This Casey Family Programs issue brief looks at the use of peer mentors (“parent partners”) who work with parents entering in and engaging with the child welfare system. These parent partners have already encountered and worked with the child welfare system themselves, and the mentoring that they offer can encourage and instill hope for parents initially interacting with the system. The brief outlines these parent partner programs’ benefits and program research evaluation findings, and provides guidance on how these programs are structured and funded. It also provides brief summaries of three parent partner programs: Parents Anonymous^®, the Kentucky Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Team (START) Program, and Iowa’s Parent Partner Program.

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).

This issue brief from the National Skills Coalition outlines how to collect data and track the completion of registered apprenticeships against identified state postsecondary educational attainment goals. Case studies of how data is tracked in Iowa and Washington State are discussed.

In this issue brief, the National Skills Coalition proposes a $500 million Career Pathways Support Fund that would allow community colleges to provide classes and support services to non-traditional and low-income students pursuing job-driven degrees and certificates. The issue brief describes the need to support the need for postsecondary education for low-income working adults, since 80% of jobs will require some postsecondary training. Arkansas, Iowa, and North Carolina have all pursued statewide career pathways initiatives and there is some federal support for career pathways, but these efforts are not sufficient to fulfill the demand for postsecondary training that leads to high-wage employment. The Career Pathways Support Fund would fund partnerships between community colleges and employers that would offer students courses and support services leading to an industry-recognized credential.

Upgrading America’s transportation and physical infrastructure is a bipartisan priority, and also an opportunity to provide millions of jobs to Americans who are unemployed or underemployed. This National Skills Coalition report describes the education and training policies that are necessary to prepare enough skilled workers to meet the demand that a large investment in infrastructure would create. The authors recommend creating and expanding sector partnerships in the infrastructure industry, creating incentives for apprenticeships and work-based learning, and funding support services to ensure that work-based learning participants are fully ready to work. This report also includes examples of successful transportation sector partnerships from Seattle and Central Iowa.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Regions IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII hosted the Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting on May 3‐5, 2016 at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Mall of America Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The meeting brought together Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Native Employment Works (NEW) stakeholders to discuss innovative strategies and collaborations to promote economic and social well‐being for individuals, families, and tribal communities. During the meeting, tribal representatives engaged in talking circles and listening sessions, shared best practices, and participated in workshops and action planning in order to more successfully serve the program participants in their communities.

Iowa’s Reliable Employment and Child Support Help program, or REACH, aims to improve the financial well-being of children by increasing the engagement of non-custodial parents in Polk County through different service offerings. The non-custodial parents are provided with job development, child support assistance, and parenting and financial education training.

The Administration for Children and Families' Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Regions V, VI, VII, and VIII hosted a webinar, "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Other Child-Only Issues" on Wednesday, August 20, 2014 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT. This webinar was the second in the 2014 Regions V, VI, VII, and VIII Tribal TANF webinar series "Addressing the Needs of Children." The Webinar provided strategies for addressing the needs of the growing population of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, particularly those with child-only, TANF-eligible grandchildren. The speakers provided strategies and resources that were relevant to both social service providers and grandparents.

The Administration for Children and Families' Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Regions V, VI, VII, and VIII hosted a webinar, "TANF Children Endangered by Drug Use" on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT. This webinar was the first in the 2014 Regions V, VI, VII, and VIII Tribal TANF webinar series: "Addressing the Needs of Children." It addressed the growing issue of protecting children in environments of increasing drug use. Key topics included: identifying when a child is exposed to drug use in his/her home; implementing processes for addressing the needs of drug endangered children; and strategies for keeping a child's life stable when his/her family is unstable.

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Regions V and VII convened a meeting in Chicago, Illinois entitled “Building Bridges to Self-Sufficiency: Tools for ACF Region V and VII TANF Programs” from September 4 - 5, 2014. This one and one-half day in-person technical assistance meeting was aimed at State TANF managers and State leadership. Participants were provided technical assistance and training that would contribute to and facilitate improvements in their States’ ability to meet TANF program goals and Federal requirements. The Region’s focus was provided through facilitated collaboration, communication, and problem-solving sessions. Region V and VII managers shared lessons learned and gathered strategies that can improve their own programs’ ability to identify and address multiple barriers, including assisting the homeless community, understanding the foundations of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and how executive functioning and soft skills can led to economic success. Participants were provided an opportunity to interact with presenters, while receiving new information on programmatic changes and updates, and practical approaches to take to their home States dealing with TANF Programs.