This final report focuses on Future Steps. In this report, the authors (1) chronicle the design and operation of Future Steps, assessing program participation, service delivery, and costs; (2) examine 30-month impacts on employment, earnings, welfare dependence, self-sufficiency, and well-being; and (3) draw lessons and recommendations about implementing, designing, and testing future welfare-to-work programs in rural areas. The text box that follows provides a brief overview of these three points, with the rest of the report providing a more detailed discussion of each. The authors include a summary of the Future Steps model and a description of the evaluation’s design and analytic methods. (Author abstract)

The Department of Labor has launched a new online tool will help young adults, students, first-time workers and those returning to the workforce to explore careers and find jobs. The page includes information on 900 occupations, job openings, and trainings opportunities. Users can search for jobs in three categories: careers with a "bright outlook" in growing industries, jobs that are part of the "green" economy, and occupations that have a Registered Apprenticeship program. This tool is a complement tool to the Department of Labor’s "mySkills myFuture" site at http://mySkillsmyFuture.org.

From the Child Trends Databank, this page includes the latest information on youth employment. Specifically, employment declined in 2009 for youth (ages 16-24), which is a trend that began in 2000. In October 2009, 45 percent of youth were employed at some level, and those not enrolled in school were employed at 63 percent. The data also show that in 2009, 20 percent of youth were neither enrolled nor employed. Authors cite multiple factors explaining the decline in employment, including the current economic recession.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announced a series of new products through the Campaign for Disability Employment that are designed to promote the hiring, retention, and advancement of people with disabilities, and dispel negative stereotypes about disability and employment. The products include two Public Service Announcement (PSA) discussion guides, seven posters, as well other campaign outreach tools.

With unemployment across the country around 10 percent, states have been implementing innovative programs to help individuals find jobs. This special segment aired on PBS on the Mississippi STEPS program, which is a subsidized employment program funded through the TANF Emergency Fund.

Job seekers, students, parents, businesses, career professionals, and career counselors are encouraged to visit CareerOneStop -- the main "portal" site found at www.careeronestop.org -- for easy access to hundreds of resources. Here are just several:

• America's Service Locator connects people to One-Stop Career Centers providing employment and training services. It provides maps and driving directions. ASL also contains information on more than 20,000 resources and offices across the United States
• America's Career InfoNet is an electronic storehouse of national, state, and local labor market data, and interactive career tools (including a Resource Library) that help people make informed career decisions.
• Career Voyages provides career and labor market information for high-growth and demand-driven jobs. The site includes videos as well as links to actual job descriptions and jobs in local community.

Telephone access is also available to all. A toll-free helpline (1-877-US2-JOBS, TTY-1-877-869-5627) provides callers with a full range of basic information about workforce program services for both workers and employers, as well as information about the locations of One-Stop Career Centers and other social service offices. Information is available in over 140 languages.

This resource is from the What Works Clearinghouse, which is through the U.S. Department of Education, and provides information on the Job Corps program. The Job Corps program is a federally-funded education and job training program for economically disadvantaged youth that offers remedial education, GED preparation, vocational training, job placement assistance, and other supportive services.

This newsletter is from the What Works Clearinghouse and provides an overview of the New Chance program. The program supports TANF recipients who have dropped out of school through GED preparation, life skill training, parenting programs, childcare assistance, and case management. New Chance was found to be successful in helping participants complete education.