The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program funds training programs in high-demand healthcare professions, targeted to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals. This report is part of the HPOG National Implementation Evaluation (NIE) and provides interim results on the key outcomes of HPOG healthcare training completion and employment, as well as on participants’ pre-training activities and receipt of support services and employment assistance. This study includes 27 HPOG grantees and the report provides information about the first 12 months of HPOG participation for 8,634 individuals. (author abstract)

A substantial skills gap exists between the education and training of the labor force and the needs of employers in many high growth industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. This gap results in unemployment while good paying jobs go unfilled. At the same time, many low-skilled adults persist in low wage work with little opportunity for advancement.

Career pathways programs, like Year Up, are an approach to fill a vital need for skilled workers in the economy and offer low-wage workers the opportunity to obtain occupational and other skills and advance into the middle class.

This brief was produced by Abt Associates as part of the Innovative Strategies to Increase Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) project, a random assignment evaluation of nine promising career pathways programs that aim to improve employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for low-income, low-skilled individuals. (author abstract)

This Annual Report provides a snapshot of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program at the end of its third year of operation. The report summarizes program operations and participant activity and outcomes from HPOG’s inception through the third year of grantee activities. (author abstract)

A substantial skills gap exists between the education and training of the labor force and the needs of employers in many high growth industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. This gap results in unemployment while good paying jobs go unfilled. At the same time, many low-skilled adults persist in low wage work with little opportunity for advancement.

Career pathways programs, like the Workforce Training Academy Connect (WTA Connect) Program, are an approach to fill a vital need for skilled workers in the economy and offer low-wage workers the opportunity to obtain occupational and other skills and advance into the middle class.

This brief was produced by Abt Associates as part of the Innovative Strategies to Increase Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) project, a random assignment evaluation of nine promising career pathways programs that aim to improve employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for low-income, low-skilled individuals. (author abstract)

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation released a report that summarizes interview data collected from 51 unmarried mothers in Southeast Michigan and Los Angeles, California. Interviews were conducted to learn about participant experiences with work, benefit receipt, overall wellbeing, material hardship, and economic coping strategies that are utilized.

Since the creation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in 1996, there has been concern about low-income individuals who may be eligible for TANF cash assistance but are neither receiving TANF nor working. These individuals are often referred to as “disconnected.” This study, Understanding the Dynamics of Disconnection from Employment and Assistance, uses interview data from a sample of 51 disconnected, unmarried mothers from Southeast Michigan and Los Angeles, California, to learn more about their experiences related to work, benefit receipt, and material hardship, the economic coping strategies they use to manage, and their overall well-being. (author abstract) 

The National Women's Law Center released a fact sheet that lists five common scheduling challenges faced by workers in low-wage jobs, and outlines their impacts on marriage, transportation, education and training programs, and arranging child care.

The Working Poor Families Project released a policy brief that explores ways to connect young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 years old to education and training programs borne out of state level policies and interventions.