Human services programs, including TANF, can improve the experiences of participants and staff by using strategies from the field of business process management (BPM). BPM can help human services programs assess their processes and practices to understand what is working well and where they can make improvements to strengthen service delivery. Recent applications of BPM strategies by various human services programs show promise for improving the outcomes of families and children by reducing sources of stress and boosting satisfaction for both participants and staff. This Mathematica brief shares examples of human services programs that have BPM strategies in partnership with technical assistance providers and gives an overview of how programs can undertake similar work to strengthen service delivery.

Leaders in TANF and related programs operate in a complex, rapidly changing service environment. In fall 2022, OFA’s Project IMPROVE launched a nationwide Leadership Initiative to support leaders and emerging leaders from state, local, and Tribal TANF and related programs. The Leadership Initiative covered strategic and visionary leadership, tools for managing change and continuous improvement, operational management, supporting and advancing leaders of color, developmental supervision, and changing culture and practice. This brief summarizes the Initiative and links to slides of the content sessions.

This brief describes how Iowa’s Family Development and Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS) program used a data-driven reflection process to understand how well virtual coaching is meeting the needs of families. The brief also examines whether families may want a mix of remote and in-person coaching options in the future. It describes lessons learned through this process and aims to help TANF and other human services agencies generate ideas on how to use data-driven reflection to make decisions in their own organizations.

Drawing on the partnership experience between Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, MOED’s Workforce Reception Center, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Mathematica, this brief describes lessons learned and potential strategies that technical assistance providers can use to encourage successful public-private partnerships, as well as highlights considerations for funders of similar initiatives. This 5-page brief is for foundations or other private organizations that provide technical assistance to programs as they make changes to their program. Mathematica and MOED developed this brief with support from the Administration for Children and Families and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

This brief captures staff experiences, successes, lessons learned, and recommendations from designing and implementing a transitional jobs program called Baltimore Health Corps (BHC). Designed by the Mayor’s Office for Employment Development (MOED), Baltimore City Health Department, and other community partners, BHC is a transitional jobs program for unemployed and underemployed city residents in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This 5-page brief is for leaders and frontline staff who are thinking about or implementing a program change and want to draw inspiration and lessons from the successes and challenges of other programs. Mathematica and MOED developed this brief under Project IMPROVE through the Office of Family Assistance, and with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

In April 2020, the Baltimore City Health Department, the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED), and other officials worked together to address the sudden loss of jobs that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing the Baltimore Health Corps (BHC), a transitional jobs program for unemployed and underemployed city residents. BHC provides unemployed residents with paid jobs as care coordinators and contact tracers. Supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Administration for Children and Families, and the Office of Family Assistance’s Project IMPROVE, Mathematica worked with MOED using the Learn, Innovate, Improve framework to help BHC employees successfully transition to the regular labor market when their paid positions end. This brief features the MOED/Mathematica partnership, including its accomplishments, ongoing challenges, and next steps.

The Office of Family Assistance will host a webinar on Thursday, July 29, 2021 from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. ET to engage TANF and tribal leaders and staff in conversation as they reimagine a post-pandemic TANF environment. This webinar will include a series of large group and small, rapid-fire break-out sessions. Each rapid-fire session will include questions that spark meaningful dialogue about TANF programs’ experiences during the pandemic and how they plan to transition back to in-person services. Participants will learn how TANF programs across the country are managing issues such as implementing safety protocols, balancing remote and in-person work, and reinstating TANF work requirements. Project IMPROVE will facilitate the session and capture and share lessons learned across the discussions.

This resource is for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program administrators who are interested in adopting coaching practices within their programs. It includes matrices that compare five employment coaching models that are in use today with TANF-eligible populations: Family Centered Coaching, Goal4 It!^TM, the Human Services Coaching Framework, MyGoals for Employment Success, and Mobility Mentoring^®. This resource also includes short snapshots that describe the key characteristics of each coaching model and contact information for their developers. Four are being used directly in a TANF setting and one can be adopted to a TANF setting. Project IMPROVE, funded by the Office of Family Assistance, aims to bridge the gap between human services research and practice.

This practice brief shares strategies human services programs can use to improve customers’ experience and make their engagement in programming more meaningful. Drawing on Mathematica’s experience working with Philadelphia Works, Inc., the administering workforce development board for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)-funded services in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this brief provides a step-by-step guide to reduce the burden of paperwork and procedures for customers and staff while continuing to meet program environments. Mathematica staff used the Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI2) framework—a series of evidence-informed program improvement activities enabled by collaboration between practitioners and researchers—to learn about how information is collected and used; innovate to eliminate, redesign, and streamline paperwork; and improve processes through iterative, small-scale pilot testing.