The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host a webinar on February 15, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss CareerOneStop, a comprehensive career, education, and job search website. CareerOneStop offers career assessment tools that focus on interests, skills, work values, or previous job experience. This webinar will go in-depth on each tool and explore how to use them on a path to career exploration.

The Hartford, Connecticut Generation Work local partnership aims to elevate the importance of positive youth development as a strategy for employment and training organizations across sectors to better support young people’s employment readiness and success. This brief examines how the Hartford Generation Work partnership adapted its efforts to engage young adults more authentically by establishing a youth advisory council called the Young Legends to help shape its work. The brief also focuses on the benefits and challenges of the partnership’s efforts, offers examples of ways in which Young Legends has elevated young people’s voices, and describes how the Young Legends’ input has influenced action and change.

The Aspen Institute will host a webinar fireside chat on January 10, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET on the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s (EDA’s) newly launched American Rescue Plan Program and how it, alongside other Federal investment opportunities, represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to directly benefit previously underserved communities affected by COVID-19. Participants will learn how cities are working together to take advantage of these investment opportunities; understand steps communities can take now to learn, prepare, and apply; and learn about ways the EDA is looking to invest in underserved communities. The conversation features Alejandra Y. Castillo, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. Bruce Katz, Co-Founder and Inaugural Executive Director for Nowak Metro Finance Lab, Drexel University, will moderate.

The MyGoals for Employment Success program provides a unique coaching model that concentrates on developing executive skills—like emotional control, stress tolerance, time management, and organization. These skills help participants successfully navigate the labor market, acquire occupational credentials, perform well at a job, and advance at work. This podcast includes interviews with two MyGoals coaches, Shirley McGee from the Houston Housing Authority and Ashley Coston from the Housing Authority of Baltimore, who speak about challenges that participants and coaches face and benefits the program offers to participants.

This brief highlights the importance of sector programs and what policymakers and practitioners can do to implement a sector program to help people obtain the skills needed to find jobs that are in demand during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief describes how sector programs train people for high-quality jobs in industries and occupational clusters that have strong local demand and offer career advancement opportunities. It also highlights that the most valuable component of sector programs is occupational skills training that, in most cases, leads to industry- or locally recognized credentials or certifications. Examples of the effectiveness of sector programs, such as Per Scholars, Year Up, Project QUEST, and Health Professionals Opportunity Grants Impact Study, are showcased.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation research-to-practice brief highlights key findings from the final report of the five-year evaluation of the Tribal HPOG 2.0 Program. The brief describes how the Tribal HPOG 2.0 grantees implemented the career pathways framework for their HPOG programs. It also presents program and participant outcomes from the five-year evaluation.

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA)’s American Rescue Plan Good Jobs Challenge aims to get Americans back to work by building and strengthening systems and partnerships that bring together employers who have hiring needs with other key entities to train workers with in-demand skills that lead to good-paying jobs.

Through the Good Jobs Challenge, EDA is allocating $500 million to collaborative skills training systems and programs. EDA encourages efforts to reach historically underserved populations and areas, communities of color, women, and other groups facing labor market barriers such as persons with disabilities, disconnected youth, individuals in recovery, individuals with past criminal records, including justice impacted and reentry participants, serving trainees participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and veterans and military spouses.

Applications are due by January 26, 2022.

One of the largest victim service providers in New York City, Sanctuary for Families (SFF), has implemented a workforce development program called the Economic Empowerment Program that works exclusively with domestic violence survivors. This report describes a program evaluation and points to interim findings which suggest that after four months of completing the required program modules, clients not only improve their skills attainment and job readiness, but become able to address critical barriers to employment, such as safety concerns, low self-esteem, and lack of confidence in career outlook. These interim findings can inform service providers and policymakers who may otherwise shy away from launching workforce development programs that work solely with survivors.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief is a literature review and meta-analysis of data from the Pathways Clearinghouse. The analysis sought to understand the interventions and types of services with the strongest evidence of success in improving employment, earnings, and related outcomes for people with low incomes during recessions and recoveries.

This Action Lab webinar, held on November 4, 2021, focused on leveraging Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) to expand access to and support student success in education and training programs that lead to good careers. The webinar included a SNAP E&T 101 session from Seattle Jobs Initiative, a discussion with a USDA Food and Nutrition Services representative, and presentations from the International Rescue Committee, American Public Human Services Association, Council on Adult Basic Education, and National Skills Coalition.