Advancing Economic Mobility: How Workforce Boards Are Using Data to Better Support Parents

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Since 2016, The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) and Innovate+Educate have partnered on the Family Centered Employment (FCE) initiative, recognizing that supporting parents is a powerful lever for community economic growth. This strategic partnership has revealed that when workforce systems identify and address parents’ unique needs—particularly through childcare access and coordinated support services—they have the potential to unlock greater workforce participation and career advancement opportunities that benefit entire families.  

In the fall of 2024, thanks to support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, NAWB collaborated with Social Policy Research Associates (SPR) to explore how workforce boards collect and use parent data in practice. Our national survey brought to light a critical insight: while many workforce boards recognize the importance of parent-centered approaches, gaps remain between intention and implementation. These findings not only highlight current challenges but also present compelling opportunities to transform how the workforce system serves parents—potentially impacting thousands of families nationwide. 

Key Findings 

  • 86% of survey respondents collect data on parental status, mostly for WIOA eligibility, yet 60% don’t clearly define “parent.” 
  • Over 70% use parental data to inform or update local WIOA plans. 
  • 88% partner with parent-serving organizations, but only 59% formally reflect those partnerships in their plans. 
  • Most WDBs want to collect more data, especially around childcare needs and benefit eligibility, to improve services. 

Why It Matters

Knowing that a jobseeker is a parent helps WDBs tailor services—from scheduling to supportive programs. But without consistent definitions, better data systems, and formal sharing agreements, WDBs face barriers to fully leverage this information. 

Looking Ahead 

While the survey provides a foundation for understanding the current parental data collected in the workforce system, it only scratches the surface. Further exploration with a diverse sample of WDB respondents from varying geographic locations, size, and staff roles could inform program design and systemic solutions. Topics may include:  

  • How WDBs define “parent” and collect related data 
  • Challenges and solutions in data collection 
  • Opportunities to streamline efforts through partnerships and shared tools 
  • Identifying promising practices to focus on for future data collection 

By improving how parental data is collected and used, WDBs can strengthen pathways to economic mobility—not just for individuals, but for entire families. NAWB will continue to share data and best practices to support family-centered employment strategies as the field evolves.  

Learn more about the survey and read the full report. 

A New Year’s Message from Brad Turner-Little

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To start 2025, I’ve been looking at the various predictions being made for the coming year. I’ve found bold predictions about space travel, logical ones about demographics, and ones that have made me chuckle. While they come from different people with different points of view, one through-line that shows up in (almost) all of them is the continuance of the dramatic rate of change, largely driven by the accelerating influence AI will have on all our lives.

That has led me to reflect on the message we heard during The Forum 2024 from Eric Termuende, best-selling author and leader in workforce trends, who talked about the importance of building trust not just within teams, but also within communities during times such as these.

One of the ways that trust is built is by listening hard and acting upon what you’ve heard. That’s what NAWB is committing to this new year – listening hard and creating opportunities to engage, advocate, share, and work together to build the capacity and capability of our members to meet this critical moment in communities across the nation.

Over the past year, we’ve learned our members want more ways to learn from each other, tell the workforce system’s story more effectively and find ways to lean into the opportunities new technologies offer for both operations and services.

As a result, we’ve developed a variety of offerings for our members to take advantage of early in 2025 that respond to these desires. Here are the top five!

1. Winter Webinar Series: One of the best ways we have to share what’s making a real impact in communities is for local boards to showcase what’s working for them and how they do it. Our Winter Webinar Series continues our commitment to create ways for you to learn from those making a difference on the ground in communities. The session on Wednesday, Jan. 22 will focus on promising practices leveraging SNAP E&T funds to drive impact.

2. Engaging new (and returning) Members of Congress: The 119th Congress starts its work this month and now is the time to get to know them and for them to get to know you. Our first Public Policy PowerUp of the year, on Friday, Jan. 24, will focus on strategies to effectively tell your story to lawmakers. You can also use the Hosting a Congressional Site Visit Guide we jointly published last summer with the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals as a step-by-step map for having policymakers visit your services.

