During the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in the American economy spiked to 20 million in mid-2020. While it dropped to 5.7 million in December 2022, the labor market is still in flux, and jobs in some fields remain unfilled. In response, higher education systems and states across the country are turning to community colleges to provide both long- and short-term workforce training programs in high-demand fields. The Virginia Community College System has developed programs for helping adults access training and earn credentials that improve their labor market prospects and provide on-ramps to further education. Two of these programs include FastForward and Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead. This Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges Network blogpost introduces two research projects on the programs that will provide information about the associations between postsecondary student aid and student education and workforce outcomes, and how community colleges can build pathways to high-opportunity jobs and careers.

Can the promising IT job market improve the economic mobility of adults who are unemployed or looking for higher-wage jobs? This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation paper examines the Per Scholas WorkAdvance program by exploring opportunities for advancement in two of the IT occupations targeted by the program. The paper outlines potential advancement opportunities within the IT sector and details the career advancement outcomes (as measured by earnings) of program participants. The key findings noted that most participants completed Per Scholas’s WorkAdvance IT training and obtained an industry-recognized certification. Many participants who started Per Scholas’s WorkAdvance IT training increased their earnings over time.

The authors of these five essays explore the extent to which young people from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds achieve steady, decent-paying employment by their early thirties. Using multivariate analysis, they identify factors predicting membership to four different earnings groups. Factors associated with membership in one or both of the higher-earning groups include higher education, military service, union membership, job-related training, and working in a non-service sector occupation at age 25. Factors associated with belonging to a lower-earning group include incarceration, work-limiting health conditions, and prolonged unemployment.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief reviews changes in the healthcare workforce, especially for Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) related occupations, during the first seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic from January through September 2020. More than half of HPOG participants train for Certified Nursing Assistant, Home Health and Personal Care Aide, Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse, or Registered Nurse occupations. During the first four months of the pandemic, healthcare sector employment decreased over 9 percent but recovered about 60 percent of the losses through September 2020. The brief can support HPOG and healthcare workforce stakeholders when interpreting future impact evaluation analyses results or investing in future healthcare workforce programs.

This American Indian College Fund guidebook, intended to support Native American college students in developing career pathways, includes culturally relevant resources. The guidebook features tips and inspiring stories on job seeking, resumé preparation, cover letters, references, appropriate dress, internships, enhancing soft skills, personal branding, and interviewing. The guidebook also identifies career information about skilled trades, job opportunities in Indian Country, pursuing graduate school, networking, and joining associations.

The Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse will host a webinar on April 29, 2021 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss how TANF administrators and other service providers can find and use information on the Pathways Clearinghouse website about evidence-based interventions and their implementation. Presentations will cover the Pathways Clearinghouse’s relevance and a demonstration of the website’s new features, as well as the website’s information on how over 50 evidence-based interventions were implemented. Speakers include representatives of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Archuleta County Department of Human Services, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, and Mathematica.

The Office of Family Assistance’s (OFA) Policy Academy for Innovative Employment Strategies (PAIES) was an intensive technical assistance (TA) initiative in 2019-2020 for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs interested in improving coaching and career pathways approaches. During the initiative, participating teams received dedicated coaches, strategic planning, access to expert consultants, and tailored written resources. Additionally, they participated in several convenings, peer exchanges, and virtual trainings. These state profiles detail the journey and lessons learned of the four teams that participated in the Policy Academy: District of Columbia Department of Human Services, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The 2019-2020 Policy Academy for Innovative Employment Strategies (PAIES) was an intensive technical assistance experience. Sponsored by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), the Academy helped participating sites improve coaching and career pathways approaches. This PAIES brief entitled "TANF Coaching to Scale" shares key insights from three OFA PAIES TANF programs that piloted, refined, and prepared to scale coaching case management strategies: District of Columbia Department of Human Services, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. A companion PAIES brief highlighting staff engagement strategies to support systems change is available here: https://peerta.acf.hhs.gov/content/ofa-paies-brief-series-building-syst….

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will host a webinar on March 4, 2021 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET to discuss the uses of CareerOneStop for individuals currently inside correctional facilities who will be returning to the community. The webinar will also cover pathways, tools, and resources to assist individuals with prior criminal records in engaging in employment and training activities. Presenters include representatives from ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

This fact sheet summarizes the features and functions of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation’s Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse, which offers reliable information about what works to help low-income job seekers find and keep gainful employment. The Pathways Clearinghouse contains a listing of interventions intended to improve employment outcomes, address employment barriers, and support self-sufficiency among low-income populations, including TANF-eligible individuals. The Clearinghouse identifies studies of these evaluations, rates those studies on their quality to assess the evidence provided, and determines the evidence of effectiveness for those interventions. The Clearinghouse shares these results, along with other products such as synthesis reports, to help users understand how this evidence could apply to their questions and contexts.