Breaking Through: Helping Low-Skilled Adults Enter and Succeed in College and Careers

Examines the capacity of community colleges to enable low-income, low-literacy, low-skilled adults to acquire the skills and credentials necessary to succeed at work. Identifies strategies that are transferable from one school or program to another

A Workforce Development Triad: Federal Education Tax Credits, Community-Based Organizations, and Community Colleges

Through a literature review of partnerships between community colleges and community-based organizations, looks at how education tax credits can be leveraged as a workforce development tool. Includes lessons learned and case studies

What are Some Effective and Innovative Approaches to Succession Planning?

[Excerpt] As baby boomers are leaving the workforce and competition for top talent reaches an all time high, succession planning is increasingly important for companies if they want to maintain organizational resilience. However, 57% of organizations do not plan for succession. Of the organizations that do implement a succession plan, there are three top mistakes that are often made: they fail to formally implement a systematic and formalized succession plan, they fail to plan below the CEO role, or they fail to develop transition strategies for the future. These mistakes can prove to be costly to a company; if key leaders leave and there is a delay in replacement - or worse, no replacement - morale drops, productivity suffers, and turnover increases. Therefore, companies need to build a succession plan that addresses these potential mistakes before any damage can affect an organization

Youth and Work: Restoring Teen and Young Adult Connections to Opportunity

In this KIDS COUNT policy report, the Casey Foundation finds that nearly 6.5 million U.S. teens and young adults are neither in school nor in the workforce. With employment among young people at its lowest levels since the 1950s, these youth are veering toward chronic unemployment as adults and failing to gain the skills employers need in the 21st century. In addition to new national and state data on the issue, the report offers recommendations to support youth in gaining a stronger foothold in the economy

Helping Poor Working Parents Get Ahead: Federal Funds for New State Strategies and Systems

Examines the cost-effectiveness of state job advancement systems and outlines a proposal for federally funding programs that provide more education and training, greater access to better-paying jobs, and more robust financial incentives and supports

Doing Well and Doing Good: Pioneer Employers Discover Profits and Deliver Opportunity for Frontline Workers

A new study of business practices reveals powerful ways to create strategic and financial gains. Lower-wage workers, when supported by effective policies, boost productivity, quality, innovation, and revenues from new markets. In the process, the value added by frontline employees rises and they garner significant and sustained wage gains and career advancement. The successful formulas of these firms are models adoptable by thousands of similar businesses