This paper provides an analysis of government-supported workforce development programs in the United States and selected states as of the end of 2024. We provide an overview of the topic of workforce development, defining this to include activities and funding mechanisms that aim to increase the skills of workers and help them succeed in the labor…

America's labor market presents a paradox. Although the unemployment rate is just 3.9%, there are more jobs open than people who can fill them. Nationwide, there are roughly 68 workers for every 100 open jobs. Many factors contribute to this workforce shortage, but one of the most significant is a growing skills gap -- millions of workers across…

Multiple definitions of homelessness exist across U.S. federal statutes, including those used by programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Understanding federal definitions of homelessness is essential for…

Employment is foundational to young people's successful transition into adulthood, yet many youth with lived experience in the foster care system struggle to obtain employment that provides a living wage. Youth with foster care experience typically do not have the same contacts and connections to employment opportunities as youth who have not been…

When the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the economy back into recession in early 2020, it laid bare a fragile and profoundly inequitable labor market. The economic expansion that reigned from 2009 through 2019 brought historically low unemployment and inflation but failed to reduce income inequality or arrest the decline in the number of high-quality,…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines COVID-19 recovery supporting workers and modernizing the workforce through quality education, training, and employment opportunities. Opening statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Patty Murray chair, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and (2)…

The Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) contracted with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the youth workforce development system within the state. The study documents how the youth workforce system developed in New Jersey since the federal…

Since the introduction of workplace computers in the 1970s, policymakers have been racing to outpace the workforce demands of the information age. To address concerns, policymakers have promoted an expansion of skills training to help workers keep up in the changing economy. Because the way people learn, work, and live is transforming, so should…

Policymakers at the state and federal levels have expressed concern over the emerging "skills gap"--the mismatch between the job skills employers are looking for and the skills that applicants in the labor market possess. The skills gap is most acute for middle-skilled jobs; that is, jobs that require training beyond high school but less…

In the United States, adult and workforce education (AE) seems to be located, simultaneously, both everywhere and nowhere in particular. Ongoing shifts in national economic demands and changes in requirements for training and education have brought learning in the adult years into the federal public policy arena. Sometimes referred to as lifelong…

As many as one in three businesses in the United States struggled to fill needed jobs in 2015. Millions of Americans, including at least 5.5 million youth, are disconnected from employment. Governors have a tremendous opportunity through the implementation of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to reset their state…

This paper examines the U.S. social insurance system, which we define broadly to include both programs supported by dedicated taxes and other federal programs that provide income support, assistance in meeting basic needs, or services to improve economic opportunity. The paper considers the social insurance system as a whole as well as its…

This toolkit is designed to help interagency state and local/regional career pathway partnerships identify and use federal resources to support career pathways for adults and youth; it will also be a helpful tool for partners to use when doing unified career pathway planning under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Specifically,…

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV) is the principal source of federal funding to states for the improvement of secondary and postsecondary career and technical education programs. States are provided with funds for distribution to local educational agencies (LEAs) and postsecondary institutions for…

The Adult Education--Basic Grants to States program authorized under the" Adult Education and Family Literacy Act of 1998" (AEFLA), enacted as "Title II" of the "Workforce Investment Act of 1998" (WIA) (P.L. 105-220), is the major source of federal support for adult basic education and literacy education programs.…