This case statement highlights the collaboration between American Job Centers (called WorkSource) and TANF agencies in Spokane, Washington. WorkSource and partners have restructured staffing, resource allocation, and approaches to workforce development services with a customer-centered design. Leaders are also investing in organizational change through staff training, cross-program communication, and building support among staff at all levels.

This brief is part of the TANF Works! TANF/WIOA Collaboration Series, through which the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative seeks to highlight innovative coordination strategies of TANF and WIOA programs to serve low-income or vulnerable populations. Sections of the brief describe joint service delivery, resource sharing, shared learning, and the management of collaborative activities. Readers, especially TANF programs looking to scale or replicate the practices, may also access links to the state TANF plan and funding information for more context and resources.

As described in this case statement, TANF and WIOA programs at the Employment Services Centers of Weld County are maximizing resources to serve target populations by sharing a work-based learning team, infrastructure costs, and flexible staff across programs. This collaboration also facilitates the coordination of two-generation and immigrant/refugee services.

The brief is organized into sections on joint service delivery, resource sharing, shared learning, managing collaborative activities, and a special focus on immigrant and refugee populations. Readers may also access links to the state TANF plan and variations in funding for more context and resources. This brief is part of the TANF Works! TANF/WIOA Collaboration Series, through which the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative seeks to highlight innovative coordination strategies of TANF and WIOA programs to serve low-income or vulnerable populations.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, Division of Youth Services will hold a webinar on April 29, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. The webinar will cover technical assistance resources available to assist youth workforce development practitioners in delivering all-inclusive services to young people.

This U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored webinar will be convened on March 7, 2019, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. ET and will present the requirements and process for state agencies to request a waiver from Title I Wagner-Peyser regulations. The webinar will provide guidance on how states can prepare and develop quality waiver requests for review and approval. Speakers will include representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

In this February 6, 2019 webinar from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET, the WIOA performance accountability team from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education will discuss recent federal guidance on data validation for state reporting. The webinar will not only answer questions on developing data validation systems that comply with new reliability metrics for data reporting, but will also facilitate interagency and interstate communication on challenges, solutions, and best practices for data validation.

The Ticket to Work program provides individuals with disabilities receiving disability benefits opportunities to return to work, stay employed, and increase earnings. As a result, beneficiaries with disabilities may reduce their dependency on public benefits and become more economically self-sufficient. This webinar (on September 12) focuses on how Ticket to Work operates and the different partnership models now available consistent with the goals of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

This policy brief describes the opportunities for collaboration between SNAP Employment & Training programs and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Because both serve overlapping populations, such as able-bodied adults without dependents, states can implement SNAP E&T through existing workforce training programs to overcome participants’ barriers to employment. The report details the benefits and challenges of cooperation, provides examples of states that are currently uniting the two initiatives, and suggests lessons for integration.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) encourages local workforce development boards to create and utilize Youth Committees to provide youth services effectively. New provisions in the requirements allow boards greater flexibility in naming Youth Committees from previous existing youth councils. This posting compiles webinars and a success guide from the DOL’s Division of Youth Services to help stakeholders learn more about and implement their own Youth Committees to bring experts together, generate ideas and discussions, foster partnerships, and ultimately meet the needs of local youth.

This report from Brandeis University’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy uses data on Secure Jobs participants who entered skills training to explain how Secure Jobs sites use short-term skills training programs for their participants. Key findings include: Secure Jobs participants who enroll in skills training programs are comparable to those who do not, and they show moderate employment gains, most notably in job retention. Secure Jobs participants choose training programs in subjects ranging from health care to manufacturing. About half have chosen training in health care-related fields. Participants who enter training in traditionally female-dominated fields, including health care, sales, and service, are more likely to find employment than those in traditionally male-dominated fields such as construction and manufacturing.

In accordance with federal interests, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation funded a report on the challenges of and potential solutions for measuring TANF employment outcomes. Creating national standards would be a significant challenge due to the flexible nature of TANF funding; states have implemented many different programs within diverse local contexts and with unique eligibility criteria. Instead, federal agencies could help individual states design metrics to assess their employment outcomes, connect program leaders across states, and allow states to demonstrate their own processes as a learning tool for others. Understanding the breadth of programmatic diversity and range of potential state-specific solutions may allow for the most effective evaluation of TANF employment outcomes.