This blogpost, written by an ICF analyst and featured in the National Community Action Partnership’s In Focus online magazine, identifies the importance of creating strategic partnerships among organizations that serve job seekers with multiple barriers to employment. The article highlights how these partnerships can streamline service delivery under a “No Wrong Door” approach, leverage multiple funding streams through blending or braiding funding sources, and integrate non-employment supports that can lead to increased employment outcomes.

This Committee for Economic Development report reviews three tools that address increasing pathways for employment for individuals who do not earn a bachelor’s degree. These tools include models for career navigation and improved career counseling, expansion of apprenticeship programs, and the increased use of competency-based hiring and assessment, rather than relying solely on levels of educational attainment.

This Urban Institute research report analyzes the potential of a universal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The review looks at the proposal for a wage tax credit of 100 percent of annual earnings up to a maximum credit of $10,000 and analyzes the economic effects of a universal EITC to address poverty for families headed by a full-time worker. This assessment is compared to the effects of the current EITC law.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the effectiveness of using coaches to help low-income individuals move toward self-sufficiency. The evaluation profiles four coaching models: Iowa’s Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS); coaching at home visits implemented in Jefferson County, Colorado; LIFT, a national nonprofit organization that delivers career and financial coaching in Washington (D.C.), New York (New York), Chicago (Illinois), and Los Angeles (California); and MyGoals for Employment Success, a model designed by MDRC and piloted in Baltimore (Maryland) and Houston (Texas).

The Aspen Institute will host a webinar on May 29, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss the Question Bank tool designed to build stronger relationships with retail industry employers. The webinar will also feature practitioner perspectives on how to use the tool as a strategy for worker retention and advancement. Speakers include representatives from the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership and the Chicago Jobs Council.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report provides a qualitative review of the Mobile Coaching model used in La Plata County, Colorado to address transportation barriers that TANF participants in rural communities face. Under the Mobile Coaching model, case managers drive TANF participants to service providers and deliver case management while participants are in transit. The report documents case managers’ and participants’ perspectives.

This factsheet, prepared by Minnesota State Careerwise, illustrates a list of common barriers to employment. It also provides guidance on how to address barriers when job hunting, including finding helpful resources.

Many families in the TANF system face complex challenges that make it difficult for them to attain economic security. Some have disabilities or struggle with substance abuse or physical or mental health issues. Others do not have the skills or experiences needed for available jobs. Still others cannot secure a job because of a criminal record or failed drug test. Many face several of these employment barriers at the same time. 

An Office of Family Assistance (OFA)-sponsored webinar on May 29, 2019 shared the experiences of two TANF programs which have developed innovative approaches to serving families with complex family needs. The Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance is partnering with the state vocational rehabilitation agency to pilot the Individualized Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment for a set of TANF customers who had previously been exempt from work requirements due to a limiting physical or mental condition. Ramsey County (Minnesota) Workforce Solutions partnered with a number of community partners to provide Families Achieving Success Today (FAST), an initiative designed to improve employment outcomes for TANF recipients with work limitations and/or disabilities and to reduce racial disparities in employment outcomes. A representative from Project IMPROVE informed attendees about support that may be available through OFA to design and test approaches to serving families with complex family needs.

This Upjohn Institute study is an interim first-year report of the Institute’s “Promise: Investing in Community” initiative. The report presents strategies that rural areas as well as small and mid-sized cities might deploy to create shared prosperity. The strategies include investing in workers with education and training and investing in businesses through targeted incentives and direct funding assistance. The report includes a summary of best practices for place-based scholarships, workforce training, and support for small businesses, as well as guidance on how to integrate these best practices in an overall strategy drawn on local community assets.