This document provides the findings from a six-year study conducted in New York City on the ability of substance abusing TANF participants to obtain a job and remain employed. It was found that the overwhelming majority of substance abusing participants were not exempted from work requirements due to their substance use. One quarter of participants with substance use issues found and maintained employment. Case management is touched upon as an important component to working with this hard-to-serve population.

In Colorado, TANF provides funding to a substance abuse treatment program called New Directions for Families at the Arapahoe House treatment facility. Substance abuse intervention and transitional housing assistance is provided for mothers and their dependent children with a focus on achieving self-sufficiency. In the latter half of the program, employment is emphasized and mothers are expected to be working as they complete treatment.

This Portfolio of Research in Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency describes the major research projects of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation’s Division of Economic Independence. The Portfolio is divided into four sections – TANF and the Safety Net, Employment and the Labor Market, Education and Training and Other and Cross-Cutting Research. This document provides detailed summaries of OPRE’s ongoing welfare and family self-sufficiency research efforts along with brief overviews of past projects. The report also describes OPRE’s efforts to disseminate rigorous research on welfare and family self-sufficiency topics.  This Portfolio covers OPRE-funded projects for Fiscal Year 2012. (author abstract)

This Interim Report provides an overview of the tribal HPOG grantees’ progress over the first two years of the program with initial evaluation findings organized around program structure, program processes, and education and employment outcomes. The report also summarizes the evaluation questions and methodology. The report was written by the Tribal HPOG evaluation team, comprised of NORC at the University of Chicago, Red Star Innovations and the National Indian Health Board. (author abstract)

This brief provides an overview of the strategies that Tribal HPOG grantees have used to implement the HPOG program, challenges encountered during implementation, lessons learned, and ongoing program evolution and adaptation to address unique tribal cultural and programmatic needs. The brief draws upon qualitative data collected from the first year of evaluation activities with the Tribal HPOG programs. It is part of a series of briefs being developed by the Tribal HPOG evaluation team, comprised of NORC at the University of Chicago, Red Star Innovations and the National Indian Health Board (NIHB). (author abstract)

The Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success at CLASP released a paper that explores "stackable credentials," which is defined by the Department of Labor as a series of credentials that accumulate to build an individual's qualifications for advancement on a career pathway. The paper discusses some of the barriers to acquiring multiple educational and occupations credentials, pulling from data collected in Kentucky, Oregon, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The paper also outlines the ways in which these states are working to increase credential attainment for their residents.