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 Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) National Research Conference on Early Childhood 2020 (NRCEC 2020) will be held virtually from November 30 to December 3, 2020. This biennial event will cover research on child welfare, Early Head Start, Head Start, child care, home visiting, special education, pre-kindergarten, and early elementary and other early childhood programs. Updates on the conference agenda and registration will be posted as this information becomes available.

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.

In Spring 2020, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Center for Urban Families (CFUF) hosted a two-part roundtable with practitioners from 10 youth-serving organizations that provide outreach and services to young fathers. This CFUF brief highlights strategies the practitioners developed to improve services for fathers of color, ages 18-24. The practitioners also shared their engagement approaches and their perspectives on program research and evaluation.

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.

Third Sector and the American Public Human Services Association will host this webinar on October 15, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET. Representatives from the Kentucky Department of Family Support and the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (MA DTA) will discuss how they are working to better meet the needs of young parent families through TANF-funded programs. Kentucky Works Program representatives will share how they are working to establish participant and frontline staff “feedback loops” to better understand the needs of young parents and to identify more enhanced, targeted TANF-funded services that promote economic stability. In addition, MA DTA will share its new approach to using TANF funding in flexible and effective ways to support young parents through the Young Parents Program. Examples will include place-based adjustments, cross-agency coordination, and gathering ongoing feedback from participants to inform program improvements.

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) will host a virtual meeting on October 13-16, 2020 focused solely on health for American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Conference presentations will cover Tribal health care, health policy’s impact on Tribal communities, behavioral and environmental health, and best practices being implemented in Indian Country.

This report is a developmental evaluation of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s deep-end reform initiative covering 12 juvenile justice jurisdictions across the U.S. The evaluation not only presents the deep-end approach as a comprehensive and holistic approach for youth in transition, but also highlights five characteristics of the jurisdictions that implemented this approach. Implemented from 2012 to 2018, the deep-end approach aimed to safely and significantly reduce out-of-home placements for youth, especially youth of color.

The National Association of Counties will host a webinar on October 14, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss how county governments can respond to housing unstable and unhoused populations during the coronavirus pandemic. This webinar will cover how the intersection of economic security, public health, and access to housing impacts this vulnerable population.