highlights the importance of tax credits for working families. In tax year 2006, low-income families lost $3.1 billion of their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits to high-interest, short-term loans, tax preparation fees, and other financial products issued by commercial tax preparers.

This Partner Toolkit was developed by the IRS, and includes an array of useful EITC marketing tools, including templates, statistics, fact sheets, how-to tips, specialized products, and links to other helpful resources. The IRS also provides Media Pod casts in English and Spanish on EITC information.

Researchers at Bowling Green State University presented on healthy marriages and healthy relationships at the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference that is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. The qualitative assessment focused on what healthy marriage participants think about marriage or relationships and why they attend classes as well as key lessons that are learned from these classes.

Researchers at the University of Washington gave this presentation at the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference that is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. This study used data from an ethnographic study of 40 families over 3 years, and it was found that most families experience a Marginal Tax Rate “event.”

This presentation was given by the Lewin Group at the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference that is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. This research utilized statistical models to determine the effects that the economy and the population had on the size of the Colorado Works caseload from July 1999 to December 2007. Using regression analysis, researchers determined the impact on the caseload and were able to predict how changes might affect caseload size in the future.

This presentation was given by researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the Center for Social Development at the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference that is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. The research questions included: 1. Does IDA program participation affect clearing old debts as preparation for applying for a home loan? and 2. Does IDA program participation affect rates of homeownership among those who enter the program as renters? Among the findings, IDAs appear to be effective in helping low-income families save for a home.

This presentation was given as part of the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference, which is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. Wisconsin presented how they have been using performance-based contracting within the State, and offered lessons learned from the evaluation of these contracts.

ProLiteracy champions the power of literacy to improve the lives of adults and their families, communities, and societies. This organization works with local, national, and international organizations to build the capacity and quality of programs that are teaching adults to read, write, compute, use technology, and learn English as a new language. This Web site provides information on literacy programs around the country and how literacy can be utilized to alleviate poverty.