In 2020, the Urban Institute (UI) published a framework comprising 26 mobility metrics that can help communities understand and track the factors that most influence mobility from poverty. Urban Institute’s framework identifies five pillars that support mobility from poverty and their predictors, which both reflect performance and can be influenced by local leaders to help bolster the conditions that boost upward mobility and narrow racial inequities.

The Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau is hosting a webinar on February 13, 2024, from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET, where an expert panel will discuss the need for structured mentorship for women in the trades. Panelists will focus on best practices for program startup and review successful program structures.

As the United States confronts social, structural, and economic shifts driven by climate change, the need for workers with new skills and capabilities is clear. But not enough workers are trained and prepared for these opportunities. Jobs for the Future (JFF) launched the Quality Green Jobs Regional Challenge to invest nearly $5 million in communities to develop and implement regional strategies to grow quality green jobs. The challenge is part of Climate-Resilient Employees for a Sustainable Tomorrow (CREST), which is a five-year initiative of the Ares Charitable Foundation to prepare and reskill individuals for green jobs to help ensure an equitable and inclusive economy. This JFF resource provides insights on the perceptions, barriers, and solutions in pursuit of green jobs and skills.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation is funding the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies (BEES) project to conduct an evaluation of a supportive housing program in Portland, Oregon. The program, operated by Central City Concern, provides treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) along with housing and employment services. This OPRE project profile provides a short overview of the Central City Concern’s supportive housing program, including the program’s employment services, and describes the study to be carried out by the project team.

Learning and employment records (LERs) could play a critical role in advancing skills-based hiring practices and ensuring they are implemented equitably. LERs are digital records of an individual’s formal and informal learning and employment and can be used to represent diverse experiences on the job or inside the classroom. SkillsFWD is a new initiative on a mission to catalyze a more equitable skills-based hiring ecosystem and announced inaugural grants to fund projects solving challenges around LERs. This U.S. Chamber of Commer Foundation resource names the six grant-winning teams that will spearhead diverse projects across the country, generating replicable models and sharing original learnings and insights

Colleges across the United States have invested to develop credential-stacking programs. Their target students are often working adults who don't have the time or the money to get a college degree. These programs allow them to earn a series of credentials over time that can get them to the same place. If used effectively, stackable programs can provide low-income students with a path to the middle class. This RAND resource explains stackable credentials and provides data as well as lessons learned from high-value programs

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta published a case study that analyzes a workforce development program in Washington, D.C., which was created to help families navigate the loss of government benefits when their employment income increases. The paper frames the discussion around a hypothetical family receiving support from all major federal public assistance programs, including those managed by the Administration for Children and Families that help families with income assistance, child care, and utility payments.

To learn more about workforce supports for system-involved young people, Urban Institute researchers identified programs that were using effective strategies to help system-involved individuals avoid detention or incarceration and find employment. The purpose of the study was to highlight examples of successful partnerships and effective partnership strategies involving community-based workforce service providers, public agencies, and stakeholders. Part of a series using findings from a multiphase study on community-based workforce development programs for youth and young adults ages 16 to 24 involved in the criminal legal system, this brief provides a practitioner perspective on the role strategic partnerships play in supporting workforce programs and the importance of establishing relationships with employers. It highlights lessons learned about engaging with employer partners and recommendations for future policy and practice.

The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program helps more than 800,000 people with disabilities obtain, maintain, and advance in employment each year, yet hundreds of millions of dollars in federal VR funding go unspent by state VR agencies. Unspent federal VR funding is problematic because it means that fewer people with disabilities can be served by the VR program. The VR program provides critical support for people with disabilities, and states should use the full funds available to them to maximize its impact. Various barriers such as complex and restrictive program rules, however, limit how states obtain and spend federal VR funding. This Mathematica resource provides solutions to increase states’ spending of federal VR funding.

While some secondary schools incorporate lessons on budgeting, saving, and investing into their curricula, often there is no formal venue to learn about money that is accessible to all communities. For those who experience economic victimization, including individuals who have experienced human trafficking, education and resources may also be needed to address the financial trauma to improve their relationship with money. Economic empowerment programming demystifies financial wellbeing by providing education, tools, and resources for people to attain financial literacy, stability, and professional growth. This Office of Planning, Research and Planning resource addresses strategies for survivor economic empowerment and provides additional resources, including a guide for anti-trafficking service providers.