In today’s rapidly evolving job market, becoming and staying relevant requires targeted training with specialized skills to align with top industries seeking talent. The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) is hosting a webinar on January 24, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. CT where their experts will guide attendees through a virtual career training certification prep, ed2go. Presenters will share how ed2go enables NAWDP’s partners to target and train according to local demand, why industry-recognized credentials help candidates stand out, and how attendees can implement a similar course program for their organization.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Competency Model Clearinghouse will be hosting a webinar on December 13, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET where they will present new tools and innovations designed to empower the public workforce system, businesses, non-profits, human resources professionals, and career counselors to identify key competencies needed across industries. Attendees will learn how to effectively use the tools to engage industries and strengthen sector strategies.

The Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse is a website funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE). The website summarizes decades of research on programs and interventions that aim to improve employment outcomes for people with low incomes. In this Clearinghouse video, OPRE’s Clare DiSalvo talks with former state TANF administrator Ella Gifford-Hawkins about how TANF and other program providers can use the Clearinghouse to make evidence-informed decisions as they design, adapt, and seek to strengthen their programs and improve the odds that the job seekers they serve will succeed in the labor market.

The field of workforce development helps job seekers enter and advance in the workforce, and it helps employers improve their hiring, training, and advancement practices. To optimize local workforce systems, practitioners must dismantle silos and create coherent systems and services that balance the needs of both workers and businesses. The Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program is hosting “Workforce Leadership Café,” a series of conversations with leaders who are contributing their talents and insights to this field of practice. Guests will include sponsors of local Workforce Leadership Academies and others who are exploring talent development and job quality in workforce development.

Remaining dates include:
• December 21, 2023: Workforce Solutions Alamo
• January 18, 2024: United Way of Central Maryland + Scranton Area Community Foundation
• February 1, 2024: The Greater Memphis Chamber
• February 15, 2024: Ohio Workforce Coalition and New York Association for Training and Development Professionals

LifeSet is an intensive case management program that prepares young people in foster care for the transition to adulthood. LifeSet specialists meet weekly with youth to provide individualized, intensive services as youth work towards self-defined goals in areas such as housing, employment, education, and money management. This Chapin Hall report presents findings from the Phase II evaluation of LifeSet’s implementation by three child services providers in Illinois. Phase II evaluation activities included focus groups with LifeSet specialists; interviews with LifeSet supervisors, licensed program experts, and young people who participated in LifeSet; and an analysis of both Department of Children and Family Services administrative data and GuideTree program data from Youth Villages.

Prior evaluations of reentry grants funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) highlight the many challenges community service providers faced when integrating workforce development programs inside correctional facilities. Such challenges include limited physical space, restricted staff and participant movement within the facility, the culture of corrections, recruiting and hiring qualified program staff who can pass background checks, and sharing data across partners. This DOL brief is part of an evaluation series of the Pathway Home grant initiative which required services to be delivered to participants both before and after release from incarceration, ideally with the same case manager. The brief focuses on the efforts of Pathway Home grantees to provide services to participants prior to their release from prison or jail.

Over the past three years, the Michigan Center for Student Success (MCSS) at the Michigan Community College Association has focused on implementing the statewide Strengthening MiWorkforce Pathways project. The workforce-focused initiative is one of many system-level efforts among states in the greater Student Success Center Network that embrace and recognize learner agility and learning that happens outside the traditional classroom. The explicit focus on credit for industry credentials provides a framework for state-level strategies supporting community colleges’ efforts to improve student completion rates. This Jobs for the Future post provides an overview of MCSS as well as focus areas for future considerations to support colleges in their efforts to establish equitable credit for prior learning policies and practices.

Federal and state funding for infrastructure, workforce and economic development, and apprenticeship expansion are flowing into states and regional and local entities. These funds are aimed at the needs of industry, creating equitable pathways to well-paying work, and advancing the workforce development goals of federal and state government agencies. The new funding brings challenges around coordination and ensuring it works well with existing workforce development efforts. This AIR blogpost describes two of the primary challenges that come with the new funding and promising solutions to address them.

Registered Apprenticeships are recognized as a key strategy to improving job quality and creating access to good-paying jobs for all, including populations historically underrepresented – women, people of color, and individuals with a disability – and underserved populations. The U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau will be hosting a webinar on November 16, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. ET to 3:30 p.m. ET to discuss creating access to good-paying jobs for youth and young adult women. It will highlight the importance of educating young women on the advantages of apprenticeship, feature programs and training opportunities, discuss recruitment strategies, and share information on Department of Labor apprenticeship programs.

The success sequence is discussed in the context of policy approaches for reducing poverty and improving economic opportunity for adolescents and young adults. It refers to a series of milestones in life associated with escaping poverty and joining the middle class, most commonly including high school completion, full-time employment, and waiting for marriage to have children. Policy approaches influenced by the success sequence theory emphasize educational programming and public awareness campaigns to spread knowledge around the importance of following success sequence milestones to achieve economic self-sufficiency. This Mathematica report is the third in a series on the success sequence conducted for the Department of Health and Human Services. This report presents findings from this mixed-methods study that investigates the factors associated with following the success sequence and economic self-sufficiency. 

Access the first report and second report here.