In today's rapidly evolving job market, the importance of social capital, connections, and robust networks for youth career success cannot be overstated. Social capital plays a critical role in helping young people navigate the complexities of career development, and building it requires intentional effort and strategic planning. The National Youth Employment Coalition is hosting a webinar on September 26, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss the transformative power of social capital and potential strategies to help young people build it.

Recent research has explored the delivery of human services programs in rural contexts, identifying promising models for service delivery and highlighting remaining needs. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation research brief uses data from the National Evaluation of the 2nd Generation of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 2.0) to further examine human services delivery in rural areas. The brief explores variation in participant characteristics between programs in rural and non-rural areas; implementation strategies and challenges for programs operating in rural areas; and differences in impacts on participant outcomes between participants in rural and non-rural programs. The discussion of implementation strategies and challenges for programs highlights some service delivery challenges reported by both rural and non-rural program staff, but specifically focuses on strategies that rural program staff use to mitigate those challenges.

The Administration for Native Americans is partnering with the Office of Early Childhood Development to host a four-part webinar series, focused on key strategies and initiatives to support the optimal growth, development, and well-being of Native children and families. Three sessions remain: 

• Session 2: Strategies for Supporting the Success and Well-being of the Native Early Childhood Education Workforce will take place on September 5, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET;
• Session 3: The Power of Data in Native Early Childhood Development — Strategies for Effective Data Use and Impact will take place on October 3, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET; and
• Session 4: Native Early Childhood Development Funds — Maximizing Impact Through Flexible Funding Strategies will take place on November 7, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET.

The National Governors Association (NGA) selected Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, and North Carolina to participate in the Policy Academy to Strengthen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) Delivery. These four states will receive technical assistance through the policy academy to identify and address barriers to successfully implementing SNAP E&T programs in their states. This NGA resource describes how workforce and human services agencies in these states will receive technical assistance to elevate their SNAP E&T programs to drive more resources and opportunities for economic self-sufficiency.

This Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network and National Indian Child Welfare Association fact sheet highlights the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST) Kinship Parenting Program. The PGST Kinship Parenting Program provides outreach and support to kin caregivers and their families in Kitsap County, Washington, including helping them identify and connect to services such as childcare, behavioral health, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), TANF non-needy (child-only) grants, assistance with Social Security Income and other paperwork, and much more. Other tribal nations and service providers can utilize the outlined practices as a guide as they develop or modify their own programming that best aligns with their community values, needs, and resources.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration funds the Disability Innovation Fund-Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) projects designed to decrease subminimum wage employment and increase competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities currently employed in or contemplating subminimum wage employment. This Mathematica practice brief explores how SWTCIE staff promote their projects to potential participants and employers. It summarizes interviews with four SWTCIE projects from agencies in Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Texas. The brief shares promising practices including (1) meeting people where they are and proactively addressing their concerns, (2) engaging a wide network in their communities, (3) consulting external resources such as communications firms to shape their branding, and (4) promoting success stories and using family and peer mentors. The lessons learned could help vocational rehabilitation agencies and other organizations interested in implementing aspects of their programs.

Social safety net programs can help low-income people afford necessities like food, health care, and utilities. However, many older Americans do not receive assistance from the government programs they are eligible for. Understanding where these gaps in eligibility and participation exist is an important step in reaching older adults and providing them with the resources to improve their economic security. This Urban Institute paper reviews information on US households from the American Community Survey to estimate how many people ages 65 and over are eligible for each of three programs that provide essential support to older adults: the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Medicare Savings Program (MSP).

In 2016, the Annie E. Casey Foundation launched Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP™), a national initiative that helps youth and young adults who have been involved in the foster care or justice systems or who have experienced homelessness succeed in school and work by building and expanding education and employment pathways. Through partnerships with public agencies, postsecondary education, housing, service providers and more, LEAP partners are working toward improving policies and practices that place more systems-involved young people on positive economic trajectories. This Annie E. Casey Foundation brief shares the key takeaways from an evaluation conducted to better understand their efforts in tackling the root causes of disconnection from education and careers with systems-involved youth.

The National Indian Child Welfare Association will be hosting a new virtual training on September 24, 2024 to prepare tribal child welfare workers who want to gain insight and increase their skills on the basics. This training will consist of three 90-minute sessions.

There is a registration fee to attend this training.

The Department of Labor’s Division of Youth Services will be hosting a webinar on August 28, 2024 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET, which will explore different frameworks of youth engagement in the decision-making processes of workforce development. This session is designed for anyone interested in understanding and enhancing youth participation in workforce development.