One in 30 youths, ages 13 to 24, and 1 in 10 young adults, ages 18 to 25, experience some form of homelessness over the course of a year. These youth face instability and trauma during an important developmental period which limits their growth and creates costly effects for them and the communities in which they live. This brief is the first in a series highlighting challenges and opportunities facing youth, ages 14 through 24, as part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Thrive by 25® efforts. The brief analyzes youth homelessness and offers recommendations for how systems can make certain every young person has a place to call home - a safe and secure place to prepare for adulthood.

This CareerOneStop webpage provides information and guidance for individuals with criminal records seeking to expunge or seal their records to improve their chances of finding employment. The webpage explains the difference between expungement and sealing, provides information on eligibility requirements, and offers step-by-step instructions on how to begin the expungement process. Additionally, the page includes links to resources for finding legal assistance and other helpful tools for ex-offenders.

Registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs) are nationally recognized as an effective workforce development tool that is responsive to local economic needs. In honor of Earth Day, ICF and Vanguard, in partnership with netAmerica’s Workforce Innovation Network, are hosting an Apprenticeship Lunch & Learn Lunch and Learn event on April 20, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. During this event, presentations will cover the role of Registered Apprenticeship Programs in meeting national and statewide efficient and renewable energy goals. Speakers will discuss how youth apprenticeships can effectively address their workforce needs, facilitate a conversation about true workplace needs and training provider solutions, and promote the return on investment of registered apprenticeships in renewable energy.

Healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs can struggle to recruit and enroll participants. This is often the first challenge new programs encounter as they move from planning to implementing their services. Because of this challenge, an important component of many successful recruitment strategies is to develop partnerships with other organizations in the community that can refer potential participants. This brief identifies partnership tips from Anthem Strong Families (Dallas), Family Service Agency-Santa Barbara, and Gateway Community Action (West Liberty, Kentucky); each of these organizations are HMRE grant recipients who participated in rapid cycle learning to strengthen their recruitment partnerships.

Youth can face many challenges as they transition to living independently as adults. For youth in foster care, overcoming obstacles may require additional support and skills to be self-reliant. Caseworkers and child welfare professionals assist youth with securing employment, secondary education, housing, financial literacy, and other needs. However, additional support is needed to provide encouragement and stability as youth transition to adulthood. Support systems consisting of helpful, stable adults reinforce the goal of self-sufficiency and give youth a sense of community. This podcast explores how Alternative Family successfully creates effective support systems for youth in foster care which focuses on a highly individualized social support model with a goal of safety, stability, and well-being.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Administration will host the first of a series of webinars related to trauma and healing on May 2, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. The webinar will discuss the neuroscience behind toxic stress, trauma, and healing, and offer practical strategies and tools for workforce professionals to cultivate healthy and more effective services and workplaces for staff, organizations, and participants in workforce programs. Presenters include guest speakers from the Trauma and Resilience at Work team at Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation, and the City of Detroit.

Notable knowledge gaps continue to persist regarding how human services programs can best serve the needs and interests of rural communities. This study aims to address these knowledge gaps in the delivery of human services programs in rural communities. Goals of this study include providing a rich description of human services programs in rural contexts and determining the remaining need for human services in rural communities. The study also intends to identify opportunities for strengthening the capacity of human services programs to promote the economic and social well-being of individuals, families, and communities in rural contexts.

Research shows that families living in poverty have a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing crises, and that poverty is the greatest threat to child well-being and the best predictor of abuse and neglect. Further, research suggests poverty is a key driver of child welfare system involvement and preliminary evidence suggests even modest economic supports can stabilize families and alleviate the need for more intensive intervention. Although the relationship between poverty and child neglect is supported by research, there is not yet a clear national policy and systems approach to intervening on behalf of families in ways that preserve the family unit while resolving safety issues compromised by poverty. Scattered across the country, however, are innovative policies, system reform efforts, program models, and practice strategies for bridging this gap.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA), in partnership with the Children’s Bureau, hosted a webinar on April 18, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET which examined research conducted and presented by researchers from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.

The webinar

• Highlighted research findings contributing to the current knowledge base on the interrelationships among family economic insecurity and stability, income and concrete material supports, family well-being, and preventing child welfare system involvement.
• Described innovations introduced by states to bolster family economic security and protect children.
• Identified pain points and key challenges to collaboration and coordination derived from research and practice.

OFA Director Ann Flagg gave opening remarks. Webinar participants were able to ask questions and explore topics of interest in additional detail with the Chapin Hall researchers.

There are estimates that between 20 and 50 percent of people eligible for social safety net programs do not access them. While there may be many factors contributing to that gap, recent research has focused on the role that stigma plays. Stigma can be direct or anticipated from the wider society, including from agency workers with whom people would need to interact to access services. This Institute for Research on Poverty podcast episode examines how reducing stigma can increase participation in safety net programs.

Healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) grantees often face implementation challenges, such as difficulty in recruiting and encouraging participants to participate in services. To help address these common challenges, HMRE practitioners should engage in continuous quality improvement (CQI) to identify the most pressing challenges and test potential strategies designed to address them. However, accessing the information and resources needed to inform the CQI process may not always be feasible for all HMRE grantees. This guide is designed to bridge this gap by providing a set of promising approaches and accompanying strategies to address common challenges within the context of HMRE service delivery. The guide highlights strategies that practitioners can adopt, refine, and test through their own CQI process and ultimately use to improve their HMRE services. It was produced as part of the Strengthening Implementation of Marriage and Relationship Programs (SIMR) project.