SNAP to Skills will host the webinar Better Jobs and Increased Incomes: Integrating SNAP E&T into Career Pathways Programs on March 22, 2018 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. EST. The webinar will focus on how career pathways can help SNAP participants upgrade their skills and advance to higher paying jobs by completing training and obtaining credentials in industries with strong employment opportunities. Webinar participants will learn how SNAP E&T can integrate with career pathways programs to create expanded opportunities for SNAP participants, leverage other funding, and fill service gaps to increase impact. It will include opportunities to hear from specific communities on how they have integrated SNAP E&T with career pathways to create opportunities for participants to obtain better jobs and increase earnings.

This blog by Lane Schonour, Goodwill Vice President of Learning and Development, looks at the challenges faced by many non-profits related to talent management in today’s economy. Mr. Schonour shares insights and lessons learned by Goodwill as a result of their work in this area and how Goodwill has had success with managing the talent pipeline by ensuring they have the right mix of skills and competencies to meet current and future business requirements.

The Center for Living and Learning (CLL) is a non-profit organization in California that provides programs to aid disadvantaged persons with obtaining and holding stable employment. Working with disadvantaged adults and at-risk youth since 2001, CLL provides vocational education and has assisted with over 400 apprenticeships. The CLL Apprenticeship Program provides paid internships to persons transitioning from rehabilitation, homelessness, and incarceration, as well as welfare recipients and former foster and at-risk youth, single parents, and other disadvantaged individuals. Skills learned include customer service, data entry, administration, organization, and clerical work, along with a full suite of computer skills. CLL offers to businesses services which help them understand CLL clients; CLL also assists businesses in interacting with CLL clients to facilitate their re-entry into the workforce.

This update from The Aspen Institute is related to 2015’s UpSkilling Playbook for Employers, a playbook designed to promote and highlight examples of employer-led programs and to encourage employer training and advancement practices for workers. Since the release of the Playbook, there has been a significant increase in upskilling among employers. Businesses are recognizing the importance of implementing upskilling programs, and investors are now looking at the importance of upskilling for both business and societal good. The update lists several upskilling programs that are providing positive results. A link to the Upskilling Playbook for Employers is included.

Learn more about Wisconsin’s journey through career pathway policy alignment and system change at the local, regional, and state levels. In this webinar, participants will hear from Scott DuBenske, Education Director at the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). He will provide a detailed look at the primary drivers of success in Wisconsin’s journey to scale career pathways. Join the webinar to learn the details of this innovative career pathways operation and gain insights into how to scale initiatives state-wide. WTCS’s career pathways initiative was supported by funds from a Round 4 Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant.

This brief from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) includes consultation with experts and a literature review to determine how to best invest in programs that serve low-income children and adults. It highlights the need for program implementation to integrate research and evaluation findings for programs that combine services for children and adults. Program leaders can also use rapid-cycle testing and collaborate with researchers to quickly inform the field of promising outcomes.

This brief from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) examines several approaches to reduce poverty for low-income children and adults. These frameworks, including change and partnership models, can work together to assist stakeholders in implementation programs, monitoring progress, identifying improvement areas, and seeing results for program participants.

The IPS Employment focuses the center’s activities on employment for people with serious mental illnesses. It operates in 23 states, 3 European countries, and offers trainings across the world. The center hosts a multidisciplinary team of researchers and trainers who conduct research studies, disseminate findings, prepare training and educational materials, and provide training and consultation services.

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and PHI published this report which explores the role of leaders beyond just the workforce development field, but also across professional, business, government, and other sectors to promote better quality jobs in a coordinated and efficient way. Initiatives engaged across a variety of fields would expand economic opportunity while encouraging public and private partnerships and change across policies and practices. This report shares efforts that have already been successful, while also making recommendations for future opportunities.

This report from the National Skills Coalition looks at American workers in the service industry who have low skill (including low literacy, numeracy, and technical skills) and their participation in the service industry; the report is useful to the gig/sharing economy. It offers analysis of national and international data related to practices and interventions of employers when attempting to upskill low-skilled employees in service section industries. These workers have an incentive to stay in the field when rewarded with opportunities for advancement, benefiting both the employer and employee.