Sectoral training programs train people for jobs in industries where there is strong local demand and the opportunity for career advancement. Several sectoral training models for jobs in technology have proven effective in improving long-term earnings for workers with low incomes. But many people still do not have access to these programs because the programs may be too far from home or too costly. The Google Career Certificates Fund provides funding for training providers to support 20,000 learners. Providers combine Google Career Certificates, which offer online instruction in sector-specific skills, and outcomes-based loans, in which learners are only required to pay for training and related costs if they find jobs above a certain income threshold. This MDRC brief evaluates and describes the potential of the Google Career Certificates Fund initiative as well as the sectoral training field more broadly in facilitating equitable access to career paths in technology.

Beginning in April 2023, states began “unwinding” the pandemic-related continuous coverage requirement in Medicaid, which prohibited states from disenrolling Medicaid enrollees during the public health emergency. The unwinding process revealed that many states’ systems and renewal processes have been out of compliance with federal requirements, with many of the compliance issues disproportionately affecting children. This Urban Institute resource proposes that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could provide stronger federal oversight and accountability for improving Medicaid eligibility and redetermination systems to ensure eligible children retain coverage.

In the U.S., 1 in 10 young adults experience homelessness each year, with disproportionate impacts on American Indian and Alaska Native, Black, multiracial, and Hispanic youth and youth who have been involved with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Current housing solutions for youth homelessness often lack flexibility or are not readily available, leaving many young adults waiting long periods of time without stable housing. However, the Cash Plus Model offers a promising alternative — pairing direct cash transfers with youth-driven supportive services to empower young adults in securing safe, stable housing. Chapin Hall has developed two briefs: one describing the Cash Plus Model and the second evaluating the Cash Plus Model implementation in New York City and San Francisco.

Traffickers exploit individuals through economic coercion or abuse. Many individuals who experience trafficking are not allowed to decide when or how to earn money, keep their earnings, or control their personal finances. A provision in the Fair Credit Reporting Act serves as an important tool for helping people who have experienced trafficking; the Debt Bondage Repair Act (DBRA) allows for removal of adverse credit information resulting from someone’s trafficking experience. This Office on Trafficking in Persons resource highlights DBRA success stories where individuals in California and Arizona were able to remove adverse credit information that accumulated during their trafficking experience.

In response to the joint memo from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service where they expressed their awareness of increasing reports of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) theft, Congress passed the Consolidated Continuing Appropriations Act in December 2022 to outline provisions for the use of federal funds to replace stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. This ACF program instruction provides guidance to states in the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to support families facing an economic crisis, primarily due to the loss of TANF benefits stolen via card skimming, card cloning, and other similar fraudulent methods.

The Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is working closely with state and federal partners, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) retailers, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) processors, and other industry experts to protect SNAP benefits and combat SNAP fraud. Fraud will not be tolerated in FNS programs, as benefit theft victimizes low-income people who rely on these benefits to feed their families. This FNS webpage highlights resources for SNAP participants, state agencies, and SNAP retailers to minimize benefit theft or address stolen benefits. The resource also offers a Question-and-Answer section on benefit theft.

Healthy food choices are in abundance for most Americans. Fresh fruits and vegetables are just a short car ride away, if not within walking distance. But, for Native American citizens, that is not always the case. This PBS video highlights a chef representing the Pascua Yaqui tribe and a Partnership with Native Americans (PWNA) member discussing what they are doing to address food access and food sovereignty. This video also discusses how the Native American Food Movement is supporting a return to healthy and traditional diet in Indian county.

An estimated 10 percent of all workers are in households where someone participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the last year. In several occupations — including home health and personal care aides, school bus monitors, agricultural graders and sorters, and maids and housekeeping cleaners — more than 1 in 5 workers participate in SNAP. Some of the most common occupations in the country, though vital to the overall economy, have low pay, unpredictable scheduling, and few benefits. In this Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report is an analysis of data from the 2022 American Community Survey. The report discusses the support that SNAP provides to those who are working in low-paying jobs or are between jobs.

Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity rates are high and access to nutritious food is expensive. A lack of policies around food accessibility paired with shortfalls in our food systems have created vast stretches of food deserts and nutrition disparities. This University of California, Irvine resource discusses food deserts where minority communities, including Latinx immigrants, face inequitable food environments. This resource also demonstrates that to improve health and wellbeing, there needs to be conversations to gain knowledge of those with lived experience.

Poverty is both a predictor and a consequence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), so interventions that alleviate poverty-related stressors could mitigate IPV-related harms. In Georgia, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) diversion program provides a non-recurrent lump-sum payment to deter individuals from monthly TANF benefits and has been identified as an understudied component of TANF that may influence the effectiveness of state TANF programs in supporting IPV survivors. This National Library of Medicine journal article describes a study which quantifies and qualifies the role of Georgia’s TANF diversion program in shaping IPV-related mortality.