This issue brief highlights three areas to consider in developing workforce policies for young parents between the age of 18 and 24 in a post-pandemic world. These touchstones include: accelerated pathways, such as Integrated Education and Training, Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, and guided pathways to focus on skill gaps to prepare for in-demand jobs; expansion of digital inclusion programs to address disparities in broadband access, availability of digital devices, and computer literacy skills; and provision of high-quality childcare for workforce program participants.

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin will host a virtual seminar on October 15, 2020 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. CT. The seminar will discuss metrics, covering financial well-being, secure and stable housing, family stability, health, supportive communities, education, and work, that embody the comprehensive definition of economic and social mobility developed by the U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty. Urban Institute’s Greg Acs will lead the seminar’s discussion.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather information on programs providing services to help youth ages 16 to 24 progress on education and employment pathways. This project focuses on young people who are out of work and/or out of school, especially those from lower income families and communities. The information gathered will be included in a public compendium highlighting selected programs. Note: Not all submissions will be included in the compendium.

Submitted programs must:

• Serve youth ages 16-24 (may also serve adults).
• Target young people who are out of school and/or work or have the following risk factors: low-income family or community, is a parent, is justice-involved, is now or was in foster care, experiences homelessness, has a disability.
• Provide services supporting education or employment goals.
• Currently operate in the United States.

Submit written comments by September 28, 2020 to ReconnectingYouthRFI@hhs.gov.

Low-income young workers in service-sector jobs have felt first-hand the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. This report explores how 10 states participating in the New Skills for Youth Initiative addressed designing and implementing pathways for high school students. It reflects findings from interviews with educators, business leaders, student advisors, community partners, and other key stakeholders which took place from June 2017 to June 2020. The report also covers pathway options for younger workers and how they gain work experience through internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning opportunities.

This research-to-practice brief presents findings from an initial study of custodial and non-custodial parents enrolled in the Fathers Advancing Community Together (FACT) program, which is offered by Rubicon Programs in Contra Costa County, California. FACT addresses responsible parenting and healthy relationships and delivers economic stability services. The brief notes that FACT parents believe they already possess the necessary skills to be successful parents and acknowledge the importance of personal financial management for long-term economic stability. The survey of FACT parents also identified the challenges they encountered accessing childcare and balancing job seeking while participating in FACT, which led to a restructuring of the program to better serve parents.

This dataset, updated annually since 2011, represents a holistic perspective of opportunity to suggest that one’s ability to thrive is not limited to economic circumstances. It also includes educational, health-related, and overall community conditions and resources that a person will encounter. The Opportunity Index covers data on these four dimensions and presents a composite measure that weighs Economic, Education, Health, and Community factors for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The index ranks each of the jurisdictions in descending order of levels of overall opportunity. Data is also assessed at an overall level for nearly 2,000 counties (approximately 95 percent of the entire U.S. population). In addition, the study indicators include data broken down by gender and race/ethnicity at an overall level. A technical supplement explains the methodology behind the rankings.

This blogpost highlights the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) apprenticeship program for restaurant managers and line cooks. The program, developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, features partnerships with restaurants and hospitality employers to provide training and employment opportunities for underserved populations, including Hispanic and Black American youth and adults. The program also builds alliances with YouthBuild and Job Corps as well as post-high school educational institutions in Maryland, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and California. To date, the program has expanded to 70 restaurant and hospitality employer partners and 2,000 apprentices who also earn up to 18 credits toward a culinary arts or hospitality degree.

Job seekers and businesses can turn to one source for information on planning and preparing for economic recovery. Published by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Quick Start Action Planner organizes resources in the following categories: Service Delivery for Job Seeker; Service Delivery for Business Customer; Labor Market Information; Partnerships & Planning; and System Infrastructure & Capacity. The resource also identifies several Federal and non-Federal websites that provide guidance on workplace readiness in the current pandemic environment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will host a hybrid event (with both in-person and virtual presentations) on October 13-14, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri that brings together SNAP E & T stakeholders nationwide to share best practices for increasing employment among SNAP households. The deadline to register is September 30, 2020.

This set of data resources offers guidance and technical support in using Data Explorer and for accessing the American Community Survey (ACS), Economic Census, and other survey data. These data can be used to create tables for workforce-related data analysis and planning. The resources also provide step-by-step instruction on how to customize tables to filter ACS data for a specific geographical location by year. There is also information about the Employment data, which categorizes information by occupations, industry, part-time/full-time status, worker class, and work disability status.