Hybrid and competency-based approaches to Registered Apprenticeship programs are becoming increasingly popular and can be useful to participants who are enrolled in secondary education. This self-paced online course intends to support workforce development professionals, employers, and apprenticeship sponsors in planning, designing, and implementing a hybrid or competency-based Registered Apprenticeship program for youth or adults. Key elements of the course include guidance on how to build a plan, find program samples and create a work process, develop a related technical instruction (RTI) outline, create a wage scale, design a communications plan and identify success measures, and build competency assessments.

A prevailing belief suggests that having a job brings financial security, though many workers hold jobs that do not support financial stability. WorkRise and the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program (FSP) will host a webinar on April 28, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET on research covering workers’ financial health and on building pathways to support financial security and economic mobility. The webinar will also present a new report explaining how work arrangements relate to worker benefit provisions and how work and benefits can determine whether workers can attain financial security. The report examines the disparity in financial security outcomes among low- and moderate-income workers, particularly for persons of color, women, and younger workers. Speakers include representatives of the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program, Institute for the Future, the Plousha Moore Group, WorkRise, and the Urban Institute.

This research-to-practice brief presents a new model for job search assistance based on delivering virtual job search services in New Jersey. The brief identifies how job search assistance must be understood in the context of what does and does not work for unemployed job seekers and explores the principles behind effective job search interventions. It also illustrates the components of a three-tiered job search model: the need for physical and psychological safety and stability; the foundations of a sustainable job search to create maintainable patterns and schedules for persons whose lives are in disarray as a result of COVID; and the creation of new job search skills to enhance the job seeker’s motivation, persistence, and self-efficacy.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the creation of integrated employment services and treatment programs for persons with opioid and substance use disorders (SUDs) and covers the emerging evidence on this approach’s effectiveness in improving participant employment outcomes. Employment service delivery as part of SUD treatment intends to support individuals in their attainment of sustained recovery and improved economic well-being. The report was prepared as part of the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES) project which evaluates programs that combine employment services with SUD treatment and recovery services. Through these evaluations, BEES strives to increase awareness of effective interventions that support low-income individuals in finding jobs and advancing in the labor market.

The Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse will host a webinar on April 29, 2021 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss how TANF administrators and other service providers can find and use information on the Pathways Clearinghouse website about evidence-based interventions and their implementation. Presentations will cover the Pathways Clearinghouse’s relevance and a demonstration of the website’s new features, as well as the website’s information on how over 50 evidence-based interventions were implemented. Speakers include representatives of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Archuleta County Department of Human Services, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, and Mathematica.

This blogpost illustrates how Jewish Family Services (JFS) of Columbus (Franklin County, Ohio) transitioned operations and adapted its practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The blogpost focuses on the JFS Journey program; Journey assists low-income individuals engaged with the Franklin County child support agency in obtaining new or better jobs, which helps them meet their support obligations. The discussion covers how JFS worked with local employers in the distribution industry to create placement opportunities for its clients, how JFS transitioned its group employment services digitally, and how new forms of staff and client engagement and procedures may be retained in a post-pandemic environment.

Federal housing subsidies can support low-income and disadvantaged families in meeting their monthly rental needs through public housing and housing vouchers. Federal initiatives in the public housing system have also been used to incentivize work, boost earnings, and provide families with pathways to move out of poverty. This research-to-practice brief examines strategies that have incorporated housing subsidies to promote economic self-sufficiency with employment-focused supports and work-based rent incentives. The brief identifies program approaches used to engage persons receiving housing assistance, and presents program components that can be used when designing employment-related initiatives.

The Urban Institute hosted a virtual webinar on March 31, 2021 which covered findings from a new resource guide for practitioners highlighting how youth-serving organizations adapted their programs to engage youth virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Presenters from Jewish Vocational Service, i.c.stars, Baltimore’s Promise, and the Urban Institute illustrated strategies that the organizations used to provide education and training, employment, career readiness, and mental health services remotely to youth and young adults ages 16 to 24.

This report reviews lessons learned in the implementation of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s seven-year Family-Centered Community Change (FCCC) initiative in Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas. The FCCC is an integrated two-generation service model offering child care, job training, and financial and employment services. The report presents lessons about collaborating, integrating services, and building strong partnerships at the community level.

The Iowa Department of Human Rights has implemented the Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS) program for more than 30 years. Based on utilizing a coaching approach during home visits with families deemed at greatest risk of long-term welfare receipt, the FaDSS program assists participants with short- and long-term goal setting as they work toward economic self-sufficiency. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the FaDSS program’s design and implementation and answers key questions about the intervention design, the factors that appeared to have impeded or facilitated the intervention’s implementation, and the clients’ experiences with coaching and the services they received.