3. Microsoft Copilot Pilot: We’ve heard from boards across the country about the need for their teams to understand how emerging technologies can improve their workflows. In response, we’ve secured the opportunity for local boards to have their teams trained at no cost in using Microsoft Copilot in 2025. Learn more about how to take advantage of this benefit.

4. The Forum 2025: The single largest annual gathering of the workforce ecosystem, The Forum (March 29 – April 1) continues to offer one of the best venues to learn from peers, build networks, and get reenergized for the work ahead. This year’s theme is Together.Forward.Change., and we’ve got a full lineup of dynamic sessions, expert speakers, and innovative programming designed to inspire and empower workforce leaders.

5. Workforce Advocacy Day: New in 2025, Workforce Advocacy Day (April 1-2) will be our opportunity to collectively tell our story and demonstrate the nation’s public workforce system’s impact in communities directly to Congress.

In addition to these five things, our weekly NAWBNews emails feature more opportunities to engage with other boards and NAWB.

To close, I want to add to the list of predictions for 2025. It’s one that’s not far-fetched; it’s based on what I know to be true – your commitment to your communities. In 2025, hundreds of thousands of people will find their way into the world of work because of you; tens of thousands of businesses will find the talent they need to grow because of you. And because of you, more families will be more economically secure than they were in 2024.

We at NAWB are excited for this year and all it will hold as we work to support, serve, and represent you and the critical work you do every day.

Happy New Year – let’s make 2025 amazing!

– btl

NAWB Issues Statement on WIOA Reauthorization

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NAWB President and CEO, Brad Turner-Little, made the following statement in response to the Congressional committee leadership’s bipartisan, bicameral agreement to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

The new bill, which we provided an initial summary of, is currently being considered on a fast-track procedure in the Senate.

“Since WIOA’s reauthorization in 2014, workforce development boards (WDBs) have sought to meet the evolving needs of employers, jobseekers, and the local communities that they serve. It is laudable that lawmakers have reached consensus on legislation to make significant updates to the nation’s public workforce development system, including improvements that recognize the vital role that WDBs play in strengthening local economies.

Since the initial release of a new bicameral and bipartisan WIOA reauthorization agreement last week, A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA), the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) has spent time analyzing this proposal and engaging with our members to understand how the bill would affect ongoing operations, service delivery, and the ability of WDBs to serve jobseekers and employers alike throughout the nation. Through these discussions, it has become clear that there are aspects of this legislation that conform with NAWB’s vision for the future of the public workforce system, while there are other significant components of this agreement that will be challenging to implement at best and could undermine WBDs’ ability to meet their mission.

ASWA would renew the law for five more years, sending a powerful signal that the public workforce system authorized by this legislation is critical to wider efforts in preparing and sustaining the skilled workforce needed for America’s wider success. NAWB is pleased to note that many of the organization’s recommendations have been incorporated into this legislation. These include clarifying local WDBs’ authority over local budgets; increased flexibilities to serve incumbent workers; improvements to cost-sharing requirements for one-stop centers, including flexibilities for the sharing and pooling of these resources; increased professional development opportunities for local staff; allowing for marketing and outreach efforts on behalf of the system; allowing WDBs to serve as one-stop operators when meeting certain conditions; a new emphasis on skills-based hiring; and dramatic improvements to data collection and subsequent reporting to make the public workforce system more transparent and responsive to the needs of workers and employers.

While NAWB appreciates these and other aspects of the agreement, the legislation unfortunately continues to advance provisions that our organization does not support, including a new systemwide mandate for training and an overly prescriptive work experience requirement for youth funding which we believe runs counter to local autonomy and flexibility. While we appreciate the agreement’s recognition of the important role supportive services play in the success of worker skills development, we continue to call on Congress to ensure that any new requirements reflect the realities facing the populations WIOA is structured to prioritize.

