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,…

Growing evidence suggests that Positive Youth Development (PYD), a holistic approach to developing assets and competencies, can help prepare young people for success in adulthood, including success in the workplace. At its core, PYD focuses on creating a supportive, developmentally appropriate learning setting by emphasizing positive…

This report summarizes the two-year findings of a rigorous random assignment evaluation of the WorkAdvance model, a sectoral training and advancement initiative. Launched in 2011, WorkAdvance goes beyond the previous generation of employment programs by introducing demand-driven skills training and a focus on jobs that have career pathways. The…

This report summarizes the two-year findings of a rigorous random assignment evaluation of the WorkAdvance model, a sectoral training, and advancement initiative. Launched in 2011, WorkAdvance goes beyond the previous generation of employment programs by introducing demand-driven skills training and a focus on jobs that have career pathways. The…

WorkAdvance is a sectoral workforce development program designed to meet the needs of workers and employers alike. For unemployed and low-wage working adults, the program provides skills training in targeted sectors that have good-quality job openings with room for advancement within established career pathways. For employers in those sectors,…

This paper presents the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Job Corps to the Secretary of Labor pertaining to the review, development and implementation of policies, legislation and regulations for the Job Corps program. This document represents the culmination of an intensive and comprehensive nine-month process undertaken by the…

This document reviews the progress of the Employment Training (ET) initiative for employed adults in Great Britain. The document begins by explaining the changing context in which the project is operating, which includes a downgrading of the alternatives to ET, increased participation in ET, and increased employer involvement in ET. The response…

In anticipation of federal welfare reform, the Texas Department of Human Services developed and implemented the REFOCUS program, designed to enhance the economic self-sufficiency of English-as-a-Second-Language recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) through better use of existing education, job training, employment, and…

This book describes a 10-state study of work force development efforts in Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin. The book is organized in eight sections. Section 1 describes the overall visions and practices that states have created, examining the difficulties in implementing these…

In March 1983, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) received $4 million in Federal funds to establish an emergency jobs program as authorized under the Emergency Jobs Act of 1983. Within 90 days, TVA found employment for 493 persons, and, by the end of June 1984, 1,183 persons had been employed by TVA. Of those employed, 14.9 percent were…

This report profiles three workforce organizations across the country--in Colorado, Georgia and New York--and explores the strategies they used to grow their programs locally. The report examines the dilemmas workforce organizations frequently face in meeting not only the needs of their dual customers--job seekers and employers--but also the needs…

This study analyzes private sector training programs that benefit economically disadvantaged (CETA-eligible) persons. Information on ten private sector training programs in seven states (Iowa, Florida, Maryland, California, Kansas, Mississippi, and New York) collected from a mailed eleven-page questionnaire, a follow-up telephone interview, and…

This guide focuses on these two key challenges that states and localities have identified as important for the long-term success of welfare reform and work force development efforts: helping low-income parents sustain employment (steady work) and advance in the work force (better jobs). The guide consists of five parts and is structured to…

This handbook, developed by the National Alliance of Business, is designed as a tool for Private Industry Councils (PICs) in providing a framework for planning a program of Employment Generating Services (EGS) for disadvantaged workers. Based on the experiences of many PICs, a six-step EGS-program-planning process that includes assessing needs,…

A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of federally funded work force development programs, such as employment and training programs. Information, including budget data for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, was gathered on federally funded employment and training programs for which a key program goal is providing assistance…