The Health Profession Opportunity Grants Program (HPOG 2.0) provides funding for education and training initiatives to help TANF recipients gain skills for in-demand health care professions. This report is part of an ongoing series that describes the flexible programs and services states offer, catalogues the characteristics of participating individuals, and evaluates program outcomes. Thus far, one-third of participants took basic skills training and about two-thirds of those participants started health care training. Half of participants nationwide earned professional certifications and started or were promoted in a health care job. While some supportive services like case management were widely used, others like job placement or multiple certification services were underutilized. With five years of curriculum goals, HPOG will continue to publish future reports as the program progresses.

Because most jobs today, especially sustainable and well-paying jobs, require a college degree, those without postsecondary credentials are at risk of being left out of or underemployed in the workforce. While national attention is being focused on increasing this number in aggregate, more attention needs to be paid to populations like opportunity youth, immigrants, or the previously incarcerated that have historically had low college enrollment rates and continue to be underserved. This Jobs for the Future report details four ways that institutions can initiate and sustain guided pathways and cross-cutting policies: 1) political leadership and commitment, 2) data systems capacity and use, 3) braided funding, and 4) capacity building and continuous improvement. They also highlight four policies for students to help them connect, enter, progress through, and complete college: 1) strong on-ramps, 2) ongoing intensive student support, 3) comprehensive financial aid, and 4) robust career pathways. More information on the current conditions and policy opportunities within each category is provided in the report.

This video from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation highlights the findings of a large-scale rigorous research study on the effectiveness of career pathways programs. Under the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) study, an evaluation was conducted to assess nine innovative career pathways programs around the country.

This Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation report is the result of a literature review, a listening session, and individual conversations with stakeholders about the growing need for healthcare workers and the unnecessary hiring restrictions against people with criminal backgrounds. There are five things to consider in this area: some individuals with criminal records are qualified to satisfy the growing healthcare demand; effective screening methods are already being used throughout the country; certain occupations like Emergency Medical Technicians have already been filled by the previously incarcerated; federal and state governments and communities are trying to lower unnecessary barriers to entry into the healthcare sector; and those with criminal records can strengthen the healthcare workforce if properly screened. Examples of programs, state initiatives, and screening criteria are listed in the report to inform future policies and practices.

This brief comes from an event hosted by the Center for Law and Social Policy on the importance of career pathways and evidence-informed practices that can bolster career pathway interventions. The research shows positive earnings and educational results from career pathway programs, although some study results have provided mixed reviews of their effectiveness. To better evaluate career pathway outcomes, the report emphasizes the need to collect better data and more indicators of performance, build more awareness between workforce development and child and adult education systems, and eliminate TANF work requirements that constrain funding on a narrow scope of work activities. The report ends with components of effective career pathway interventions and includes tangible guiding and research questions for practitioners and program designers.

The Office of Family Assistance has published a series of success stories from the HPOG program. Each of the dozen stories reflects the first-person narrative of an HPOG participant, drawn from Tribal and non-Tribal HPOG grantees, who has successfully completed the program and has entered into employment in allied health professions.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Regions I through IV hosted the OFA Regions I-IV East Coast TANF Directors’ Meeting, Leveraging Partnerships to Help Families Achieve Economic Stability, on July 24-26, 2018 at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston, Massachusetts. The meeting convened representatives from TANF programs from Regions I-IV and provided TANF representatives with an opportunity to learn about promising practices, discuss shared challenges faced by TANF programs, and share ideas with peers from other states about how to respond to the needs of low-income families. The meeting also included practitioners and researchers who shared information about their own work, and who looked to TANF representatives and federal partners for future research opportunities. Representatives attended presentations from experts and program administrators, and worked with other states to think of innovative practices during Team Work sessions.