LifeSet is an intensive case management program that prepares young people in foster care for the transition to adulthood. LifeSet specialists meet weekly with youth to provide individualized, intensive services as youth work towards self-defined goals in areas such as housing, employment, education, and money management. This Chapin Hall report presents findings from the Phase II evaluation of LifeSet’s implementation by three child services providers in Illinois. Phase II evaluation activities included focus groups with LifeSet specialists; interviews with LifeSet supervisors, licensed program experts, and young people who participated in LifeSet; and an analysis of both Department of Children and Family Services administrative data and GuideTree program data from Youth Villages.

The America’s Promise Job-Driven Grant Program was designed to develop and expand regional partnerships among employers, economic development agencies, workforce investment systems, and education and training providers to build a pipeline of skilled American workers in high-demand industries experiencing domestic labor shortages. Grantees, through the support of their established partnerships, offered tuition-free education and job training to workers that addressed the immediate needs of the regional labor market. Education and job training were offered in the form of classroom training and work-based learning opportunities, in addition to supports such as case management, job placement services, and necessary wraparound supportive services. This Department of Labor research brief evaluates the impact of America’s Promise programs on the earnings and employment of participants.

Understanding trauma and being able to implement trauma-informed programming is critical to the success of any youth organization working with marginalized populations. Although many organizations might talk about trauma, they also struggle to take that knowledge and implement changes to programs and policies that are truly trauma informed. The National Youth Employment Coalition will host the second webinar of a two-part series on November 9, 2023 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET, where participants will hear discussions on the behaviors that adults working with young people can engage in that are trauma-informed and supportive. This workshop will also discuss how helping relationships can go awry, mimicking, usually unintentionally, the types of abusive relationships that young people have experienced.

In 2019, Code for America conducted a nationwide study of enrollment in public benefits programs (including TANF), identifying success rates, pain points, and suggested changes for improving access for citizens and lessening the load on caseworkers. Four years later, an updated Benefits Enrollment Field Guide has been published, chronicling how the last few years have seen a new approach to public benefits programs take root—an approach aimed at making significant improvements to citizens’ enrollment experiences and end-to-end benefits journey —thanks to faster and more accurate responses from agencies leading to better outcomes. This American Public Human Services Association blogpost summarizes the updated guide, featuring the surveyed public programs, the four major roadblocks, and a notable success story in Washington D.C.

COTS Detroit, an organization with a long history of providing support to individuals and families experiencing or overcoming homelessness, achieved a milestone by becoming the first organization in the EMPath Economic Mobility Exchange to receive certification in a research-backed economic mobility coaching method. In this Question-and-Answer resource, the COTS Detroit Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships discusses their mission and the impact of economic mobility coaching on the communities they serve.

Federal initiatives fund key transition and employment support for youth and young adults with disabilities (Y&YAD). These efforts include Pre-Employment Transition Services—funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and Career and Technical Education —funded by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. They share common goals but are housed in different agencies and have varying priorities, outcome expectations, and requirements. Service providers can leverage these different resources, maximize efficiency of delivery, and strengthen programs through braided funding. This Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth brief explains braided funding and offers four policy considerations for streamlining systems to offer comprehensive services that lead to sustained employment among more Y&YAD. State examples are provided for each consideration.

The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program is a federal-state partnership: state VR agencies administer the program with oversight from the Rehabilitation Services Administration in the U.S. Department of Education. The program offers tailored services and supports to help people with disabilities obtain or retain employment and become economically self-sufficient. VR services range from the provision of specialized equipment and transportation to work to the provision of supported employment experiences. This Mathematica brief examines case-level VR administrative data to explore how customer characteristics predict program outcomes. This brief focuses on two outcomes -- employment status and service receipt status at program exit.

Employment coaching involves trained staff working collaboratively with participants to help them set individualized goals related to employment and providing motivation, support, and feedback as participants work toward those goals. Recently, there has been growing interest among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in using employment coaching to assist Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes become economically mobile. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report highlights the evaluation that was designed to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the four programs participating in the Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations study. The report answers the following research questions: In what contexts were programs implemented? How did the designs of the programs vary and differ? How was coaching implemented across programs? The programs highlighted in this evaluation are: • Family Development and Self-Sufficiency, which serves TANF recipients and their family members in Iowa. • Goal4 It!TM, which provides employment coaching to TANF recipients in Jefferson County, Colorado in lieu of traditional case management. • LIFT, which is a voluntary coaching program operated in four U.S. cities. • MyGoals for Employment Success, which serves recipients of housing assistance in Baltimore, Maryland, and Houston, Texas.

Watch the Corresponding Video

Many of the men who participate in fatherhood programs may have experienced trauma from adverse childhood experiences, community violence, or incarceration. Traumatic experiences can have a negative impact on fathers’ own functioning as well as on their children’s well-being, particularly for men of color or those with low incomes. In recent years, fatherhood programs and other social service providers have become more aware of how traumatic experiences can impact program participants. However, there is still a need to ensure that practitioners incorporate recognized, trauma-informed (TI) practices into their services. This MDRC brief provides practical information and easy-to-use tools designed to support TI practices in a fatherhood program context.