Youth apprenticeship is a strategy for building a more inclusive economy by creating affordable, reliable, and equitable pathways from high school to good careers and college degrees. It is a structured work-based learning program that connects the educational needs of students with the talent needs of industry. This state policy playbook lays out several actions that can foster high-quality youth apprenticeships. Some actions include establishing new mechanisms to engage employers; reducing logistical, regulatory, and financial barriers to employer participation; and leveraging existing resources while identifying new ones.

The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program provided education and occupational training to TANF recipients and other adults with low incomes. HPOG training is for healthcare occupations that pay well and may experience labor shortages or be in high demand. This report details common themes from interviews with working students of 14 HPOG 2.0 programs. It highlights common experiences and challenges they faced pursuing and completing their training, which include the competing demands of working to pay for household expenses and caring for family members. The report is part of a series of briefs describing lessons from HPOG 2.0 participants. The series aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of motivations for enrolling in a career pathways program; managing work, training, and life balance; and services that facilitate their success.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) seeks applications for funding under the FY 2022 Supporting Vulnerable At-Risk Youth and Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care program. This solicitation supports the establishment of pilot demonstration program sites to develop, implement, and build replicable treatment models for residential-based innovative care, treatment, and services. The primary population served by these pilot programs will include adolescents and youth transitioning out of foster care who have experienced a history of foster care involvement, child poverty, child abuse or neglect, human trafficking, juvenile justice involvement, substance use or misuse, or gang involvement. Eligible applicants can provide services to youth and young adults up to and including age 25. Grant funding of $600,000 will be made available to 6 project sites under Category 1 of this solicitation with a project start date of October 1, 2022. Applications are due on Grants.gov by August 15, 2022.

There is a growing recognition of the importance of healthy social-emotional development and the behavioral and mental health of young children, as well as the critical nature of early relationships with parents and other caregivers. Addressing the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers with and at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities is a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This briefing paper examines an array of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (IDEA, Part C) programs may consider implementing to effectively support the social-emotional development and mental health needs of eligible children as the policies and programs reflect the importance of nurturing early relationships for a child's social emotional wellbeing. An appendix includes state spotlights in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Workforce Investment will host a webinar on July 26, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET as part of a series on the role of the workforce system in serving individuals with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Guest speakers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will present a brief overview of the prevalence of addiction and the impact of stigma on employment for persons in recovery. There will also be discussion on the value of hiring persons in recovery in general across all employment sectors as well as the value of SUD peer workers for use across the SUD care system and in other human service sectors and healthcare systems. Speakers include an employer in a recovery community center who can attest to the value of hiring SUD peer workers and their role and function in engaging people with substance use disorders and strengthening recovery capital at the individual, family, and community levels.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) PeerTA connects TANF practitioners from across the U.S. to one another with relevant training and technical assistance. To that end, OFA extended an opportunity to State, Local, and Tribal TANF programs to participate in a virtual 3-part roundtable series titled: Work Opportunity Wednesdays (WOW) – Equipping TANF Recipients for Employment in a Post-COVID World.

This highly interactive series brought together TANF practitioners and subject matter experts to discuss current challenges and potential strategies for improving TANF recipient employment outcomes. This series included virtual sessions on Understanding Post-COVID Workforce Challenges, Future of Work Strategies to Improve Outcomes, and Action Planning: Oh…The Places They Can Go!.

Registration for this event is closed.

Code for America’s Safety Net Innovation Lab (the Lab), funded by $100 million through philanthropic support, partners with government agencies and community organizations to reimagine the delivery of government services that are equitable, easy-to-use, and built for the digital age. The Lab will work with 15 states (five states per cohort) over seven years to reach 13 million people and unlock $30 billion in benefits in the areas of food assistance, health care, and other basic needs. California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Louisiana have committed to partnering with the Lab to transform how social safety net services are delivered. These four states will focus on three primary areas: improving SNAP service delivery, increasing WIC participation, and developing and improving single, integrated benefits applications.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration hosted a webinar on July 21, 2022, which was a primer on the apprenticeship system and feature examples from the field in offering apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship experiences to youth and young adults. The webinar discussed the apprenticeship system, components of high-quality pre-apprenticeship programs, and how apprenticeships compare to other models of work-based learning. Presentations were made from groups on the ground who have implemented apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs for youth and young adults.

This guide summarizes and links to resources that may help answer questions common among young parents, the organizations that serve them, and policymakers interested in supporting young parents’ success. Providing tailored resources to address their needs is critical, because they face particular obstacles to achieving financial stability associated with having the responsibility of caring for a child while transitioning to adulthood. The guide covers three sets of resources: 1) resources young parents can use to address their immediate needs; 2) resources young parent–serving practitioners can use both to increase their capacity for young parent services and to engage young parent clients to address their needs; and 3) resources policymakers can use to inform changes to policy and practice so programs can better serve young parents.

In 2018, the New Hampshire Recovery Friendly Workplace (RFW) initiative was launched to help address the statewide impacts associated with substance use disorder (SUD). This compendium of resources supports the RFW initiative to empower businesses as they create work environments that are supportive to those in or seeking recovery, in addition to those who may have a loved one with SUD. Through this initiative, workplaces:

• Receive support and guidance from Recovery Friendly Advisors, regional Public Health Networks, Recovery Community Organizations, and RFW Peer Champions
• Get connected to SUD-related information, trainings, and resources to better support employees and create a culture where conversations about issues related to mental health and SUD are encouraged
• Complete an RFW checklist process that results in an official RFW designation, the development of an RFW culture, and visibility that helps challenge the stigma around SUD