On January 8, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released a letter encouraging the use of the Job-Driven Training Checklist to make employment and training programs under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), and Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grants more job focused.

 

The Job-Driven Training Checklist was included in a report, "Ready to Work: Job-Driven Training and Opportunity," delivered by Vice President Joe Biden to President Obama the same day the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law (July 22, 2014.)

 

Under WIOA, TANF programs will be required to be partners in local workforce area American Job Centers (formerly, one-stops), unless the governor opts TANF out. In addition, states may coordinate TANF programs and services with other workforce programs administered by the U.S. departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services (HHS), submitting a combined state plan instead of separate plans.

 

The OFA letter also encourages the use of information in a joint report by the U.S. departments of Labor, Commerce, Education, and HHS, "What Works in Job Training: A Synthesis of the Evidence," which includes information about engaging employers and using labor market information. The letter cites Kentucky's TANF program, Kansas City, Missouri's HPOG grant, and Seedco, an HMRF grantee in New York City as already implementing practices for engaging employers and using labor market information.

 

The letter also cites a number of additional resources for increasing employment, including the "Career Pathways Catalog of Toolkits" and "Within Reach: Strategies for Improving Family Economic Stability."

 

The letter and checklist of job-driven training is available here.