In April 2020, the U.S. Department of Education expanded the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative to include 67 new higher education institutions in the program, beyond the 63 colleges that had already been providing postsecondary education programs in prisons. This initiative and its expansion offer unique challenges for colleges responding to this nontraditional student population. This guide offers examples and practical operational support to both colleges and corrections departments for establishing postsecondary education programs in the prison environment. These programs strive to balance affirming the dignity of these nontraditional students with delivering comparable in-person educational quality to traditional classroom settings.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration hosted the third plenary session of the H-1B Apprenticeship Virtual Grantee Convening on October 22, 2020 to discuss innovative sector-based approaches to apprenticeships. These approaches can help improve apprenticeship programs, quicken employer recruitment, and benefit smaller employers. Speakers included representatives of the Aspen Institute/UpSkill America, Lorain County Community College (Ohio), the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, and the Alabama Community College System.

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.

State and local workforce agencies worked to ensure that effective employer engagement, customer outreach, and service delivery occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration brought together experts from the U.S. Department of Labor, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Utah Workforce Development Program, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to cover challenges states addressed to help job seekers, and the strategies they executed to assist both businesses and job seekers in a changing workforce.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) report examines the impact of the Health Careers for All program that supported TANF recipients in accessing and completing healthcare occupational training. The report reviews the three-year impact on employment and earnings as well as the credentials earned by participants. Health Careers for All included four key components: navigation and case management services; access to healthcare occupational training at the foundational (career discovery), entry-level and advanced levels along a healthcare career pathway; employment services (to include resume development and interviewing skills); and financial support to address barriers in completing training or entering employment. Health Careers for All is one of nine programs evaluated by OPRE under the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project.

The Urban Institute will host a webinar on November 13, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss apprenticeship policies and practices and ways to utilize apprenticeship programs in the future. Speakers include representatives from the Urban Institute, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Oberg Industries, CareerWise Colorado, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the House Committee on Education and Labor, New America, and Jobs for the Future.

The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will convene its annual Youth Symposium as a virtual event from December 7 to December 9, 2020. The symposium will feature workshops in the areas of: Educating and Training Our Future Workforce; Employment, Retention, and Advancement; Overcoming Barriers; Recruiting and Engaging Youth; and Self-Care for Workforce Professionals. Workshops will include live and pre-recorded sessions. There is a registration fee to participate.

The U.S. Department of Labor hosted a webinar on September 24, 2020 which discussed how to use the online resource CareerOneStop for career exploration and job services. Materials now available include a PowerPoint presentation and user guides for CareerOneStop to support virtual delivery of employment services. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development delivered presentations.

To address the shortage of healthcare workers in rural communities, the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration has issued a grant opportunity to create employment and training programs in healthcare occupations serving rural and tribal communities. Eligible applicants are partnerships of public and private sector organizations, including employers representing the healthcare industry, nonprofit healthcare organizations, federally recognized Indian/Native American Tribal Government organizations, and organizations designated as primary care associations by the Health Resources and Services Administration, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State and Local Workforce Development Boards. The closing date for receipt of applications is November 13, 2020.

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.