Unemployment Among Young Adults: Exploring Employer-Led Solutions

Younger workers consistently experience higher unemployment and less job stability than older workers. Yet the dramatic deterioration in employment outcomes among younger workers during and since the Great Recession creates new urgency about developing more effective bridges into full-time employment for young people, especially those with less than a bachelor's degree. Improving the employment status of young adults and helping employers meet workforce needs are complementary goals. Designing strategies to achieve them requires insight into the supply and demand sides of the labor market: both the characteristics of young people and their typical routes into employment as well as the demand for entry-level orkers and the market forces that shape employer decisions about hiring and investing in skill development. A quantitative and qualitative inquiry focused on the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Ill. and Louisville, Ky

The costs of uneven development : an analysis of individual earnings loss among dislocated workers in deindustrializing industries

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1985.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 78-83.by Richard Frank Kazis.M.C.P

Functional status predicts acute care readmissions from inpatient rehabilitation in the stroke population

Objective: Acute care readmission risk is an increasingly recognized problem that has garnered significant attention, yet the reasons for acute care readmission in the inpatient rehabilitation population are complex and likely multifactorial. Information on both medical comorbidities and functional status is routinely collected for stroke patients participating in inpatient rehabilitation. We sought to determine whether functional status is a more robust predictor of acute care readmissions in the inpatient rehabilitation stroke population compared with medical comorbidities using a large, administrative data set. Methods: A retrospective analysis of data from the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation from the years 2002 to 2011 was performed examining stroke patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation facilities. A Basic Model for predicting acute care readmission risk based on age and functional status was compared with models incorporating functional status and medical comorbidities (Basic-Plus) or models including age and medical comorbidities alone (Age-Comorbidity). C-statistics were compared to evaluate model performance. Findings: There were a total of 803,124 patients: 88,187 (11%) patients were transferred back to an acute hospital: 22,247 (2.8%) within 3 days, 43,481 (5.4%) within 7 days, and 85,431 (10.6%) within 30 days. The C-statistics for the Basic Model were 0.701, 0.672, and 0.682 at days 3, 7, and 30 respectively. As compared to the Basic Model, the best-performing Basic-Plus model was the Basic+Elixhauser model with C-statistics differences of +0.011, +0.011, and + 0.012, and the best-performing Age-Comorbidity model was the Age+Elixhauser model with C-statistic differences of -0.124, -0.098, and -0.098 at days 3, 7, and 30 respectively. Conclusions: Readmission models for the inpatient rehabilitation stroke population based on functional status and age showed better predictive ability than models based on medical comorbidities

Strategies for Improving Postsecondary Credential Attainment Among Black, Hispanic, and Native American Adults

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the highest unemployment that the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression, with particularly heavy job losses for Black, Hispanic, and Native American workers. In this set of studies commissioned by Lumina Foundation, the authors examine actions that states and community colleges can take to address the needs of racially minoritized adult learners who are pursuing postsecondary education and training as a path to re-employment, better jobs, and higher incomes. Study 1. Aligning Short-Term Credentials with Community College Degree Programs describes how some states are creating and scaling opportunities for adults to earn occupational certificates that employers value and that lead to associate and bachelor’s degrees. Study 2. Bundling and Sequencing Student Support Services explains how community colleges can improve the design and delivery of advising and other critical support services to help adults attain their education and employment goals. Study 3. Culturally Sustaining Supports and Instruction offers examples and guiding principles that colleges can use to create programs and services that address the interests and needs of adults from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and that encourage persistence in and completion of postsecondary credentials. To describe these approaches and why they show promise, the authors draw on telephone interviews with state policymakers, community college leaders, and content area experts. Some of the policies and programs profiled have been evaluated; others represent promising strategies that will require further study to determine whether they improve education and employment outcomes and advance racial equity

