Economic stability and employment during young adulthood are critical to long-term economic security, and today, many young adults face longer periods of financial insecurity than in the past. Young people affected by the justice system face additional barriers to achieving economic stability and employment with research showing that formerly incarcerated people are almost five times more likely than the public to be unemployed. This report details the findings of a joint project between The National Youth Employment Coalition and Urban Institute to conduct case studies of five sites that launched or implemented a broad-based, cross-system collaborative to promote workforce development and better provide labor market opportunities for justice-involved youth. The case studies include a detailed analysis of each site’s collaborative efforts, key stakeholders, best practices for systems collaboration, an exploration of funding sources, and sustainability efforts.

States have discretion and flexibility in how they use TANF funds to provide services to families experiencing or at-risk of experiencing homelessness. Some states partner with their state-level housing departments, direct providers of homelessness services, local public housing agencies, and/or Continuums of Care (specifically Emergency Solutions Grants programs). This research-to-practice brief includes findings from a 2019 state TANF administrators survey, a review of state TANF plans, and a county TANF administrator survey highlighting differences between state and county approaches to identifying and assisting families experiencing homelessness.

The economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing and stay-at-home orders have dramatically reshaped the approach social service programs are taking to support employment for low-income populations. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) will sponsor a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET featuring leaders from three employment and training programs (Climb Wyoming, Rhode Island Works, and Community Action Organization of Scioto County). The speakers will describe their approaches to continuing training programs and other employment services during the pandemic. These programs participated in OPRE’s State TANF Case Studies project to explore different approaches to providing employment-related and supportive services to TANF recipients and other low-income populations. The panelists will discuss the operational implications of the pandemic for their programs; how participants of their services are balancing participation in employment services with competing life demands and suspension of supportive services, such as child care; and the implications of shifting labor market conditions.

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison will host a webinar on April 1, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT to discuss the relationships that human services programs develop with the participants they serve, as well as the relationships that programs help participants develop outside their organizations. Speakers from the Yale Schools of Medicine and Public Health, the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will discuss the measurement and evaluation of building program participants’ social capital and the value of logic models for documenting social capital inputs, activities, and outputs. The webinar will also feature a program that tracks social capital to support programming in human services administration.

The Social Capital Webinar Series is part of the Emerging Practice Series of the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative. Comprised of three parts, the Social Capital Webinar Series includes insights from subject matter experts with experience building social capital from research-based, programmatic, and workforce development perspectives, as well as testimonials from TANF participants. Part 3, “Applying Social Capital in the Real World” offers strategies for TANF agencies to build agency social capital and to integrate the building of clients’ personal social capital into their overall program approach.

The Social Capital Webinar Series is part of the Emerging Practice Series of the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative. Comprised of three parts, the Social Capital Webinar Series includes insights from subject matter experts with experience building social capital from research-based, programmatic, and workforce development perspectives, as well as testimonials from TANF participants. Part 2, “Building Social Capital” highlights examples of current programs that are partnering with clients to help them grow their social capital, with a testimonial from a former TANF participant.

The Social Capital Webinar Series is part of the Emerging Practice Series of the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative. Comprised of three parts, the Social Capital Webinar Series includes insights from subject matter experts with experience building social capital from research-based, programmatic, and workforce development perspectives, as well as testimonials from TANF participants. Part 1, “Understanding Social Capital,” provides an overview of the most current research on social capital and the potential impact of social networks on low-income individuals’ employment opportunities.

This case statement highlights the American Job Center and its WIOA affiliates (called WorkSource) in the Pacific Mountain Workforce Region of Washington (PacMtn). In collaboration with state agencies and community partners, WorkSource offers three program tracks—work ready, work support, and education—to TANF customers based on their level of work readiness. Program staff also take a client-centered, integrated service delivery approach to address the needs of high-barrier customers. PacMtn WorkSource continues to strengthen its collaborations with a shared data system and regular meetings with all internal and external partners.

Sections of the brief discuss joint service delivery, resource sharing, shared learning, and managing collaborative activities. Readers may also access links to the state TANF plan and funding information 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.