The Child Welfare Information Gateway created a five-part podcast series that illustrated ways that states and tribal jurisdictions have supported kinship caregivers. Part 1 of this series featured a group of kinship-centered services and programs from the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Topics discussed included:

• Why kinship caregivers should be treated differently by agencies and caseworkers, and the specific challenges kinship caregivers face,
• Strengthening relationships between caseworkers and kinship caregivers,
• The roles and responsibilities of the Rhode Island’s Family Search and Engagement team, and
• Adapting a customer-service approach across the State’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families, and what it means for caseworkers to “manage emotions first.”

There is a growing recognition of the importance of healthy social-emotional development and the behavioral and mental health of young children, as well as the critical nature of early relationships with parents and other caregivers. Addressing the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers with and at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities is a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This briefing paper examines an array of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (IDEA, Part C) programs may consider implementing to effectively support the social-emotional development and mental health needs of eligible children as the policies and programs reflect the importance of nurturing early relationships for a child's social emotional wellbeing. An appendix includes state spotlights in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Workforce Investment will host a webinar on June 21, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET which will highlight successful initiatives to foster Recovery-Friendly Workplaces. It is part of a series on the role of the workforce system in serving individuals with substance use disorder. Guest speakers from Recovery Friendly Workplace initiatives in New Hampshire and Rhode Island will discuss how those initiatives benefit communities, businesses, and the lives of individuals. This webinar will also focus on the role of the public workforce system in implementing these initiatives.

This case study describes how the Rhode Island Department of Human Services’ Rhode Island Works (RI Works) helps TANF recipients overcome barriers to workforce success before beginning their job searches. The case study overviews RI Works and presents its key features: where the program operates; how it is administered; how TANF participants experience the program; and the ways that RI Works uses data. Also highlighted are the program’s accomplishments and remaining challenges after its 2018 redesign.

The five-year initiative New Skills for Youth (NSFY) aimed to transform career readiness education and bridge the skills gap by supporting innovative strategies in 10 states across the United States. This Advance CTE report shares the successes and challenges of sustaining the work beyond the conclusion of the NSFY initiative, and through a global pandemic, in six of the states: Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. From the experiences of each of these states, the resource presents specific recommendations and action steps for state and local leaders on how to sustain career pathways for long-term success.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway produced a five-part podcast series throughout 2022 that illustrated ways that states and tribal jurisdictions have supported kinship caregivers. The series includes interviews and group conversations intended to provide beneficial information for child welfare and social work professionals about implementing new services and programs, working across agencies, and improving practice. These podcasts highlight programs in Rhode Island (July 2022), Washington State (September 2022), the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (September 2022), Nevada (October 2022), and New Mexico (December 2022).

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host a webinar on March 10, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET which will cover the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Grant provisions on virtual and remote service delivery and opportunities to leverage and integrate RESEA services within the public workforce system. Discussion will include case studies from state agencies which have implemented innovative remote and virtual service delivery strategies to continue RESEA services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on additional resources and electronic tools to support virtual and remote RESEA service delivery will also be presented. Presenters will include representatives from the Office of Unemployment Insurance at the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; the Rhode Island Department of Employment and Training; the Georgia Department of Labor/Workforce Solutions; and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Partnering with state leaders, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices compiled a State Roadmap for Workforce Recovery, which provides a framework to organize workforce response and recovery activities to meet four important goals toward a more equitable future post-COVID: expand access to needed support services for low-income populations, quickly connect job seekers to work, increase digital access and skill development, and improve job quality for all. Included in the report are case studies from Hawaii, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

The economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing and stay-at-home orders have dramatically reshaped the approach social service programs are taking to support employment for low-income populations. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) will sponsor a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET featuring leaders from three employment and training programs (Climb Wyoming, Rhode Island Works, and Community Action Organization of Scioto County). The speakers will describe their approaches to continuing training programs and other employment services during the pandemic. These programs participated in OPRE’s State TANF Case Studies project to explore different approaches to providing employment-related and supportive services to TANF recipients and other low-income populations. The panelists will discuss the operational implications of the pandemic for their programs; how participants of their services are balancing participation in employment services with competing life demands and suspension of supportive services, such as child care; and the implications of shifting labor market conditions.