Due to the economic climate, many workers have faced the unstable labor market with declining wages and job insecurity, and the effects take a larger toll on disadvantaged workers. Organizations that are currently serving disadvantaged workers are also facing challenges to matching their clients to employment opportunities, and organizations have been finding innovative approaches to employment through sectoral employment strategies, career pathways and transitional jobs. This resource, from Public/Private Ventures, provides an overview of alternative staffing strategies currently being utilized across the country to support job seekers and disadvantaged workers.

While the child support program has been recently successful in supporting low-income single parents, many single parents still do not receive child support. Child support can often be a vital financial resource for families in poverty. In this study, researchers look at the effect of child support debt on nonresident fathers’ child support payments and formal earnings in Wisconsin.

This report is from Public/Private Ventures, and provides an overview of job training approaches to help the low-income population build skills for specific industries. Sectoral employment programs use a wide range of strategies to support low-wage workers by working with employers to gain a better understanding of their workforce needs. Authors provide an overview of the evaluation on sector-focused skills training, and find that this type of program has positive outcomes for families.

The Work Advancement and Support Center (WASC) is testing a strategy to support low-wage workers in increasing earnings. The WASC offers services to help workers improve skills, access support services, and ultimately, increase earnings by working additional hours or finding higher-paying jobs. From MDRC, this report outlines the early impacts of the WASC Demonstration in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Dayton, Ohio; and San Diego, California from a random assignment research design.

These resources are from the Welfare Peer TA Network workshop and include information specifically on subsidized employment programs.

These resources are from Welfare Peer TA Network workshop and include information specifically on diversionary work programs.

These resources are from the Welfare Peer TA Network workshop and include information specifically on increasing caseloads.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance and the Welfare Peer TA Network hosted a workshop at the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS) Annual Conference. The workshop titled, “Transitional, Subsidized, and Other Employment Programs for TANF Participants: Promoting Self-Sufficiency through Strategic Employment Programming,” included a panel discussion on subsidized employment and non-recurring benefits/diversion, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

This resource is from the Rural Poverty Research Institute, and highlights the effect of the economic climate on rural areas. The rural economy is losing jobs at a faster rate than the rest of the nation, and employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that nonmetropolitan counties lost 3.4 percent of their jobs for the 12 months that ended in January 2009. Researchers highlight current statistics and data on rural unemployment during this recession.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a Rural Communities Initiative Economic Development Roundtable in Spring 2009 to strengthen economic development activities among programs serving TANF participants in rural communities. Nine rural communities—as a component of ongoing technical assistance—attended the Rural Communities Economic Roundtable in Portland, Maine, June 8-9, 2009 and developed economic development strategic plans for their local communities. Participants were provided with tools, replicable innovative models, and guidance on designing economic development opportunities to improve the employment opportunities for TANF participants and assist them in becoming more self-sufficient.