The National Women's Law Center reports that unemployment among women who maintain families -- who have no other income to fall back on and are especially vulnerable -- jumped to 11.7 percent, an increase of 17 percent in three months.

New hires often lack the basic skills they need to do the job and efforts on the job to help them fill the gaps are only moderately successful. This report from Corporate Voices for Working Families argues that corporate America needs to strengthen partnerships with community colleges to prepare entrants before they enter the workforce.

First passed in 1998, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is up for reauthorization. Jobs for the Future has specific recommendations to strengthen a modernized workforce development system. This system should be powerful enough to build and maintain a 21st century workforce, multifunctional to meet the needs of youth, workers, employers and communities, and flexible enough to adapt to a dynamic, competitive global economy.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that proposals being considered by the Senate Finance Committee to change subsidies that help low and moderate-income families afford health insurance could push more poor families out of the system.

The National Immigration Law Center warns that, so far, there are no proposals as part of health care reform to remove the five year waiting period and other barriers to Medicaid for most legal immigrants, including children.

Illinois made major strides this year to keep more teens out of the adult prison system and implement a pilot program focusing on alternatives to incarceration. Youth Today reports that the state's model child welfare system along with its new ground-breaking juvenile justice reforms are threatened by state budget cuts.

The National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth and WSC recently released this case study report that examines the efforts of community colleges to function as intermediaries in meeting the local workforce development needs of employers and promoting career opportunities and job attainment for students, including those with disabilities.

On any given day, scores of young people with limited individual and social capital are simultaneously struggling to exit some systems and enter others: foster care, residential treatment centers, higher education, mental health programs, gainful employment.

How a student YouTube posting brought top-level attention to a growing initiative that connects under-represented young people to college campuses—Jamaal Abdul-Alim of Youth Today reports.

The 20th National Youth Crime Prevention Conference and International Forum
April 19-22, 2009 in Orlando will brings youth and adults together to strengthen and explore new crime prevention skills.