In September 2024, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) continued its investment in economic mobility with a gathering of state government officials from across ACF’s Region V. This gathering emphasized the role states can play in engaging families in the policy process, including working with philanthropy to ensure funding for creative solutions to problems confronting parents, and actively collaborating with state legislators to ensure the actionability of legislative solutions. This ACF resource provides a recap of the Region V summit, including an overview of each state’s innovative strategies to support expectant parents and the parents of young children. Strategies highlighted include the creation of a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) engagement unit in Illinois, expansion of Medicaid coverage for 12 months postpartum in Indiana, the launching of Family Connects in Ohio and Family Impacts Teams project in Michigan, standing up of the newly created Department of Children, Youth, and Families in Minnesota, and the creation of the Wisconsin Child Support Parent Advisory Group.

On September 27, 2024, the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) announced their awarding of $4.7 million to help states and tribes develop and refine child support-led employment efforts for noncustodial parents under the Next Generation Child Support Employment (NextGen) grant. OCSS awarded an additional $3.4 million to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to provide technical assistance and evaluate the NextGen demonstration projects. This OCSS announcement highlights the demonstration grants recipients, including six states and two tribes.

The National Governors Association (NGA) selected Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, and North Carolina to participate in the Policy Academy to Strengthen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) Delivery. These four states will receive technical assistance through the policy academy to identify and address barriers to successfully implementing SNAP E&T programs in their states. This NGA resource describes how workforce and human services agencies in these states will receive technical assistance to elevate their SNAP E&T programs to drive more resources and opportunities for economic self-sufficiency.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration funds the Disability Innovation Fund-Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) projects designed to decrease subminimum wage employment and increase competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities currently employed in or contemplating subminimum wage employment. This Mathematica practice brief explores how SWTCIE staff promote their projects to potential participants and employers. It summarizes interviews with four SWTCIE projects from agencies in Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Texas. The brief shares promising practices including (1) meeting people where they are and proactively addressing their concerns, (2) engaging a wide network in their communities, (3) consulting external resources such as communications firms to shape their branding, and (4) promoting success stories and using family and peer mentors. The lessons learned could help vocational rehabilitation agencies and other organizations interested in implementing aspects of their programs.

As part of the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies project, researchers conducted virtual interviews from November 2021 to April 2022 with staff members at ten workforce programs to learn how they were using technology to adapt their services during the pandemic. Most of the organizations used a hybrid model to blend in-person and virtual service delivery. This MDRC publication examines five key adaptations of the programs made to accommodate the new hiring context.

The Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN) demonstration aims to help workers with recently acquired injuries and disabilities remain in the labor force. Following a pilot phase, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded cooperative agreements to state agencies in Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, and Vermont to fully implement RETAIN services. These five RETAIN programs aim to identify and recruit a subset of workers who could be at risk of exiting the labor force and applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). This Mathematica brief compares the characteristics of people who enrolled in RETAIN in 2022 with all workers and with applicants for SSDI and SSI.

This U.S. Department of Labor brief explores how states use financial incentives to expand Registered Apprenticeship (RA) Programs and achieve targeted goals. Incentives are additional financial supports used to increase the number of RA programs and offset the cost for employers in the form of state tax credits or subsidies to apprenticeship sponsors, related technical instruction providers, and other entities responsible for developing RA programs. The brief highlights findings from focus groups conducted with the following eight states: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Mississippi.

On-the-job (OJT) training has been proven to be the most effective way to have dislocated workers seek reemployment in today's workforce. WorkforceGPS will host a virtual session on August 16, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET that will highlight best practices and testimonials on OJT effectiveness from Minnesota’s workforce development system staff, employers, and past participants.

The federal government currently has five primary programs designed to feed school-age children: the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the School Breakfast Program (SBP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Seamless Summer Option, and the Summer Food Service Program. Each program has distinct meal costs, eligibility requirements, and reimbursement processes for the meals served. While all public schools have the option to participate in each of these federal meal programs, they may choose to opt out of any of them. Recognizing the multitude of benefits for students, families, and schools, this report illustrates how five states—California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Mexico—have acted to independently serve free school meals for all students. In the absence of continued federal investment, this strategy is essential for ensuring that students are well fed and ready to learn during the school day.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration will host a webinar on November 16, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET to introduce CareerOneStop and its tools and resources to new users. CareerOneStop is a free comprehensive career, education, and job website that helps users conduct career exploration, make education and training decisions, search for jobs, and find assistance at the closest American Job Center. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development will also moderate.