This blogpost from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service identifies the activities and experiences that occurred at the first SNAP E&T State Institute, “Taking SNAP E&T to Scale.” The blog highlights best practices shared, as well as the strategic planning processes used to develop a road map for an effective state SNAP E&T program. Successful programs find in-demand jobs and pair them with skills training that employers need for high-growth occupations.

Both at the national and state level, Prosperity Now scorecards provide data on household financial health and racial economic inequality. These scorecards rank financial status and the path to prosperity for residents across all states. Indicators include job quality and wages, liquid savings for emergencies, credit scores and access to credit, homeownership rates, and access to health insurance.

This Urban Institute brief identifies challenges to accessing child care for parents who engage in education and training. An overview of state eligibility requirements under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) for low-income families pursuing education and training is presented. The brief is premised on how lack of child care is a barrier to undertaking workforce development activities.

This blogpost from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration discusses the strategic planning process that workforce entities use to understand which occupations are suited for job seekers in their respective jurisdictions. Also included is a set of presentations and resource guides on how to identify in-demand jobs and use labor market data for workforce planning and business intelligence gathering.

This issue brief from the National Skills Coalition outlines how to collect data and track the completion of registered apprenticeships against identified state postsecondary educational attainment goals. Case studies of how data is tracked in Iowa and Washington State are discussed.

This Urban Institute report examines a case study of the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA’s) work requirement, which has been in existence for 10 years. The study covers the CHA staff and resident perceptions of the work requirement’s implementation and outcomes.

This report from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) describes major welfare and family self-sufficiency research that OPRE’s Division of Economic Independence sponsored in Fiscal Year 2018. The five areas of research explored by OPRE projects are: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, employment and the labor market, education and training, behavioral science, and cross-cutting and other safety net research. The report provides project summaries and highlights key findings.

This Administration for Children and Families blog post from the Office of Child Support Enforcement Commissioner presents examples of how states are taking the lead in testing and implementing child support-led employment services. These projects, funded under the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration program, IV-D incentive funds, and waiver authority granted under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act (to support programs in Colorado, Ohio, and Wisconsin), include intensive case management, parenting peer support, and related employment services. A final evaluation report expected in April will demonstrate the positive outcomes of these programs that lead to increased capacity of noncustodial parents to support their children financially.

This Mathematica literature review features the causal relationship between employment and health among low-income Americans. Instead of cause and effect, research has mostly emphasized the correlational relationship of changes in employment and health; this prior work mainly reflected findings from outside the United States. The research in this current review assessed whether a causal relationship exists between work environment and health, since a job’s nature and quality might affect one’s health. The review’s findings might help guide the design of programs to improve health or employment outcomes for U.S. low-income adults and children.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report highlights a study comparing the Back to Work (B2W) and Independent Job Search (IJS) programs administered by the New York City Department of Social Services/Human Resources Administration. B2W required daily attendance at the program office and offered a range of group and one-on-one job search services, while IJS program participants were required to attend weekly in-person meetings at the program office. The study examined the level and duration of job search assistance, services received, and job search tools that each program offered and explored the difference in outcomes regarding program participants’ employment, earnings, time to employment, and public assistance.