The demographic characteristics of teenaged parents reveal a majority who are aged 18-21, live in poverty, have dropped out of school, and are unemployed and unmarried. Their potential for high school graduation is often dependent upon their support network and life course adaptation. Employment patterns of teen parents show high unemployment and…

A variety of programs have unsuccessfully attempted to address the career development needs of street youth (defined here as 16-24 year olds with no fixed address, low social support, and who support themselves through street activities such as prostitution, theft, and drug-dealing). This digest describes "Skills Plus," a…

The purpose of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) is to establish job training and employment assistance programs for economically disadvantaged youth and hard-to-hire, unskilled adults. Like the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), JTPA works through a locally based program delivery system. Unlike CETA, JTPA calls for equal…

For a number of years, studies have reported that people with disabilities have lower work force participation rates than the general public. One factor may be a lack of transitional, vocational programs for young people with disabilities. This digest describes "Thresholds," a career development program created with a basis on the unique…

Canadian counselors working with young offenders confront at least two problems that interfere with effective intervention: a trend toward increased incarceration, and public confusion and mistrust over approaches to reducing crime. Research during the past decade is beginning to show clearly that programs for young offenders and other at-risk…

Career counseling in secondary schools is important for all students, but it is especially critical for students with learning disabilities. This digest describes how making developmental career counseling a focus in secondary schools contributes to the success of youth with learning disabilities in post-school employment. These students show…

Worker displacement is more closely related to structural features associated with firms than to the characteristics of the individuals who lost their jobs. Despite economic growth, large numbers of displaced workers continue to experience difficulty in making labor market adjustments. Programs to retrain and reemploy displaced workers exist at…

The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996 has ushered in a new era of welfare reform. A work-first approach emphasizes self-sufficiency designed to move welfare recipients into the workforce as quickly as possible. The first of two issues related to the current context of welfare-to-work…

Because of the changing nature of work in society, higher levels of basic skills in reading, writing, and computation are needed in all occupational areas, whether or not they are related to high technology. Although research on the relationship between job performance and basic skills is not definitive, it is clear that it is more important for…