Many workers in hourly front-line retail and food service jobs have been subject to low pay and few benefits for decades. More recently, these workers' challenges have been compounded by increasingly unstable and unpredictable work schedules due to shifts cancelled or shortened with little notice, inconsistent days or times of day they are expected to work, little advance notice when schedules are posted, or having to be on-call without a guarantee of being paid. This policy brief illustrates how schedule unpredictability has a direct connection to how often workers struggle to provide adequate food, housing, and medical care for themselves and their families. The brief also notes how instability can also affect workers' ability to access social safety net programs.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief is a literature review and meta-analysis of data from the Pathways Clearinghouse. The analysis sought to understand the interventions and types of services with the strongest evidence of success in improving employment, earnings, and related outcomes for people with low incomes during recessions and recoveries.

This Action Lab webinar, held on November 4, 2021, focused on leveraging Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) to expand access to and support student success in education and training programs that lead to good careers. The webinar included a SNAP E&T 101 session from Seattle Jobs Initiative, a discussion with a USDA Food and Nutrition Services representative, and presentations from the International Rescue Committee, American Public Human Services Association, Council on Adult Basic Education, and National Skills Coalition.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief describes perceived benefits of Youth At-Risk of Homelessness comprehensive service models for youth and young adults and child welfare systems. The brief provides recommendations for implementing models intended to reduce homelessness among youth and young adults with child welfare involvement.

This U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration directive provides a resource guide to workforce investment practitioners who assist job seekers in finding and applying for financial assistance and other supportive services. The guide assists workforce professionals in accurately locating emergency and long-term resources for workforce program customers to gain economic stability. It includes information on rental assistance, supports for utilities and broadband, child care, the child tax credit, earned income tax credit, nutrition and food security, health care resources, and legal aid, among other resources.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief describes the evaluation of the implementation of four coaching interventions and their impacts on study participants’ self-regulation, employment, earnings, self-sufficiency, and other measures of well-being. The brief summarizes findings from 44 interviews with participants who received coaching services from the interventions under study. The study team sought to better understand how participants viewed the coaching, what they liked and did not like, and whether they thought it was effective. The brief intends to inform program developers, providers, and policymakers about how employment coaching is implemented from the participant perspective and to share lessons for how to improve coaching interventions.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy has released a Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE-Youth) brief which discusses the ways states increased participation and performance in career and technical education (CTE) programs for students with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief also identifies lessons learned and how policymakers can incorporate these lessons after the pandemic to support the aims of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) conducted the 2021 National TANF Directors’ Meeting from September 20 - 24, 2021. During this innovation station presentation, the speaker showcased Workforce 1 Connect (WF1), a communication tool created by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). WF1 Connect is a pilot application that participants receiving TANF, SNAP E&T, Childcare Assistance, and DEED Employment and Training Programs such as Blind and Vocational Rehabilitation Services, can download to their phone or tablet. It is a participant-driven tool that can be used to communicate with both county and tribal staff.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief describes the experiences of six employment programs participating in the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project. The brief presents key takeaways from their efforts to maintain and develop new connections with employers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four of the programs serve people with mental illness; one serves TANF participants with disabilities or who care for dependents with disabilities; and one serves young adults with disabilities who are transitioning from school to work. The brief offers lessons for other employment programs about promising strategies for working with employers that might endure beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.