This job driven training checklist consists of seven elements that were identified from evidence-based and promising practices for strengthening the workforce to meet the needs of employers and connecting workers with good jobs.

A report and supplemental video from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce discuss the projection that there will be 1.6 job openings for nurses through 2020. However, it is also projected that the U.S. will face a shortfall of 193,000 nursing professionals. The report presents workforce trends and demographics to estimate the supply and demand of nurses over the next several years.

As part of Policy Futures, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) examines what works in terms of federal and state policies and programs to reduce poverty and promote opportunity for low-income populations. This resource synthesizes the findings of poverty researchers around the country on program effectiveness. This effort seeks to inform discussions about new investments in poverty reduction programs, as well as reforms of existing programs.

This series of policy briefs focuses on three basic TANF components: cash assistance, block grants, and work participation rates. The briefs, geared toward policymakers, practitioners, and advocates within all levels of government, explain the components and describe the changes and adaptations to TANF since its inception in 1996.

In addition to promoting the economic and social well being of their clients, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) takes on many health initiatives to supplement and support their mission of helping children and families across the country. This blog post highlights some of the various health-related initiatives from ACF, some of which focus on preventing abuse, ending teen pregnancy, tribal home visiting, and combating childhood obesity.

This joint report from CLASP and the Center for American Progress explores the benefits of the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs. Twenty state grantees and two tribal grantees were interviewed about their home visiting programs. The report includes information about how states are using MIECHV funding to expand evidence-based home visiting services to more families, build home visiting systems and connections to other services, and promote evidence-based policy, continuous quality improvement (CQI), and evaluation to ensure program success and positive results for the participants.

In a report from the Brookings Institution, the author examines the trend of declining middle-wage jobs in America. Although enrollment rates for community colleges, for-profit colleges, and lower-tier four-year colleges are high, completion rates are still low and earnings are inconsistent among graduates. Many of these institutions lack the necessary resources and incentives to respond to the job market, and employers lack the incentives to participate in career pathways programs and create good jobs. The report offers three policy suggestions to address these issues, including: provide more resources to community colleges, expand high-quality career and technical education plus work-based learning models such as apprenticeships, and assist and incentivize employers to create better employment opportunities.

This blog post from the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Mark Greenberg, highlights the importance of financial capability programs within human services agencies. ACF programs have issued notices to a wide range of ACF-supported programs to demonstrate the need for financial capability and encourage them to structure their services and activities to strengthen financial capability among the populations they serve.

This guide from the Children’s Bureau was created primarily to support community-based child abuse prevention professionals who work to prevent child maltreatment and promote well-being. The guide focuses on protective factors that build family strengths and promote optimal child and youth development.