Unemployment in the United States remains historically low, and today’s tight labor market has translated into improved opportunities for many workers, including those for whom increased wages, benefits, and voice have long remained elusive. Yet inflation is putting significant pressure on household budgets. Economic policymakers have a dilemma on their hands as they seek to balance a white-hot job market against the rising cost of living. What is gained from tight labor markets, for whom, and how should we think about a sustainable equilibrium between inflation and unemployment rates? This WorkRise webinar convened nationally recognized researchers and leaders from the worker advocacy, business, workforce development, and antipoverty communities to consider these and other questions arising from today’s dynamic labor market context.

This webpage profiles EMPath’s Mobility Mentoring^® model, which is defined as the professional practice of partnering with participants so that over time they may acquire the resources, skills, and sustained behavior changes necessary to attain and preserve their economic independence. Included on the webpage are links to a set of four blogs which cover the model’s four essential elements: Coaching for Economic Mobility, the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency^®, Goal Setting, and Recognition.

The Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First) authorized new federal Title IV-E funding for evidence-based programs (EBPs) that have been rated and approved by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. One such EBP, Motivational Interviewing (MI), has the potential to change the way child welfare professionals work with and support families. MI creates affirming and transformative service experiences through which workers and clinicians have been trained to reach, engage, and empower families; MI represents an opportunity for agencies to deliver improved outcomes for children and families using a practice that is approved for federal funding under Family First. Available for downloading, the Motivational Interviewing Guide is designed to assist state and local Title IV-E agencies with implementing MI as a well-supported EBP in their Title IV-E Prevention Plans.

Recent research has led policymakers and scholars to argue that some people might not achieve economic independence in part because of difficulty applying the self-regulation skills—sometimes referred to as soft skills or executive functioning skills—needed to get, keep, and advance in a job. Evidence suggests that facing poverty, and the multiple stresses that accompany it, can make it particularly difficult to develop and use self-regulation skills. However, emerging research suggests that employment coaching from a trained staff member may strengthen self-regulation skills, and these skills, in turn, may improve employment outcomes for low-income people. This 2022 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS) session presents initial implementation and impact findings from ACF’s Evaluation of Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations. The session also included a practitioner’s perspective on implications of the findings. Lauren Deutsch Stanton, ACF, moderated this session and Ruthie Liberman, EMPath, served as the panel’s discussant. Speakers also included Sheena McConnell and Quinn Moore, both from Mathematica.

This video, prepared by MDRC’s Economic Mobility, Housing, and Communities policy area, describes MyGoals for Employment Success (MyGoals). MyGoals is an innovative employment coaching program intended to help recipients of federal housing subsidies who are not employed find work, build careers, and advance toward greater self-sufficiency. Informed by behavioral psychology, MyGoals focuses on supporting participants as they set and accomplish goals that are meaningful to them in four domains: education and training, financial management, personal well-being, and family well-being.

Youth apprenticeship has gained traction across the United States, and many programs have adopted the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) Definition & Principles for Youth Apprenticeship to guide program design and implementation. It is critical that apprenticeships are career-oriented, equitable, portable, adaptable, and accountable. Building from these principles, PAYA has developed this Youth Apprenticeship Quality Assessment Tool as part of a four-step protocol aimed at assisting education providers, employer and industry partners, intermediary organizations, and other youth apprenticeship leaders in collaboratively identifying ways to improve policies, procedures, and practices in support of learner success.

Registered and non-registered apprenticeships come in many shapes and are adaptable to traditional and non-traditional industries and occupations. Traditional apprenticeship occupations have been mainly in skilled trades such as carpentry, electrical, and plumbing. Today, apprenticeships span across non-traditional industries such as information technology, health care, and green energy. This brief highlights the benefits of apprenticeships, including pre-apprenticeship, and registered and non-registered apprenticeship programs as a viable career pathway for career seekers with disabilities.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, this report is a roadmap to outline the three stages of building, managing, and sustaining a registered apprenticeship program for young people. The roadmap includes steps under each respective stage and provides a set of tools, guidance documents and templates in the accompanying appendix.

The State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services, Economic Services Administration (DSHSA), Community Services Division (CSD), Office of Programs and Policy (OPP) is seeking a WorkFirst and TANF Cash Programs Policy Administrator to join their team. WorkFirst is Washington’s employment and training program for parents receiving TANF cash assistance. DSHSA is providing a gradual transition into full responsibility for management of this important and complex program. The selected candidate will collaborate with, be trained by, and learn the position from the out-going Administrator until January 1, 2023, and then assume full supervisor and management responsibilities as WorkFirst and TANF Cash Programs and Policy Administrator.

This report overviews the design and implementation of the New Start Career Network, a statewide program that assists older, long-term unemployed New Jerseyans. The report examines the rationale behind the program and its design, notes the collaborators involved, and discusses the program’s services, including a website, webinars, online tools, and career coaching. It also reviews approaches to engaging employers as well as recruiting members and coaches. In addition, lessons learned, recommendations, and key elements for serving long-term, unemployed job seekers are identified.