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.

In October, the Department of Labor (DOL) will be hosting the National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) to celebrate the value and talent workers with disabilities add to America’s workplaces and economy. While NDEAM takes place each October, its purpose is to confirm our commitment to ensuring disabled workers have access to good jobs, every month of every year. This DOL webpage contains resources to help celebrate NDEAM 2024: Access to Good Jobs for All.

Sectoral training programs prepare people for high-quality jobs in industries that have strong local demand and offer the opportunity for career advancement. This MDRC video highlights the history of sectoral training, the evidence of its effectiveness, and success stories from participants in some of the best programs.

Aligned Customer-Centered Ecosystem of Supports & Services (ACCESS) is a two-year initiative, led by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, that aims to create a roadmap for aligning modernization efforts from agencies across the health, human services, and labor ecosystem in service of promoting truly customer-centered improvements to program design and delivery. This APHSA brief unpacks how core components of program and service design and delivery, funding models, and technical infrastructure impact systems’ ability to operate in alignment.

This National Association of Workforce Development Professionals virtual event will take place on September 25, 2024 at 1:00 pm. ET, and participants will learn how to build a resilient and dedicated workforce by hiring and upskilling returning citizens.