The paper from Jobs for the Future reviews and make recommendations about the community-focused approach to federal policy and investments. Also known as “place based,” community-focused efforts have two objectives: 1) improve the integration, coordination, and customer-service orientation of federal support for communities; and 2) provide a framework for comprehensive solutions to interrelated challenges. This policy and investment strategy brings federal, state, and local organizations together with community members to break down barriers that prevent individual and community success. Because the design of community-focused programs is responsive to local needs and priorities, the results and strategies vary based on the location.

This qualitative review by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation seeks to understand the experiences of children in poverty as part of an initiative to learn more about low-income children and families from their own perspectives. After conducting in-depth interviews, several salient themes around benefit receipt, stigma, and the effects of poverty emerged. Even young children perceive the gap between themselves and peers’ material status and feel the double stigma of being poor and receiving benefits. Parents also feel stigma concerning benefits, but also often feel they are not sufficient, have strict requirements that create added pressures, or that other recipients are benefitting unfairly. Lastly, parents try to shield their children from the family‘s true situation in poverty, which can inform policies for welfare offices around sensitivity training, rule clarity, or customized services.

In accordance with federal interests, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation funded a report on the challenges of and potential solutions for measuring TANF employment outcomes. Creating national standards would be a significant challenge due to the flexible nature of TANF funding; states have implemented many different programs within diverse local contexts and with unique eligibility criteria. Instead, federal agencies could help individual states design metrics to assess their employment outcomes, connect program leaders across states, and allow states to demonstrate their own processes as a learning tool for others. Understanding the breadth of programmatic diversity and range of potential state-specific solutions may allow for the most effective evaluation of TANF employment outcomes.

In response to several proposed federal changes to safety net program requirements, the Urban Institute developed a Well Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS) and published a report on the status of individual and family health and well-being. The data serves as a baseline against which to measure deviations as a result of potential policy change. Despite a low unemployment rate and growing labor market, the first round of WBNS data from 2017 shows that nearly 40 percent of adults had trouble meeting at least one basic need, a number which may increase due to proposed safety net changes. Hispanic, black, female, young, ill, and less educated demographics are the most likely to face hardships. The survey will continue to measure potential effects of policy changes and highlight areas of programmatic need.

This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discusses interoperability, data integration, and data-informed decision-making, which are essential elements in the delivery of effective human service programs. ACF has committed to an Interoperability Action Plan with the goal of expanding data sharing initiatives within ACF and beyond. The action plan supports and strengthens the ReImagine HHS focus on aligning programs and “Putting People in the Center of HHS Programs.” The plan takes a fresh approach on serving individuals and families to examine existing and service delivery models.

On October 30, the American Public Health Association will host a webinar for caseworkers and policymakers alike that will discuss necessary leadership skills to inspire and drive change in workplace culture around health and safety. Applicable to many different settings and contexts, their exploration of leadership requisites and leveraging expertise to support health and safety initiatives will be invaluable for all changemakers in various social policy fields.

System modeling is an effective tool to understand the way homeless people navigate the variety or systems and programs in an area, which can ultimately lead to more efficient and cost-effective service provision. A report from The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness details steps involved in system modeling for homeless services, including listing desired aspects of a homeless services program, estimating the population size, reviewing existing data on which programs are being accessed and for how long, identifying intervention combinations that will lead to permanent housing, and using those figures and interventions to develop an ideal model to distribute resources effectively. By taking a broad look at the state of existing programs, using actual data to make utilization projections and assumptions, and reviewing new data periodically to ensure resources remain efficiently distributed, system modeling can be a powerful way to combat homelessness. This article also discusses a case study where system modeling in Indianapolis helped reduce homelessness for youth and young adults.

This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is part of the Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field. The series profiles local programs from across the country finding solutions that meet HHS’s Strategic Plan for encouraging self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, and eliminating barriers to economic opportunity. The blog highlights the partnership between the Nurse-Family Partnership and Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana. The organizations have joined hands to improve the health of low-income, first-time mothers and their babies and to strengthen the economic stability of their families.

Strong partnerships between TANF programs and employers can lead to better long-term employment outcomes for TANF participants. By developing a partnership with employers, TANF programs gain direct access to information about potential and existing job openings, current occupational and skill needs, and anticipated changes within the organization that may impact jobs. In return, employers benefit by having access to a large pool of work-ready job applicants who have been pre-screened to fit the employer’s need, receive job supports that improve the likelihood of workplace success such as transportation and child care, and have access to education and training resources that help participants continue to build their skills. In these partnerships, TANF programs can work with employers to balance an employer’s need for productive employees and a TANF program’s need for job placements.

 

In this facilitated webinar, presenters shared how they leverage stable, long-term relationships with employers to increase employment opportunities for TANF participants. Additionally, presenters highlighted lessons learned and strategies for making such partnerships work. This webinar was held on August 22, 2018 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT.

This Urban Institute report notes that the opioid crisis is widely recognized as a difficult policy challenge, but the reasons why it is difficult and the paths to overcoming those difficulties are less easily understood. As a result, policymakers risk spending limited public resources on potentially ineffective or even counterproductive efforts. Adopting the perspective of pay for success (PFS)-–an outcomes-oriented funding model-–helps to mitigate these risks and facilitates the application of sound public policy and administration principles.