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.

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.