Decline in Health-Related Quality of Life reported by more than half of those waiting for joint replacement surgery: a prospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In many healthcare systems, people with severe joint disease wait months to years for joint replacement surgery. There are little empirical data on the health consequences of this delay and it is unclear whether people with substantial morbidity at entry to the waiting list continue to deteriorate further while awaiting surgery. This study investigated changes in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), health status and psychological distress among people waiting for total hip (THR) and knee replacement (TKR) surgery at a major metropolitan Australian public hospital.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>134 patients completed questionnaires including the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) instrument, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale after entering an orthopaedic waiting list (baseline) and before surgery (preadmission). To quantify potential decline in wellbeing, we calculated the proportion of people experiencing clinically important deterioration using published guidelines and compared HRQoL and psychological distress outcomes with population norms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Most participants (69%) waited ≥6 months for surgery (median 286 days, IQR 169-375 days). Despite poor physical and psychological wellbeing at baseline, there was an overall deterioration in HRQoL during the waiting period (mean AQoL change -0.04, 95%CI -0.08 to -0.01), with 53% of participants experiencing decline in HRQoL (≥0.04 AQoL units). HRQoL prior to surgery remained substantially lower than Australian population norms (mean sample AQoL 0.37, 95%CI 0.33 to 0.42 vs mean population AQoL 0.83, 95%CI 0.82 to 0.84). Twenty-five per cent of participants showed decline in health status (≥9.6 WOMAC units) over the waiting period and prevalence of high psychological distress remained high at preadmission (RR 3.5, 95%CI 2.8 to 4.5). Most participants considered their pain (84%), fatigue (76%), quality of life (73%) and confidence in managing their health (55%) had worsened while waiting for surgery.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite substantial initial morbidity, over half of the participants awaiting joint replacement experienced deterioration in HRQoL during the waiting period. These data provide much-needed evidence to guide health professionals and policymakers in the design of care pathways and resource allocation for people who require joint replacement surgery.</p

Supporting Career and Technical Education in Peoria and Pittsburgh

Between 2015 and 2018, the AFT Innovation Fund supported innovative career and technical education (CTE) efforts in four communities: Miami, Peoria, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. This report focuses on the priorities, activities and outcomes achieved in two of those communities: Pittsburgh and Peoria. These two communities used three years of grant funding to the local teachers unions to launch, strengthen and build out two very different approaches to modernizing high school CTE efforts. There is much to learn from each community—about the power of collaboration and partnership, of combining top-down and bottom-up innovation, and the role of leadership. In the current environment, with public and policymaker interest in career preparation and experiential learning in high school still cresting, the AFT believes that the stories of CTE modernization in Peoria and Pittsburgh can be instructive for other communities as they think about how best to serve diverse student populations so that high school can reduce rather than exacerbate education inequities

Preparing for Tomorrow's Middle-Skill Jobs: How Community Colleges Are Responding to Technology Innovation in the Workplace

Community colleges throughout the nation have long been instrumental in providing workforce education to both adult and traditional-age students seeking good middle-skill jobs. Yet, across sectors, these jobs are changing. The increased use of technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence are altering the kinds of skills and the level of skills that these jobs require. This report describes a study conducted by researchers from CCRC and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Task Force on the Work of the Future to understand how community colleges are adapting their workforce programs to changing skill demands, diversifying pathways to certificates and degrees, and grappling with equity concerns. The authors spoke with over 200 administrators, faculty, and staff at eight community colleges to learn about each college’s recent experiences with employers and students in the context of workforce programming in three occupational fields—allied health, information technology, and advanced manufacturing—that are undergoing rapid technological innovation. Interviewees from the colleges emphasized four categories of skills that employers are increasingly seeking: 1. foundational skills in math, reading, and writing; 2. technical skills for specific positions; 3. digital literacy skills to interpret, analyze, and communicate using digital platforms; and 4. a broad mix of interpersonal and cognitive skills central to collaboration, critical thinking, and customer service. Interviewees also discussed a number of considerations to make community colleges more effective for all workforce students: Modifying Program Curriculum Reassess how the math needs of workforce students are met. Do more to help workforce students develop digital literacy skills. Focus greater efforts on providing work-based learning opportunities. Reorganizing College Structures and Supports Rethink the relationship between credit and noncredit workforce offerings. Better align short-term certificate programs with longer-duration degree programs. Reorganize advising and support services for workforce students, many of whom are from underserved populations. Addressing Equity Concerns Enhance efforts to recruit underserved students and provide a culturally responsive campus environment. Disaggregate student data across programs to examine equity gaps and identify reforms. Eliminate the digital divide in student access to technology. Many colleges will require resources as well as further guidance to reform and strengthen workforce programming. The federal government, state policymakers, philanthropies, businesses, and intermediaries all have a role to play in supporting research, development, and technical assistance to help colleges make changes that benefit students enrolled in workforce programs