In today’s rundown: Transforming workforce development. | Thousands of jobs potentially coming to D.C. | One Virginia city council could soon legalize breastfeeding. | The potty policy that’s raising eyebrows in northern Virginia.

— In a Washington Post commentary the Brookings Institution’s Martha Ross outlines several steps Mayor Vincent Gray can take to transform workforce development in the District.

— Construction jobs in the region are expected “to grow significantly for the first time since the economic downturn,” according to The Washington Post. Experts tell the Post that a demand for apartments and single-family housing could bring in 8,000 construction jobs this year.

— The Alexandria City Council is going to consider a proposal that would legalize breastfeeding in public.  One city council member is worried that an indecent exposure ordinance might be used to discourage public breastfeeding.  WAMU has the details.

— A three-year-old was suspended from an Arlington Montessori preschool last month for having too many “accidents.”  The school says children who aren’t potty trained take up valuable classroom time.  The girl’s mother is asking the county and the school board to change its policy.  The Washington Post has the details.

In today’s rundown: A Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner’s efforts to train young people is featured by The New York Times. | UDC needs money from the D.C. government to keep its community college going. | A proposed law in Maryland could make it easier for unemployed residents to find work. | And Virginia may make it easier to obtain orders of protection.

— The New York Times blog features a piece on Year Up and their efforts to prepare young people for the work force.  Year Up’s D.C. metro region branch is a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

— The University of the District of Columbia needs an immediate $8 million infusion from the D.C. government, or the new community college will have to be scaled back, reports The Washington Post.

— Today, House Speaker John Boehner will introduce a bill that will re-new D.C.’s school voucher program, which provides D.C. students with tuition money for private schools.  The Washington Post has details.

— A Maryland lawmaker has proposed a bill in the state House that would prohibit many Maryland employers from using credit history to be a determining factor in the hiring of potential employees or retention of current employees.  Click here for details.

— Virginia’s General Assembly is considering a rewrite of state law that would make it easier for people who are dating to get protective orders requiring their abusers to stay away.  The current law provides protection for family members and people who are living together.  Click here for more.

In today’s rundown: Just a small percentage of D.C. middle school girls have completed the series of vaccines that protects against HPV. | A local nonprofit founder is featured for his work with the homeless. | D.C.-area residents are among the most generous in the country.

— “Only 8 percent of sixth- and seventh-grade girls in D.C. Public Schools have completed the series of Human Papilloma Virus vaccine shots,” reports WAMU. “That’s despite a law requiring students [to] get the vaccine unless parents sign a refusal form.”  Some strains of Human Papilloma Virus can cause cervical cancer.

— DC Central Kitchen’s Robert Egger is highlighted on The Huffington Post for his efforts to both feed and train homeless D.C. residents.

— D.C.-area residents are leading the nation when it comes to online donations to charity, reports WTOP.com. Alexandria, Arlington and the District are three of the top five most generous cities for online giving.

In today’s rundown: A law requiring girls in Virginia to get the HPV vaccine could be repealed.  And a revival may be in the works for D.C.’s school voucher program.

— Virginia’s House of Delegates voted to approve legislation that would eliminate the Commonwealth’s requirement that sixth-grade girls get the vaccine that protects against the STD that can cause cervical cancer. The House voted to repeal the law 61-33.  The bill will move to the Senate, which has killed previous attempts to repeal the mandate.  The vaccine protects against human papilloma virus, or HPV.  Click here for details.

— D.C.’s school voucher program may be revived.  WAMU reports that some federal legislators are working on bills that would reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which gives public funds to children from low-income families so that they can attend private and parochial schools.  The program began in 2004, but in 2009 Congress did not renew funding for it.

In today’s rundown: Cracking down on trafficking in Virginia. | A detailed look at affordable housing in the District. | Major improvements at a local high school that was once called the lowest-achieving in Virginia.

— “Virginia’s General assembly is taking steps to crack down on” child sex trafficking, reports WTOP.com. Fairfax Del. Tim Hugo is introducing legislation that will increase the penalty for predators caught for sex trafficking.

— What does the affordable housing crisis look like in D.C.? Bread for the City takes a look at some of the facts.

— The Washington Post takes a look at the turn-around being made at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria.  Once called the “persistently lowest-achieving” public high school in Virginia, T.C. Williams has made significant changes and received $6 million from the Obama Administration.

In today’s rundown: Women immigrants in Northern Virginia are ready to share their stories. | A call to put poverty on the national agenda. | And a new study finds women are underrepresented in films.

— A newsletter being distributed in Northern Virginia is helping Latina immigrants share their stories with one another and their American neighbors. Amanecer “is being printed in English and Spanish at the headquarters of Tenants and Workers United, a group that represents low-income residents in Northern Virginia” reports The Washington Post.

— “Put poverty on the agenda,” writes Katrina Vanden Heuvel in The Nation. The call to action is backed by startling statistics, including the fact that a “record 47 million people now live below the poverty line — $22,400 for a family of four — and a stunning 1 in 3 Americans are living at less than twice that threshold.”

— A new study commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that “the film industry is still stuck on portraying females as eye candy and that women continue to be depicted in negative images and stereotypes.”  Click here for details.

In today’s rundown: A look at chronic homelessness in DC and overall homelessness in Maryland. | An unexpected slide down the socioeconomic ladder for some middle class Americans. | A call for more federal HIV/AIDS funding. | A profile of friendship among women in Congress.

— A nonprofit has credited the District with helping to decrease chronic homelessness, reports WAMU.  During the height of the recession, the number of chronic homeless fell by 12 percent in D.C.

— At the same time, the overall number of homeless in Maryland jumped nearly 30%, reports The Washington Examiner.

— Today’s Washington Post profiles several middle class families who found themselves struggling to pay for basic necessities.  The article takes a look at why some people are sliding down the socioeconomic ladder.

— President Obama isn’t doing enough when it comes to HIV/AIDS funding, writes AIDS activist Gregg Gonsalves in The Washington Post.

— The New York Times takes a look at the relationships Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has with other women in Congress, particularly with the women who were in the congresswoman’s hospital room when she opened her eye after being shot in Tucson last weekend.