November 17, 2023

Hello Donna,

Jobs for the Future has published a new brief that explores how community colleges and human services nonprofits can partner to advance multigenerational family economic success. The paper highlights insights and recommendations from six sites in The Kresge Foundation’s BOOST initiative working to change organization policies and practices and connect students with critical supports and career opportunities.

Remember that comments on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) draft memorandum, establishing new agency requirements in areas of AI governance, innovation, and risk management are due by December 5, 2023. Titled “Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI),” the memo would also direct agencies to adopt specific minimum risk management practices for uses of AI that impact the rights and safety of the public. Click here to comment.

Be sure to check out the latest post on our blog, The Catalyst. Titled “Reimagining Child Welfare: How Purpose-built Technology Can Help a National Caseworker Crisis,” the post offers a perspective on the rising challenges being faced by human services professionals on the frontline of child welfare and how available technologies can help overcome those issues.

Congress Passed a Continuing Resolution to Avoid a Government Shutdown

The House and Senate passed a Continuing Resolution this week avoiding a government shutdown. The white house signed the Continuing Resolution on Thursday approving a spending package that will fund the government at current levels for two more months while a long-term solution is developed. There are now two deadlines for federal agencies: January 19 and February 2. A one-year extension of the Farm Bill was included in the CR, with a new deadline of September 2024.

NPRM on Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming

On November 20, the Office of Head Start (OHS) will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register, Supporting the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming. Proposed changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) described in the NPRM would ensure fair compensation is a key component of high-quality early care and education. These proposed changes, if enacted, will stabilize the Head Start workforce and improve the quality of the comprehensive services that Head Start families count on.

New Information Memorandum Issued on Child Welfare and Education Agency Collaboration

The Children’s Bureau (CB) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued an Information Memorandum (IM) to remind state and tribal Title IV-E agencies of the school enrollment and educational stability requirements for students in foster care included in Title IV-E and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It also shares promising practices that support those requirements. The IM follows a Dear Colleague Letter issued by the Department of Education in July that stressed the importance of collaboration and joint decision-making between educational agencies and child welfare agencies.

TANF Brief: Identifying and Combating Bias in TANF-Funded Employment Services

A new brief describes how both individual and structural biases can influence the employment services provided by Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) programs and the interactions between employment services staff and participants. The brief also provides concrete strategies that individual staff members providing employment services and TANF program leaders can adopt and implement to combat biases at an organizational and individual level.

USDA Awards New GusNIP Grants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an investment of more than $52 million to support access to fruits and vegetables for eligible families. The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) awarded grantees in each of its three grant programs: Nutrition Incentives (19 awardees and $41.8 million), Produce Prescription (11 awardees, $5.2 million), and Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information (NTAE) Center (1 grantee, $7 million).

FNS Re-Opens Opportunity to Participate in Medicaid Direct Certification Demonstration Project

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) re-opened the opportunity for states to opt-in to participate in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program Demonstration Projects to Evaluate Direct Certification with Medicaid. This allows for more children to be directly certified to receive free or reduced-price school meals and also would allow states to use this Medicaid data to directly certify more students for Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (SEBTC).

SNAP-Ed Toolkit: Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change Initiative Data Toolkit

The Food and Nutrition Service SNAP-Ed program has released a toolkit intended to help agencies make data-informed decisions in planning policy, systems, and environmental change (PSE) initiatives, meet program reporting requirements, and communicate the results of PSE work to interested parties. The toolkit includes suggestions for incorporating input from various potential collaborators, including community members and partners.

APHSA Career Center - Post Your Open Positions Today

APHSA serves as a clearinghouse for job opportunities throughout the Human Services sector. Employers reach a wide audience of candidates searching for careers and job seekers will find a number of opportunities throughout the country.

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