The U.S. Census Bureau has improved the variety of online courses it offers, as well as the process for learning about them and registering. Two of their more popular offerings for the workforce community include "Using Census Data for Grant Applications" and "How to Navigate American FactFinder."

McKinsey & Company's Center for Government (MCG) released a report titled, "Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works." This report examines dual global crises, the high levels of youth unemployment, and a shortage of job seekers with critical skills. The report discusses how a country can resolve this issue and bring young people from education to employment, examining more than 100 education-to-employment initiatives from 25 countries. In addition to this, a survey of youth, education providers, and employers in nine countries that are diverse in geography and socioeconomic contexts is assessed. Lastly, the report focuses on skill development, giving special attention to the mechanisms that connect education to employment

In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expanded investment in States' labor market information (LMI) systems to help create new jobs, save existing ones, spur economic activity, and invest in long-term growth. As part of the Recovery Act funding for green jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded $50 million in State LMI improvement grants to 30 grantees, including 24 individual State workforce agencies and six consortia. The "Investing in Labor-Market Information (LMI): Insights from the Recovery Act LMI Grants" report describes experiences of nine selected grantees and presents lessons that may inform future efforts, while the "Investing in Labor-Market Information (LMI): A Summary of the State LMI Improvement Grants" summary offers information about grantees' goals, definitions of green jobs, partners and stakeholders, activities, products, and dissemination strategies.

Mathematica released a report on the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the nation's largest source of training and employment services, in which they conducted a study of States' and local areas' use of eight WIA policy waivers. This final report provides descriptive analysis of the findings from each phase of data collection, discussing the reasons for waiver requests and implementation of waivers at the State and local levels, the successes and challenges of these efforts, and lessons that can be learned from these States' and local areas' waiver use.

The Center for Studying Disability Policy and Mathematica Policy Research released a report summarizing policies and programs that the United States and 10 other Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries are using to provide income support and vocational rehabilitation to transition-age youth with disabilities. The report examines common barriers that inhibit a large portion of young Americans with disabilities from transitioning into adulthood with gainful and stable employment. The four major themes that emerged from the report are: 1) a range of efforts has been made to promote employment, 2) investment in large-scale pilot projects has been helpful to governments to identify what works, 3) most countries are operating programs at various government levels designed to improve access to adult services for people with disabilities, and 4) all countries have actively pursued solutions to the problem of inadequate coordination of youth and adult services.

Mathematica issued an information brief entitled, "Ticket to Work Participants: Then and Now." Created by Congress to help beneficiaries with disabilities find employment, the Ticket to Work (TTW) program was revised in 2008 to make it more attractive to employment service providers. This brief discusses how the TTW participant population has changed under the revised regulations, and examines how the regulations may have affected beneficiaries' service use, employment outcomes, and satisfaction with TTW.

This report displays and discusses some of the data related to the poverty of children and their living arrangements and data on male employment and earnings, educational attainment, and incarceration. It then provides information on federal programs that could play a greater role in addressing poverty of children through the fathers of these children (nearly all noncustodial parents are fathers). These programs provide economic assistance, family support, and job training and employment to eligible participants. The report also examines federal programs that have the purposes of preventing teen pregnancy and helping disadvantaged youth obtain the skills and support they need to make the transition to adulthood. The underlying premise of these programs generally is that the aid or services received from these programs by low-income noncustodial fathers can help them in meeting their financial commitments to their children (or future children) and providing emotional support to their children. The report concludes by presenting several public policy approaches proposed by the policy community that might improve the lives of low-income noncustodial fathers and their children. For example, social policy could play a role by expanding economic assistance programs to noncustodial fathers, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and implementing strategies to prevent the build-up of unpaid child support through early intervention. (author abstract)

Department of Labor's Workforce3One recently posted 20 Innovation in Action write-ups that were gathered from successful reemployment practices shared by States with the Employment and Training Administration. They include processes, procedures or systems implemented by States that have resulted in process improvements and/or resource or cost savings. The successful practices were identified either through objective measures or subjective methods such as expert opinions, and include a detailed description, contact information and related attachments.

Mathematica released a report evaluating the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). This study analyzed quantitative and qualitative data to learn about local-project performance, program outcomes, and participants' views of this employment and training program for low-income, older adults. The study, conducted with Social Policy Research Associates, found SCSEP projects provide needed services to older workers, offer necessary staffing for host agencies, and place nearly half of program exiters who are available for work into unsubsidized employment.

The National Bureau of Economic Research released a paper summarizing recent evidence on what achievement tests measure; how achievement tests relate to other measures of cognitive ability; the important skills that achievement tests miss or mis-measure; and how much these skills matter in life. It discusses the inability to adequately capture soft skills – personality traits, goals, motivations, and preferences – that are valued in the labor market, schools, and in many other domains. The overarching message of the paper states that soft skills predict success in life, and that programs that enhance soft skills have an important place in an effective portfolio of public policies.