This webpage profiles EMPath’s Mobility Mentoring^® model, which is defined as the professional practice of partnering with participants so that over time they may acquire the resources, skills, and sustained behavior changes necessary to attain and preserve their economic independence. Included on the webpage are links to a set of four blogs which cover the model’s four essential elements: Coaching for Economic Mobility, the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency^®, Goal Setting, and Recognition.

The Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First) authorized new federal Title IV-E funding for evidence-based programs (EBPs) that have been rated and approved by the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. One such EBP, Motivational Interviewing (MI), has the potential to change the way child welfare professionals work with and support families. MI creates affirming and transformative service experiences through which workers and clinicians have been trained to reach, engage, and empower families; MI represents an opportunity for agencies to deliver improved outcomes for children and families using a practice that is approved for federal funding under Family First. Available for downloading, the Motivational Interviewing Guide is designed to assist state and local Title IV-E agencies with implementing MI as a well-supported EBP in their Title IV-E Prevention Plans.

Recent research has led policymakers and scholars to argue that some people might not achieve economic independence in part because of difficulty applying the self-regulation skills—sometimes referred to as soft skills or executive functioning skills—needed to get, keep, and advance in a job. Evidence suggests that facing poverty, and the multiple stresses that accompany it, can make it particularly difficult to develop and use self-regulation skills. However, emerging research suggests that employment coaching from a trained staff member may strengthen self-regulation skills, and these skills, in turn, may improve employment outcomes for low-income people. This 2022 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS) session presents initial implementation and impact findings from ACF’s Evaluation of Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations. The session also included a practitioner’s perspective on implications of the findings. Lauren Deutsch Stanton, ACF, moderated this session and Ruthie Liberman, EMPath, served as the panel’s discussant. Speakers also included Sheena McConnell and Quinn Moore, both from Mathematica.

This video, prepared by MDRC’s Economic Mobility, Housing, and Communities policy area, describes MyGoals for Employment Success (MyGoals). MyGoals is an innovative employment coaching program intended to help recipients of federal housing subsidies who are not employed find work, build careers, and advance toward greater self-sufficiency. Informed by behavioral psychology, MyGoals focuses on supporting participants as they set and accomplish goals that are meaningful to them in four domains: education and training, financial management, personal well-being, and family well-being.

This webinar presented a conversation between the National Community Action Partnership and U.S. Digital Response (USDR) about incorporating user-centered design elements into workflows and services to reach and serve communities more effectively. The hosts discussed the USDR’s partnership with the Empire Justice Center and how user-centered practices enabled delivery of financial services to low-income families throughout the pandemic. Overall, they offered a clearer vision for how to design work with a distinct focus on the end user, along with tangible tips, takeaways, and recommendations to humanize processes therein.

This blogpost profiles how Covenant House in New York City, the largest service provider for homeless youth, has used motivational interviewing techniques since 2018. These techniques have been shown to be particularly effective in helping this population deal with depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues. It also explains how the Annie E. Casey Foundation supported Covenant House partnering with mental health technology startup, Lyssn, to tailor their motivational interviewing artificial intelligence to a more diverse youth population. The software, which complies with federal health privacy law, records motivational interviewing sessions and uses an algorithm to evaluate the interviewer’s performance. Additionally, a chatbot app, ClientBot, was created to simulate interviewing scenarios that help Covenant House staff practice motivational interviewing techniques.

This report overviews the design and implementation of the New Start Career Network, a statewide program that assists older, long-term unemployed New Jerseyans. The report examines the rationale behind the program and its design, notes the collaborators involved, and discusses the program’s services, including a website, webinars, online tools, and career coaching. It also reviews approaches to engaging employers as well as recruiting members and coaches. In addition, lessons learned, recommendations, and key elements for serving long-term, unemployed job seekers are identified.

Supervision and coaching are vital opportunities to build workers’ skills. This virtual Coaching Tool gives supervisors key questions, guidance, and ideas about how to help workers assess and support Protective and Promotive Factors with youth. It reinforces and puts into action the Youth Thrive Framework and training content. The tool can be used in individual and/or group supervision, in conjunction with other supervisory models or approaches, or as part of training and professional development. Further, public agencies, non-profit and community-based organizations, and any place that provides youth services will find it useful.

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.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report summarizes the design and implementation of LIFT, a coaching intervention in four cities that aims to help participants identify and attain goals related to self-sufficiency. It describes LIFT’s goals, the target population and program participants, the implementation of coaching, and other services available to program participants. The report's findings are of interest to practitioners and policymakers considering implementing or supporting coaching interventions and offers important context for understanding and interpreting the findings from the impact study.