NAWB’s members have made clear that increased state-level set-asides will mean fewer resources will be available to local WDBs to implement these and other aspects of this legislation with fidelity. In conjunction with the proposed local workforce area redesignation provisions, NAWB’s members have also made clear that there is a strong potential that aspects of the public workforce system will need to close, staff laid off, and business services significantly curtailed under these new operating constraints.

Taken together, we remain deeply concerned that these aspects of the agreement will make it more difficult for the public workforce development system to serve jobseekers and employers alike moving forward.

We are grateful to have heard from so many of our members who provided thoughtful and meaningful perspectives as part of NAWB’s analysis of this legislation. They are the true experts, working every day with local community partners, elected officials, businesses, and jobseekers. We recognize the extremely challenging environment that workforce boards will be in whether this bill is enacted during the final days of the 118th Congress or if current law remains in place for the time being.

In either scenario, NAWB remains committed to working closely with the incoming administration and new Congress to ensure that the public workforce development system is responsive to the needs of workers, learners, and businesses, and can fulfill the significant workforce development needs of our nation now and in the future.

This will certainly be among our top priorities during Workforce Advocacy Day, scheduled for April 1-2, 2025 in Washington, DC. NAWB members need to share their expertise with members of Congress to ensure that the workforce system has the necessary resources to serve their local communities.”

Learn more about NAWB’s work on WIOA.

Thankful for YOU, Our Nation’s Workforce Leaders

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It’s now been over a year since I joined NAWB and over the past months I have been blessed to meet so many leaders within the public workforce system. Leaders like Billy in Flagstaff, Tamara in Austin, Jim in Tallahassee, Sean in Newport News, Amanda in Hudson, and many, many more. I’ve continued to be impressed with how committed they are – committed to the work, yes, but more significantly, committed to their communities.

They see the struggles small businesses have in finding talent to compete in a global market; they see families striving to break the cycle of generational poverty. They sit at the epicenter of work/workplace evolution and economies transforming – a place of great pressure and disruption.

What’s so inspiring is that these leaders – along with their local workforce boards and their teams – don’t just sit in that place. They are moved to action. They lean in, listen hard, adapt and innovate. 

I’ve been privileged to hear their stories and have been able to share some of them more broadly with you via our podcast, Workforce Central. If you haven’t tuned in before, I invite you to take some time to do so. You will be surprised by the innovation and inspired by the commitment of workforce board leaders from across the country.

So, on this Thanksgiving, I am grateful for all the leaders across our nation’s public workforce system, their willingness to lean in, adapt and learn, and drive towards greater impact for their communities. We at NAWB are honored to serve, support and represent you. 

-Brad

Veterans’ Success in Apprenticeship Programs: A Pathway to Prosperity

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Veterans bring a wealth of skills and experiences to the civilian workforce, making them ideal candidates for apprenticeship programs. These programs offer a structured, earn-and-learn model that aligns with the discipline and technical expertise veterans acquire during their military service. Here’s a closer look at how veterans are thriving in apprenticeship programs and the benefits these programs offer:

The Unique Fit of Veterans in Apprenticeships

Veterans are uniquely suited for apprenticeship programs due to their military training, which instills discipline, teamwork, and technical skills which are all directly transferable to various apprenticeship roles, making the transition both smoother and more effective.

Benefits of Apprenticeship Programs for Veterans

  1. Earn While You Learn: Apprenticeship programs allow veterans to earn a paycheck while gaining hands-on experience in their chosen field. This model helps veterans support themselves and their families without accumulating debt.
  2. Utilizing GI Bill Benefits: Veterans can use their GI Bill benefits to receive a tax-free monthly housing stipend while participating in registered apprenticeship programs. This financial support can significantly ease the transition to civilian life.
  3. High Retention and Employment Rates: Statistics show that 90% of apprentices retain employment after completing their program. This high retention rate is a testament to the effectiveness of apprenticeships in providing stable, long-term employment.
  4. Diverse Career Opportunities: Apprenticeship programs are available in various industries, including construction, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, IT, and cybersecurity. This diversity allows veterans to find a career path that aligns with their interests and skills.

