Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS): Implementation Findings from the Evaluation of Employment Coaching

The Iowa Department of Human Rights has implemented the Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS) program for more than 30 years. Based on utilizing a coaching approach during home visits with families deemed at greatest risk of long-term welfare receipt, the FaDSS program assists participants with short- and long-term goal setting as they work toward economic self-sufficiency. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report reviews the FaDSS program’s design and implementation and answers key questions about the intervention design, the factors that appeared to have impeded or facilitated the intervention’s implementation, and the clients’ experiences with coaching and the services they received.