The Institute for Research on Poverty recently released a short report that provides an overview of the evidence on employment instability in the United States. The report also includes information about some opportunities and challenges facing policymakers and researchers interested in promoting employment stability in the current economic and political context.

This study examines how child support arrears affect fathers’ labor force participation. It relies on longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. Findings from analyses of these data suggest that child support arrears result in declines in average weeks worked in the formal labor market in subsequent time periods. These findings are driven by the behaviors of fathers who had relatively high amounts of arrears and no income in the previous year and are mostly robust to tests for selection into no work or low levels of work by fathers. Findings also suggest that arrears obligations that are low relative to income result in increases in the probability that fathers engage in any formal work. Arrears are not statistically significantly related to informal labor force participation. This study highlights both intended and unintended consequences of the growth in arrears under current child support enforcement policies. (author abstract).

Project SEARCH, run by Cincinnati Children's Hospital, provides employability skills training and workplace internships for individuals with significant disabilities, particularly youth transitions from high school to adult life. Project SEARCH now has program sites throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, and works with youth with chronic illnesses, traumatic injuries, rehabilitation issues, and other disabilities, and generates a plan that addresses their vocational, educational, training, and employment goals.

The Economic Mobility Corporation released a new report titled, "Stimulating Opportunity: An Evaluation of ARRA-Funded Subsidized Employment Programs." Major findings from this report include: subsidized employment programs can have a significant impact on low-income job seekers' employment and earnings, employers created jobs that would not have existed otherwise, the long-term unemployed experienced large employment and earnings gained, and the subsidized programs also benefited participants with significant barriers to employment. The report continues to demonstrate the value-add and need for solutions such as subsidized employment and transitional jobs in communities.

The Foundation for Reentry and Employment Project released the Integrated Reentry and Employment Strategies white paper, which provides guidance to policymakers, agency and program administrators, and practitioners working in the reentry and workforce development fields on how to develop collaborative projects and maximize their investments aimed at shared public safety and workforce development goals.

Mathematica released a report evaluating the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). This study analyzed quantitative and qualitative data to learn about local-project performance, program outcomes, and participants' views of this employment and training program for low-income, older adults. The study, conducted with Social Policy Research Associates, found SCSEP projects provide needed services to older workers, offer necessary staffing for host agencies, and place nearly half of program exiters who are available for work into unsubsidized employment.

The United States Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration released a resource to help case managers guide jobseekers through the career exploration and planning process. Components of the guide include three ideas about how case managers can organize career exploration and planning, eight "At-A-Glance" templates that help case managers determine which electronic tools are most helpful to meet customers' needs, three "Career Transition Roadmaps" that show how case managers provide career exploration in three distinct scenarios, and an "E-Learning Resource Chart" that highlights additional resources for case managers who want to learn more.

The Employment & Training Administration (ETA) have now made several of their most popular online tools available as mobile-optimized websites. These mobile tools will assist smartphone or tablet users locate American Job Centers, conduct online job searches, search for jobs for veterans, compare salaries for various occupations, and search for nearby job training providers. These changes are part of an ongoing effort to make workforce resources more accessible to a wider audience.