The 2014 reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant will change how states and territories provide child care subsidies to low-income families. Before reauthorization, most states and territories provided some level of job search eligibility. Now, states and territories that didn’t allow this type of eligibility will have to add it, and states and territories that allowed some eligibility for job search may have to make changes to comply with the new law. This brief describes state and territory policies for job search before reauthorization and how those policies will have to change in the coming years. (author abstract)

This overview of WIOA from the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) provides an introduction to the law, including a cross-comparison of WIA and WIOA and descriptions of the core programs.

As states near the final stages of WIOA planning, many in the field are asking what final steps they can take to impact their state plans. National Skills Coalition’s (NSC) partners at Chicago Jobs Council (CJC) are organizing activities that provide examples for other policy advocates and service providers.

This brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) provides an overview of the WIOA legislation and a justification for why the new provisions were needed. It also outlines the specific provisions within the legislation that create opportunities for economic and career success for low-income workers.

This blog post from the National Skills Coalition highlights a letter from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Labor to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) State Workforce Administrators and Workforce Development Boards and American Jobs Centers. The letter encourages these entities to coordinate efforts to better connect SNAP participants, especially able-bodied adults without dependents, with employment and training opportunities provided through the workforce development system.

On Tuesday, March 15, 2016 the Office of Family Assistance hosted an Affinity Call Webinar for the TANF/WIOA Peer Exchange Initiative sites. The webinar focused on data sharing and integration, and highlighted Mississippi’s partnership with the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center to build a system that facilitates data sharing between TANF, WIOA, and other partners. The presenters provided information on what it takes to build a collaborative commitment, strategies for meeting different programmatic needs, and an overview of their common intake form and electronic referral system.

This guide from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) provides an introduction to labor market information (LMI) for TANF administrators. It includes uses for LMI data, distinctions among types of data, and explains how TANF practitioners can work with staff in state departments of labor to help their clients find good jobs.