The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will convene its annual Youth Symposium as a virtual event from December 7 to December 9, 2020. The symposium will feature workshops in the areas of: Educating and Training Our Future Workforce; Employment, Retention, and Advancement; Overcoming Barriers; Recruiting and Engaging Youth; and Self-Care for Workforce Professionals. Workshops will include live and pre-recorded sessions. There is a registration fee to participate.

Through the Scaling Pandemic Resilience Through Innovation and Technology (SPRINT) Challenge, the U.S. Department of Commerce supports regional initiatives that focus on economic, safety, and health risks caused by the coronavirus pandemic by awarding economic development assistance merit-based awards. Awards will be given to entities that support economic development, promote job creation, and attract private investment in economically distressed areas of the United States. Eligible applicants for these grants include: district organizations of a U.S. Economic Development Administration-designated economic development district; Indian tribes or consortiums of Indian tribes; state, county, city, or other political subdivisions of a state; institutions of higher education or consortium of higher education institutions; or public or private non-profit organizations or associations working in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a state. Up to 100 grants will be awarded, and the estimated total program funding is $25,000,000. The deadline for receipt of applications is December 3, 2020.

This initial graphic summary examines the level of unemployment in 2019-2020 among younger adults (ages 16 to 19) and older youth (ages 20 to 24) during the summer and the beginning of the school year. The unemployment levels are also compared against longer-term trends in youth unemployment since 2010.

This video recording from a virtual webinar explores the implementation of summer youth employment programs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and what lessons can be drawn to support year-round, work-based learning and career opportunities for youth and young adults. Speakers include program staff, youth, and young adults associated with Philadelphia Youth Network, WorkReady Philadelphia, Connect Detroit, Grow Detroit Young Talent, the Boston Private Industry Council, the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program in Boston, and the Los Angeles Opportunity Youth Collaborative, Alliance for Children’s Rights.

The U.S. Department of Labor hosted a webinar on September 24, 2020 which discussed how to use the online resource CareerOneStop for career exploration and job services. Materials now available include a PowerPoint presentation and user guides for CareerOneStop to support virtual delivery of employment services. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development delivered presentations.

To address the shortage of healthcare workers in rural communities, the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration has issued a grant opportunity to create employment and training programs in healthcare occupations serving rural and tribal communities. Eligible applicants are partnerships of public and private sector organizations, including employers representing the healthcare industry, nonprofit healthcare organizations, federally recognized Indian/Native American Tribal Government organizations, and organizations designated as primary care associations by the Health Resources and Services Administration, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State and Local Workforce Development Boards. The closing date for receipt of applications is November 13, 2020.

The economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing and stay-at-home orders have dramatically reshaped the approach social service programs are taking to support employment for low-income populations. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) will sponsor a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET featuring leaders from three employment and training programs (Climb Wyoming, Rhode Island Works, and Community Action Organization of Scioto County). The speakers will describe their approaches to continuing training programs and other employment services during the pandemic. These programs participated in OPRE’s State TANF Case Studies project to explore different approaches to providing employment-related and supportive services to TANF recipients and other low-income populations. The panelists will discuss the operational implications of the pandemic for their programs; how participants of their services are balancing participation in employment services with competing life demands and suspension of supportive services, such as child care; and the implications of shifting labor market conditions.

The Office of Family Assistance offers technical assistance to support the work readiness of TANF-eligible populations and to guide case managers in the use of assessment tools. This technical assistance includes a set of three Online Work Readiness Assessment (OWRA) participant guides. These guides cover: Level 1 – resume writing, interviewing preparation, building a career portfolio, and understanding what an employer is looking for; Level 2 – identifying one’s skills and interests as well as setting career goals; and Level 3 – learning about labor market information, exploring jobs and occupations, understanding career pathways as well as information about how to find jobs and training opportunities, and how to develop one’s own education and training plan.

There is also a Case Manager Guide which covers assessments to determine literacy and adult basic education needs, evaluating English language learning needs, identifying learning disabilities and needs for soft skills training, and tools to determine abilities for career exploration. The case manager guide also offers an overview of career pathways and career clusters and how to understand and use labor market information, with references on where to access additional resources.

This research-to-practice brief provides findings from seven evaluations of sector-based approaches for job training. Sector-based approaches are employer-driven models of workforce development that provide training for jobs in specific industries and occupational clusters which also offer opportunities for longer-term career advancement. The brief examines the outcomes on educational attainment and employment gains after long-term implementation of these seven models.

Opportunity populations—such as youth between the ages of 17-24 who are not in school or out of work, formerly incarcerated persons, members of indigenous communities, refugee populations, homeless persons, and people with disabilities—all face various challenges and barriers to upward mobility. This U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation report offers guidance to stakeholders as they work with and help opportunity populations understand new technologies and navigate today’s job market. The report examines three focus areas—barriers to employment, labor market design for people who face challenges and have limited access to employment and career advancement, and recommendations for addressing barriers to employment.