This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report presents findings on the impact of the San Diego Workforce Partnership’s Bridge to Employment program. The Bridge to Employment program, part of the ACF-funded Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project, helps low-income individuals and TANF recipients enroll in and complete occupational healthcare training and find employment in this industry sector. The report examines the program’s effect on educational attainment, entry into employment, earnings, and individual and family well-being. The report also reviews the benefits of the program against its costs, as perceived by program participants and other stakeholders.

State Apprenticeship Agencies oversee Registered Apprenticeship in half of the country, and the federal Office of Apprenticeship administers programs in the rest of the U.S. This ongoing podcast series includes conversations with apprenticeship agency directors in various states. These discussions cover steps in starting a registered apprenticeship program and recruitment approaches to attract in-school and out-of-school youth.

Jobs for the Future developed this learning toolkit, which is drawn from Jobs to Careers, a national program that facilitates quality in the healthcare sector through on-the-job training for frontline workers. The toolkit offers step-by-step instructions and resources to support organizations such as technical schools, union-based programs, and community-based organizations in creating and implementing work-based learning for new and incumbent frontline employees. The toolkit is organized into four sections: Planning, Designing, Doing, and Sustaining. Resources that complement the instructions include slide presentations, curricula, templates, and forms supporting work-based learning. In addition, the toolkit includes interactive tools to guide program decisions, selections from case studies and practice briefs, and short videos.

This report is an initial evaluation of Families Forward, a locally designed and funded two-generation program in Bangor, Maine. The program involves a partnership with Bangor Housing, the local public housing authority, and the Boys & Girls Club of Bangor. The program’s model includes social supports for families, financial coaching, and access to services and training that are designed to move these families toward greater economic mobility.

This issue brief by Voices for Utah Children in conjunction with the Aspen Institute focuses on two-generation strategies to reduce poverty. Voices for Utah worked with Utah lawmakers to address the issue by passing the Intergenerational Poverty Mitigation Act in 2012 and creating an Intergenerational Poverty Advisory Commission in 2013. The goal was to develop evidence-based strategies and interventions with policymakers to increase economic security, educational success, social capital, and health and well-being for families. This legislation and approach have been a critical step in creating a framework for states to develop five- and ten-year plans to address poverty.

This fact sheet defines two-generation and whole-family approaches that simultaneously provide services and opportunities to both children and the adults in their lives. The fact sheet also includes summaries and links to resources on 5 key components of the two-generation approach: Postsecondary Education and Employment Pathways; Early Childhood Education and Development; Economic Assets; Health and Well-Being; and Social Capital.

The Online Work Readiness Assessment (OWRA) tool will no longer be available for download after September 29, 2020. Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, OWRA is a web-based tool that offers social service agency caseworkers and staff an innovative approach to creating a plan for participants that summarizes their strengths and barriers and recommends placement into work activities and work supports. OWRA offers services for participants through five modules, including a detailed, comprehensive assessment of participants’ strengths, barriers, and work readiness. The tool has been available to the field at no-cost since 2008 and has been supported through pilot testing, trainings, demonstrations, and technical assistance. If interested in downloading the tool, please do so before September 29. You can use the OWRA Implementation Checklist to find more information about the tool, technical requirements, and download instructions. After September 29, please contact James Butler at OFA with any questions.

This issue brief highlights three areas to consider in developing workforce policies for young parents between the age of 18 and 24 in a post-pandemic world. These touchstones include: accelerated pathways, such as Integrated Education and Training, Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, and guided pathways to focus on skill gaps to prepare for in-demand jobs; expansion of digital inclusion programs to address disparities in broadband access, availability of digital devices, and computer literacy skills; and provision of high-quality childcare for workforce program participants.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) youth program includes financial literacy education as one of 14 program elements. This set of resources provides tools and guides for financial literacy education as well as pertinent research reports and curriculum. The resources cover creating budgets; setting up checking and saving accounts; managing spending, credit, and debt; understanding credit reports and credit scores; and protecting against identify theft.

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin will host a virtual seminar on October 15, 2020 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. CT. The seminar will discuss metrics, covering financial well-being, secure and stable housing, family stability, health, supportive communities, education, and work, that embody the comprehensive definition of economic and social mobility developed by the U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty. Urban Institute’s Greg Acs will lead the seminar’s discussion.