The Shifting Gears Approach to Systems Change

Evaluates the Shifting Gears initiative to strengthen state postsecondary, adult basic education, and skills development systems through data, policy change, engagement, and communications. Focuses on the logic model and the policy agenda and action plan

Strengthening State Policies to Increase the Education and Skills of Low-Wage Workers

Highlights the need for state-funded workforce development programs to target low-skill, low-wage workers. Describes state programs that direct resources to employers and nonprofits to train entry-level employees, former welfare recipients, and dropouts

Promoting Student Success in Community Colleges by Increasing Support Services

Recommends state policies to improve community college students' retention and completion rates through enhanced tutoring, counseling, and other supports, as well as alternative instructional models that allow working adults to learn in flexible formats

Strengthening State Financial Aid Policies for Low-Income Working Adults

Explains the need to expand state financial aid programs to help the working poor enroll in college. Recommends funding new aid for working adults as well as strengthening existing aid to meet their needs, and describes recent state initiatives

Improving Student Success by Strengthening Developmental Education in Community Colleges: The Role of State Policy

Outlines the need to strengthen community college students' basic English and math skills as required for college courses in order to meet workforce needs. Describes promising approaches to improving developmental education and recommends state policies

States of Change

States of Change documents efforts by state policymakers and local practitioners to devise useful approaches to helping low-income job seekers stay employed and begin advancing. It draws, in part, from our experiences working on these issues since 1997 with five states -- Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma and Florida -- as well as on examples and lessons in several other states. In general, states are trying a number of retention strategies, but few have been tested. Therefore, we expect that many strategies discussed will soon be modified or replaced with new approaches. We hope that States of Change encourages this process of testing and innovation by providing a sense of what is being tried and learned around the country, and what challenges remain

Low-Income Working Mothers and State Policy: Investing for a Better Economic Future

In 2012, there were more than 10 million low-income working families with children in the United States,and 39 percent were headed by working mothers. The economic conditions for these families have worsened since the onset of the recession; between 2007 and 2012, there was a four percentage-point increase in the share of female-headed working families that are low-income. Addressing challenges specific to these families will increase their economic opportunity, boost the economy and strengthen the fabric of communities across the nation.Public policy can play a critical role in our future prosperity by reversing this trend and improving outcomes for low-income working mothers. Of particular interest is how state governments can best invest in helping working mothers gain the education, skills and supports necessary to become economically secure and provide a strong economic future for their children. In this brief, we highlight the latest data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and recommend state government policies and actions that would facilitate the economic advancement of female-headed, low-income working families with children under age 18

Great Recession Hit Hard at America's Working Poor: Nearly 1 in 3 Working Families in United States Are Low-Income

Highlights findings on the 2009 increase in the number of low-income working families and their children, proportion of low-income working families by parents' race/ethnicity, and the growth of income inequality. Discusses policy implications

Promoting Economic Self-Sufficiency as a State TANF Outcome

Urges states to set participants' economic self-sufficiency as a goal for TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) and other workforce development programs, with clear measures, time spans, and benchmarks. Includes four states' TANF reporting requirements

Overlooked and Underpaid: Number of Low-Income Working Families Increases to 10.2 Million

Highlights 2007-10 trends in the number and percentage of working families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line by state and race/ethnicity, as well as the number of children affected. Examines income inequality by quintile and implications