The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) will host a webinar on March 11, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET to cover how Sonoma County, California changed its service delivery model to improve client outcomes. Discussion from Sonoma County Department of Health Services, IBM, and APHSA representatives will cover changes in information sharing across departments, collaboration in multi-discipline teams, client consent for data sharing, and creation of an integrated data hub to track results.

The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP), in conjunction with Dynamic Works, is hosting a five-part series of fee-based workshops to support career coaches’ professional development. Workshops start on April 1, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. ET and will be held on successive Wednesdays throughout April. NAWDP members and non-members may register for one or more of the workshops.

This U.S. Department of Labor policy brief reviews approaches to incorporate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) services into career pathway programs at the state level. These approaches include selecting SNAP E&T partners already offering career pathway services to SNAP participants and helping the partners expand their reach, and collaborating with SNAP E&T partners in filling service delivery gaps. Integrating SNAP E&T services and participants into career pathways may strengthen SNAP E & T’s alignment with the workforce system, which is a priority under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

This free online career pathways platform includes a user-friendly assessment to measure literacy, numeracy, and workplace skills. The platform offers an assessment-based set of career pathways; recommendations on occupations, online tools, and local training providers; and resources on popular jobs, advice on interviewing, and personal goal setting. The career recommendations that the platform supports are drawn from O*NET data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

This Urban Institute report examines the professional development and workforce development systems in place for home visiting staff funded under the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. The report includes analysis of a national survey of all MIECHV-funded local implementing agencies (LIAs) and 26 LIAs. The survey assesses why home visitors enter, stay in, or leave the home visiting field; their backgrounds and qualifications needed to enter the field; and their work environments and opportunities for advancement.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on Wednesday, February 26 entitled Improving Employment Outcomes for TANF Recipients with Substance Use Disorders. The webinar outlined employment-focused strategies that can contribute to, rather than inhibit, substance use treatment and featured experts with backgrounds in research and practice on working with TANF recipients who have substance use disorders. Speakers discussed national trends in substance use disorders and strategies to move those with substance use disorders towards treatment, employment, and economic stability.

Speakers included:

• Dennis Romero, Regional Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Dr. Christine Cauffield, Chief Executive Officer, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Managing Entity, Lutheran Services Florida

• Kim Griswold Releford, University of Kentucky, Opioid Use Disorder Project, Targeted Assessment Program

This video by the U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) offers a historical perspective of RSA’s Vocational Rehabilitation program, which provides services and support to persons with disabilities to maximize their employment. The video is part of the program’s 100th year celebration.

This Urban Institute needs assessment is an initial review of Oklahoma’s early childhood care and education (ECCE) delivery system. The review focuses on programs that directly support ECCE to include universal pre-K, Head Start and Early Head Start, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start and Early Head Start, Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships, and state-funded child care and tribal child care programs. The assessment identifies future goals and action areas to include alignment of systems of care for seamless service delivery, affordability of ECCE options, increases in the number of choices for families for culturally responsive care and services while assisting parents’ ability to work, and resources to meet the urgent health and mental health needs of rural young children.

This video covers highlights from the “Thriving Communities for a Better Southern Nevada” meeting that was held in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 10, 2020. This event, hosted by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and Las Vegas-Clark County, Nevada, brought together a local planning team, community leaders, and practitioners who discussed constructive measures to help individuals overcome barriers to employment and improve their families’ economic well-being and mobility.

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the federally-funded Vocational Rehabilitation Program. To celebrate this milestone, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has created a webpage for anniversary content. Key features of this webpage include a podcast with keynote remarks from the RSA Commissioner and graphics to promote the 100 years of Vocational Rehabilitation. Additional information and materials will be added throughout the calendar year.