Building on previous work developing a roadmap for system-level change to better support young families, the American Public Human Services Association established the System Alignment for Young Families Learning Academy (SAYF) to support cross-systems teams from state and local human services agencies in establishing a System Alignment Plan to support young families. This blogpost notes how the SAYF Learning Academy was launched in March 2022 with six cross-sectional teams that included parent leadership representing Maryland, Maricopa County (Arizona), Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wake County (North Carolina). Through the development of targeted practice tools, peer-to-peer learning, and individualized planning, the teams worked to advance system alignment, so that young families experience seamless service delivery that meets their individual needs. An infographic in the blogpost spotlights each team’s vision statement.

This report summarizes the design and implementation of MyGoals for Employment Success (MyGoals), an experimental employment coaching demonstration program, launched in early 2017. The program aims to help recipients of housing assistance in Baltimore and Houston who are unemployed or working less than 20 hours a month set and achieve employment and related goals. Coaches follow a systematic process that focuses explicitly on self-regulation skills—the skills needed to finish tasks, stay organized, and control emotions. Financial incentives are offered for attending coaching sessions and achieving employment outcomes. MyGoals is one of four coaching interventions included in the Evaluation of Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations project.

This case study report is intended for staff at all levels of government who work within agencies that promote the well-being of children and families. It explains how Montgomery County, Maryland’s Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) enterprise integrated case management system (eICM) shares data across more than 70 DHHS programs, allowing staff to better understand their clients, more efficiently serve them, and improve their outcomes. The report discusses why the eICM was implemented, how the eICM works, how the eICM team overcame various data privacy and confidentiality challenges, and how the eICM benefits the residents served. It includes several lessons learned and recommendations from the people who developed and use the eICM.

This playbook, developed in collaboration between the National Community Action Partnership and the American Public Human Services Association, explores how Community Action and human services agencies partnered together in response to the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. It presents opportunities for alignment in providing whole family supports, making career pathways possible for SNAP recipients, and tackling structural inequities in accessing services. Examples of these alignments include western Maryland and Virginia (whole family supports), Minnesota and Oregon (SNAP Employment & Training), and rural Ohio and Montgomery County, Maryland (dismantling structural inequities).

The MyGoals for Employment Success program provides a unique coaching model that concentrates on developing executive skills—like emotional control, stress tolerance, time management, and organization. These skills help participants successfully navigate the labor market, acquire occupational credentials, perform well at a job, and advance at work. This podcast includes interviews with two MyGoals coaches, Shirley McGee from the Houston Housing Authority and Ashley Coston from the Housing Authority of Baltimore, who speak about challenges that participants and coaches face and benefits the program offers to participants.

This report evaluates four grantees of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Ready to Work (RTW) Partnership Grant (RTW) program. RTW assists the long-term unemployed—persons who have been out of work for at least 6 months—in finding jobs and succeeding in the labor market. Support services include career guidance, occupational training, employment readiness, job search assistance, and work-based training. The evaluation, which covers a four-year period from 2014 to 2018, reviews RTW implementation among four grantees: the Maryland Tech Connection program at the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation; California Skills to Work in Technology/Job Search Accelerator at San Francisco’s Jewish Vocational Service; Finger Lakes Hired at RochesterWorks! (Monroe County, New York); and Reboot Northwest at Worksystems, Inc. in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington.

The Family Resource Simulator shows how earnings, benefits, and expenses interact as circumstances change. It makes “what if” scenarios visible in a way that is difficult to capture through conversation alone. In Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) settings, the simulator can support planning discussions by helping families see how small changes in work hours, income, or benefits affect overall stability.

Research from SmartAsset explores what it takes financially for one parent to stay home and the other to support the household. It adds context to the tradeoffs families face when making caregiving and work decisions. Within Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) services, it can support more realistic financial planning discussions and help families think through how income choices affect stability, caregiving roles, and long-term goals.

The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates the income families need to cover basic expenses based on where they live and family size. It helps clarify a common disconnect in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work—employment alone does not always equal economic stability. Practitioners can use it to ground conversations about self-sufficiency in local reality, making it easier to connect job planning and financial goals to actual household needs and improve family stability.