Challenges Veterans Face in Apprenticeship Programs

Despite the many benefits, veterans can face several challenges when transitioning into apprenticeship programs. Here are some common obstacles:

  1. Adjustment to Civilian Work Culture: Veterans often need to adapt to a different type of work environment and culture, which is often quite different from the military. This includes adjusting to new social norms and workplace dynamics.
  2. Mental Health and Well-being: Some veterans may experience mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or depression, which can affect their performance and integration into apprenticeship programs.
  3. Physical Disabilities: Veterans with service-related injuries or disabilities might find certain physical tasks challenging. Ensuring that apprenticeship programs are accessible and accommodating is crucial.
  4. Recognition of Military Skills: Translating military skills and experiences into civilian qualifications can be difficult. Veterans might struggle to get their military training and skills recognized in the civilian job market.
  5. Financial Stability: While apprenticeships offer the benefit of earning while learning, the initial pay might be lower than what veterans were accustomed to in the military. This can create financial strain during the transition period.
  6. Finding the Right Program: Not all apprenticeship programs are available in every community, and entry can be competitive. Veterans might face challenges in finding a program that fits their skills and career goals.

Addressing these challenges requires a supportive approach from employers, apprenticeship program coordinators, and veteran support organizations. Providing mental health resources, ensuring accessibility, and helping veterans translate their skills can significantly ease their transition into civilian careers.

Success Stories

Many veterans have found great success through apprenticeship programs. For example, the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program allows active-duty service members to improve their technical skills and fulfill apprenticeship requirements, setting them up for successful civilian careers. Additionally,programs like the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge matches transitioning service members with civilian job training opportunities, including apprenticeships, within 180 days of separation.

Conclusion

Apprenticeship programs offer veterans a unique opportunity to leverage their military skills in the civilian workforce. By providing a structured, supportive environment, these programs help veterans build prosperous careers while contributing to a skilled and diverse workforce.

For more information on how veterans can benefit from apprenticeship programs, visit Apprenticeship.gov, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

Workforce Development Month Recap

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Workforce Development Month 2024 was an exciting time for NAWB and our members. Here are some highlights:

Throughout the Month:

We highlighted testimonials from The Forum 2024, facilitated by Equus. Workforce leaders
shared their thoughts on the importance of workforce development and its significance in our economy. Our goal was to spark conversations about workforce boards, the work they do, and the unique ways they serve their communities.

Week Two:

We emphasized advocacy efforts, showcasing the initiatives of NAWB member EmployIndy at local, state, and federal levels. Our new Advocacy Toolkit was reintroduced to empower you in advocating for your workforce development board and the broader system. Additionally, NAWB President and CEO, Brad Turner-Little, engaged in discussions on two podcasts, offering insights about the workforce development landscape and promoting the .

Week Three:

We focused on NAWB’s role in supporting your efforts, featuring inspiring success stories, including the story of Elkanah from Workforce Solutions Dallas, who transitioned from homelessness to gainful employment and stable housing. Be sure to check out our collection of success stories, showcasing our members’ impact on their communities.

Final Week:

In the last week of Workforce Development Month, we turned our attention to partnerships between workforce development boards and local businesses. This was highlighted by a video from the Director of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity, who discussed the importance of vision planning and collaboration in workforce development.

 

Workforce Development Month illuminated the impactful contributions of the workforce development community. We take pride in the advocacy efforts led by our members and the inspiring success stories that reflect the transformative potential of our collective work. We look forward to continuing this momentum and further strengthening our workforce development initiatives together.

Looking for more resources and stories?

Check out our podcast, Workforce Central, where Brad Turner-Little interviews local leaders in workforce development, education, business, and economic development.