This article provides a historical look at federal policy as it relates to the employment of people with disabilities over the last 40 years. Of particular interest to TANF stakeholders is the descriptions of integrated employment and EmploymentFirst, two strategies that the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has promoted to help individuals with serious disabilities connect with work.

Workforce One developed the Workforce System Strategies' Community Colleges and Workforce Partnership resource page. This page provides research sources related to education and training for unemployed and underemployed adults, with topics and target populations ranging from Community Colleges, Career Pathways, Limited Skills, and Online Trainings.

The Economic Mobility Corporation released a new report titled, "Stimulating Opportunity: An Evaluation of ARRA-Funded Subsidized Employment Programs." Major findings from this report include: subsidized employment programs can have a significant impact on low-income job seekers' employment and earnings, employers created jobs that would not have existed otherwise, the long-term unemployed experienced large employment and earnings gained, and the subsidized programs also benefited participants with significant barriers to employment. The report continues to demonstrate the value-add and need for solutions such as subsidized employment and transitional jobs in communities.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics released an economic news release on the summer youth labor force for the summer of 2013. From April to July 2013, the number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old increased by 2.1 million to 19.7 million. This year, the share of young people employed in July was 50.7 percent. Unemployment among youth rose by 692,000 from April to July 2013, compared with an increase of 836,000 for the same period in 2012.

The Foundation for Reentry and Employment Project released the Integrated Reentry and Employment Strategies white paper, which provides guidance to policymakers, agency and program administrators, and practitioners working in the reentry and workforce development fields on how to develop collaborative projects and maximize their investments aimed at shared public safety and workforce development goals.

This U.S. Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Webinar showed individuals how to use workforce data to identify growing and in-demand jobs, to determine which of them are good jobs, and to ascertain what preparatory education and training are needed to qualify for them. The webinar identifies some of the best multi-purpose e-tools that incorporate workforce data, job ads, and other job-related information in one place -- including a new resource that explains what kind of information is available from different e-tools.

On behalf of The U.S. Department of Labor, the Social Policy Research Associates and AHA Consulting released a toolkit that describes Oklahoma's Workforce System Certification process – a Governor-backed initiative to encourage voluntary collaboration across partners to create a shared vision for local economic needs and strategies to meet them. This toolkit presents six useful steps: system building, standards and measures, the review process, a self-assessment tool, certification application, and lessons learned from three pilot areas.

The Employment Training Administration released a guide of relevant sources that will allow individuals to shed light on labor or skill shortages, skill mismatches, and skill deficiencies. Skimming for Skills provides links to surveys, reports, and customized data tools. Each entry notes whether the survey or source supplies information on current or projected employment, job openings, occupational or industry data, and earnings. Skill-related topics include information on the education, training or skills required for jobs; educational attainment; educational field (e.g., college major) or coursework; and the skills individuals possess, including skill assessments. Each entry also lists availability at the national, State or local level, and the time period covered. For the user's convenience, the numerous skill-related sources are classified by those pertaining to adults, postsecondary students, secondary students, and longitudinal surveys that span ages from student to adult. The guide concludes with a list of supplementary resources for understanding occupational, industry and instructional classification codes; science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classifications; and other sources on State and local workforce data and how to use it.

This paper was developed by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) to inform those working with career pathways programs of a common language and standards for programs. Through a review of existing literature, feedback from the ongoing Alliance for Quality Career Pathways project, and communication from field researchers, CLASP has designed a conceptual framework for identifying and designing high quality career pathways programs. The framework contains four components which are discussed.

In 2008, Virginia set out to design and implement a statewide career pathways initiative to better meet the needs of regional employers. This report is a case study of Virginia's experience and highlights lessons learned through the process. Virginia's system has garnered attention because it was developed with very little additional funding, a reality for many States in the current economy.