In March of 2012, the WPTA Network collaborated with Supporting Employment Empowerment (SEE) Hawaii Work and the Hawaii Department of Human Services to learn more about their private-public partnerships between their working participants and local employers.
 
This podcast highlights SEE Hawaii Work (SEE), which is a program that assists Hawaii's employers with their labor market needs, while placing work-eligible Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants into subsidized job-training programs. Staff from the State of Hawaii Department of Human Services provide an overview of key components and activities in the SEE Hawaii program model, discuss how the program engages, markets and conducts outreach to businesses and employers, as well as provide information on how data is collected within the program.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted the "Leveraging Private/Public Partnerships and Funding to Improve Summer Youth Employment Opportunities" Webinar on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST. This Webinar provided background information on funding strategies for summer youth employment activities and discussed methods for leveraging both public and private funding streams. The Webinar featured speakers from the LA Conservation Corps, the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, ABCD Inc., and the Philadelphia Youth Network. The speakers encouraged those implementing a summer youth employment programs to collaborate with TANF agencies, the business community, community action agencies and other CSBG-funded programs, workforce investment programs, and private foundations in an effort to better serve youth, reach TANF participants, and engage key stakeholders.

On November 28, 2012, the Office of Family Assistance hosted the second Webinar in a series highlighting promising practices for building sustainable subsidized employment programs. This Webinar provided an overview of the available funding streams for subsidized employment programs; discussed the varied funding sources' requirements and restrictions and how they can be combined and leveraged; and outlined practical strategies used by peer agencies to create/expand subsidized employment programs for TANF participants and low-income workers. Presenters for this Webinar included representatives from MDRC, the Connecticut Department of Labor, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in Connecticut, and the Ohio Human Relations Council.

The Center for Studying Disability Policy released an issue brief discussing the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD). This study analyzes the interim findings of the YTD project evaluation, and the impact the project evaluation had on paid employment and earnings of youth with disabilities. The study identifies key components of the YTD project and further provides insight into the project for young people with disabilities.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted the "The ABC's of Creating Summer Youth Programs and Partnerships" Webinar on October 17, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EDT. The Webinar featured speakers Mathematica Policy Research, the Southeast Tennessee Development District--Local Workforce Investment Area Five, the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services, and Corporate Voices for Working Families who provided an overview of strategies for developing summer youth employment programs that can work in a variety of contexts with different types of employers. Speakers also discussed the strategic partnerships, funding streams, and recruitment and placement strategies that can be utilized to increase summer youth employment opportunities.

Mathematica Policy Research prepared the "Effective Case Management: Key Elements and Practices from the Field" brief for the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. This brief provides examples of key elements and practices for effective case management in the workforce system. Examples of State and local tools, processes, and policies designed to create or improve case management are given. An annotated list of resources is also included.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Competency Model Clearinghouse (CMC) is an online resource that provides validated industry competency models that can be used as the basis of educational programs and curricula for a variety of industry sectors. The CMC also offers two tools designed to help businesses, educators, and workforce professionals achieve their talent development goals: the Build a Competency Model Tool and the Build a Career Ladder/Lattice Tool.

The Employment & Training Administration (ETA) have now made several of their most popular online tools available as mobile-optimized websites. These mobile tools will assist smartphone or tablet users locate American Job Centers, conduct online job searches, search for jobs for veterans, compare salaries for various occupations, and search for nearby job training providers. These changes are part of an ongoing effort to make workforce resources more accessible to a wider audience.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) released a report titled "Job Search Assistance Programs: A Review of the Literature." The report reviews research related to the relative effectiveness of various job search methods and the components of job search assistance (JSA) programs. The report provides an overview of current Federal JSA programs and the existing literature related to JSA with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged workers and heads of households.

Promising occupations for at-risk youth provide sufficient compensation and could put them on a path to becoming independent adults. To identify promising occupations, this brief examined four key features: 1) median earnings level, 2) education and training pre-requisites, 3) projected growth in labor-market demand, and 4) potential for individual advancement. Based on these criteria, opportunities in two fields are highlighted – health care and construction.  A number of work-based learning and career pathway programs are also discussed, including ACF’s Health Profession Opportunity Grants program. This brief was written as part of ACF’s Youth Demonstration Development project being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and the Chapin Hall Center for Children. (author abstract)