This brief from Ascend at the Aspen Institute provides information about two-generation strategies and shows how the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act offers opportunities to advance two-generation strategies around workforce development and post-secondary programs.

This guide from Ascend at the Aspen Institute highlights resources and cross-sector strategies to help engage employers and create meaningful work opportunities for low-income individuals. The guide also emphasizes how WIOA presents opportunities to advocate for two-generation approaches that support youth and adults.

Mathematica Policy Research is evaluating Pathways to Careers, an innovative employment program for people with disabilities. This webinar, from Mathematica’s Center for Studying Disability Policy, discussed evaluation findings, alignment of the program’s provisions with WIOA, trends in best practices for rehabilitation, and Pathways’ strategies for delivery of services and engagement of employers.

As states release draft Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) state plans for public comment, advocates and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to offer suggestions for improvement. CLASP is offering this list of questions to help review the plans with a focus on how WIOA can improve economic and career success for low-income youth and adults.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, this guide features a collection of resources for TANF administrators and other practitioners on career exploration and assessment, career pathways and sector strategies, and labor market information. These resources may be helpful for those working with TANF recipients and low-income families in connecting their clients to jobs with wages that support self-sufficiency. There are four types of resources included in the guide: 

• Research Studies
• Technical Assistance Resources
• Client Assessments
• Data Sets Related To Education And Employment. (author abstract)

In this U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) report, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. analyzed data from occupational employment projects in every state to determine promising occupations that require no more than 12 months of training beyond high school. Tables are available for each state, and each table ranks occupations from the highest to lowest number of projected annual openings. For each occupation, the report also provides the level of education or training required, growth rate, and the median wage. 

Washington State’s WorkFirst Handbook has a section with information about medical conditions, including learning disabilities, that can interfere with a person’s ability to work, prepare for work, or look for work. The handbook emphasizes the importance of obtaining medical evidence in order to appropriately accommodate any limitations, including the possibility of exemptions from program requirements on the basis of disability. The Learning Needs Screening Tool is a brief oral interview originally developed for the State of Washington’s Division of Employment and Social Learning Disabilities Initiative. Washington also has a Medical Evidence Evaluations Basic Flow Chart, which shows different participation outcomes based on screening and assessment.

This brief highlights the supports received by respondents in a qualitative study that is part of the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) evaluation, focusing on responses from 84 study participants. Respondents discussed program-provided supports and assessed their usefulness. The interviewers also asked about any public assistance they received as well as the ways in which family and friends did (or did not) provide material and emotional help. This brief is one in a series of three focusing on participants’ experiences, including their perceived challenges and motivations to participate. (author introduction)