Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI2): Lessons from Adams County’s Efforts to Increase Engagement in the Colorado Works Program

In this Issue Brief, findings from an intervention of an outreach strategy were applied to Colorado’s version of TANF, Colorado Works, that aimed to increase participant engagement rates. Parents were not following through on upfront activities like orientations and initial meetings; this was harmful not only because it meant families were not fully utilizing planning resources offered to them, but also because they might lose TANF assistance if they failed to perform these actions. After using behavioral science to understand reasons for low engagement and to create a proactive outreach strategy in Adams County, Colorado, the community saw a 13 percentage point increase in orientation session attendance and a 9 percentage point increase in one-on-one meetings with case managers. The report details the personalized approach and road map used to achieve these outcomes and provides additional data to measure the intervention’s success.