A new study, launched by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and Abt Associates, will document the design and implementation of coaching interventions and examine their effectiveness of helping low-income individuals work toward economic stability.

This brief from the National Alliance to End Homelessness explores the innovative ways that communities are using TANF to combat family homelessness. These include short-term rental assistance, employment services, and promoting stability for people with disabilities and other severe barriers.

This Office of Family Assistance Information Memorandum discusses the importance of addressing family homelessness with allowable uses of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for families experiencing and at risk of experiencing homelessness.

This Q&A document discusses common questions concerning acceptable and unacceptable uses of TANF to provide short-term, emergency assistance, eligibility redetermination, cost sharing, and other policy issues.

Managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the LIHEAP program assists eligible low-income households with their heating and cooling energy costs, bill payment assistance, energy crisis assistance, weatherization and energy-related home repairs. Certain states elect to use Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) and TANF funds to provide emergency energy assistance to TANF participants on LIHEAP.

This study, conducted by Social Policy Research Associates for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, reviews research on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) programs and practices. The study also includes data on the effectiveness of different aspects of E&T that are offered by other federal agencies, state agencies, and private organizations.

Many employment and training programs for low-income individuals include a variety of services that aim to improve employment and earnings. Some also include strategies to address other needs, such as housing. ESER identified a primary strategy for each multi-strategy intervention that the review examined. Those identified include: education; training; work-readiness activities; subsidized employment/transitional jobs; employment retention services; case management; financial incentives or sanctions; supportive services; and health services. This guide from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation describes the process for identifying a primary strategy.

This brief from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation highlights 19 interventions identified by the Employment Strategies for Low-Income Adults Evidence Review (ESER) that featured work-readiness services as their chief employment or training strategy. The brief describes these interventions and their impact on employment.

This reporting guide from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation recommends best practices for study authors on how to describe impact evaluations of employment programs. The guide includes recommendations for describing study characteristics, design and analysis, data, and sample tables.

This issue brief, published by Mathematica Policy Research, Social Policy Research Associates, and the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, describes the business services provided by 28 randomly selected local Workforce Investment Boards (LWIBs). These LWIBs participated in the Workforce Investment Act Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs Gold Standard Evaluation. The study measured how LWIBs met local business needs.