This research-to-practice brief presents a new model for job search assistance based on delivering virtual job search services in New Jersey. The brief identifies how job search assistance must be understood in the context of what does and does not work for unemployed job seekers and explores the principles behind effective job search interventions. It also illustrates the components of a three-tiered job search model: the need for physical and psychological safety and stability; the foundations of a sustainable job search to create maintainable patterns and schedules for persons whose lives are in disarray as a result of COVID; and the creation of new job search skills to enhance the job seeker’s motivation, persistence, and self-efficacy.

Placement with kin is not always possible for endangered children who need to be removed from their homes, so child protection agencies utilize resource families. This research-to-practice brief highlights different approaches used to recruit and retain resource families. The brief covers three jurisdictions that have a high rate of family-based placements and a low rate of congregate care setting placements for children in need of protection: the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families.

The Urban Institute will host a webinar on November 13, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss apprenticeship policies and practices and ways to utilize apprenticeship programs in the future. Speakers include representatives from the Urban Institute, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Oberg Industries, CareerWise Colorado, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the House Committee on Education and Labor, New America, and Jobs for the Future.

This research-to-practice brief identifies the positive outcomes of preserving sibling relationships within child welfare agencies and the barriers for joint sibling placement. Strategies that support joint sibling placement and adoptions are presented from initiatives in Connecticut, Idaho, and New Jersey; they include prioritizing kinship relationships regarding placement and establishing clear operating policies, involving children in placement decisions, and using retention strategies for adoptive and foster parents.

This National Governors Association policy brief examines the lessons learned from the Parents and Children Thriving Together: Two-Generation State Policy Network (PACTT Network). Initially convened in 2016, the PACTT Network is a policy academy that created and implemented two-generation strategies to address intergenerational poverty. The policy academy included state representatives from Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Oregon.

This Urban Institute report reviews how patients can access opioid use disorder treatment at facilities in New Jersey that offer pharmacotherapy as a treatment option. The report summarizes phone survey findings about service availability, wait times, Medicaid coverage for treatment, and county-specific data to assess the demand for treatment options.