This article notes that while the financial return from a bachelor’s degree is softening, even as the price of tuition and average debt load for college students remain high, high school graduates are so effectively encouraged to get a bachelor’s that high-paid jobs requiring shorter and less expensive training are going unfilled. Updated from 2018, the article features real life examples of skilled trade workers and data and statistics reflecting 2023 economic and workplace conditions. While the article focuses on Washington State, these labor shortages and trends are occurring nationally.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation will host a webinar on March 16, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, to help youth justice staff better serve Native American youth involved in the justice system. The webinar will address the reasons behind the higher risk of system involvement for Native American youth, the need for support and treatment for historical, intergenerational, and contemporary trauma, and the importance of identifying and working with Native nations. Participants will learn about a successful Native nation diversion program and have the opportunity to request more information on supporting Native youth.

The Child & Family Data Archive at the University of Michigan’s Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Abt Associates, and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation hosted a webinar on March 7, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. ET which covered accessing and using data from three federally-funded evaluations of Career Pathways Programs, including the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project and the evaluation of two rounds of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program.

The webinar will provide researchers and analysts with:

• An overview of the Career Pathways Programs datasets
• Information on data collection and review
• HPOG and PACE data files and documentation
• Information on the HPOG and PACE data file structure
• Considerations when using the HPOG and PACE data
• Information on accessing the data

Almost 16% of men in the U.S. report having a mental health problem, yet only around half receive treatment. This crisis in care has far-reaching consequences for the entire family, as fathers with mental health issues tend to have lower-quality co-parenting relationships and children who struggle to regulate their emotions and behaviors. The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse will host a webinar on March 8, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET about the mental health needs of fathers and practices and resources to help address them. By attending the webinar, participants will learn:

• The impact of paternal mental health on parenting, children, and relationships
• How the COVID-19 pandemic has opened the door to more discussion about the importance of mental health and treating mental health issues
• Barriers to treatment and ways to overcome them
• Where fathers can access work- and community-based mental health services

The Aspen Institute’s Ascend initiative will host a national briefing on March 2, 2023 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET which will cover an analysis of families with low incomes across the country. Looking at children and the adults in their lives together, this new comparative analysis of 2011 and 2021 Census data will illuminate the diversity of families, examining single and dual parent households and families with young children and ones with at least one child under the age of 18, as well as young parent and multigenerational households.

This On the Evidence podcast looks at proven ways to help job seekers with low incomes during economic recessions and recoveries. It also includes insights from the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse, a publicly available website about interventions designed to help job seekers with low incomes. The podcast also covers what the evidence says about the effectiveness of these interventions.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, millions of U.S. companies quickly changed how they did business, and nearly every worker suddenly had to contend with new digital demands. The impact of the digital skill divide became more acute, weighing disproportionately on workers of color and smaller businesses struggling to survive a tumultuous economy. This report takes a first-ever look at the overwhelming demand for digital skills in the U.S. economy in the wake of the pandemic and highlights the benefits of closing the digital skill divide for individuals and families, businesses, and communities. A webinar with the report’s authors will be held on February 22, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. ET to discuss the findings and implications of this research.

Those with lived experience in child welfare have a unique, firsthand perspective on issues that can inform partnerships, policies, and solutions that best meet the needs of children and families. Child welfare agencies and organizations should prioritize collaborating with individuals who have lived experience to gain a better understanding of how people are affected by the social issue. This podcast features a panel discussion from the 2022 Child Welfare Virtual Expo. Topics discussed included actionable ways to engage in authentic, nonexploitative storytelling endeavors with those with lived expertise, and strategies to authentically engage people with lived experience and mitigate harm.

Studies show much higher rates of physical health issues and mental health and/or substance use disorders among populations experiencing homelessness than among people who are stably housed. This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration guide provides strategies and implementation considerations for behavioral health providers and other practitioners to engage people currently experiencing homelessness and includes four case studies to highlight strategies for providing treatment and recovery support services to people experiencing both unsheltered and sheltered homelessness.