This Chapin Hall study reviews the impact of eligibility extension from 6 months to 12 months in Illinois for families who receive child care subsidies under the Child Care and Development Fund. Key questions reflect whether families who receive automatic extensions experience longer periods of participation, if fewer child care providers are used by eligible families as result of an extended redetermination period, and whether consistent child care is provided over the longer period of time. The study notes that extending the redetermination period from 6 to 12 months has the potential to broadly impact the stability of child care.

This toolkit issued by Reimagine Retail Chicagoland provides useful information on designing and implementing career pathways in the retail industry. The toolkit offers sources for labor market information that can be used to develop the pathways and provides examples of “scripts” and language to use to create employer partnerships. There is also a section that evaluates how to use engaged employers’ feedback to create and strengthen sustainable workforce partnerships in the retail industry which can be applied to other industry sectors.

This study, prepared by Mathematica, is the fourth annual report to Congress that evaluates 10 SNAP Pilot Projects in California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. The report identifies grantees’ enrollment goals and services, as well as their respective programs’ achievements and challenges. The evaluation used a random assignment research design to assess the level of support offered to SNAP participants on job search assistance, training, and basic and vocational education, as well as subsidized and unsubsidized work experience.

The Urban Institute will host a webinar on July 25, 2019 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss Benefit Chicago and the Western New York Impact Investment Fund, which are models of place-based impact investing. Drawing from recently released practitioner briefs, the webinar will also cover participants’ experiences with building the collaboration among partners and their deployment of impact capital in the field.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the effectiveness of using coaches to help low-income individuals move toward self-sufficiency. The evaluation profiles four coaching models: Iowa’s Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS); coaching at home visits implemented in Jefferson County, Colorado; LIFT, a national nonprofit organization that delivers career and financial coaching in Washington (D.C.), New York (New York), Chicago (Illinois), and Los Angeles (California); and MyGoals for Employment Success, a model designed by MDRC and piloted in Baltimore (Maryland) and Houston (Texas).

The Aspen Institute will host a webinar on May 29, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss the Question Bank tool designed to build stronger relationships with retail industry employers. The webinar will also feature practitioner perspectives on how to use the tool as a strategy for worker retention and advancement. Speakers include representatives from the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership and the Chicago Jobs Council.