As a part of the Systems to Family Stability (SFS) National Policy Academy technical assistance efforts, the Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on Emerging Practices in Staff Training for TANF Programs on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 3:00 PM ET, for the SFS sites, as well as the entire TANF field. Many Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, and other programs serving low-income individuals and families, are seeking ways to better train their staff in the basics of providing public assistance benefits to needy families, which includes delivering curriculum on eligibility determination, data systems, developing comprehensive assessments and self-sufficiency plans, understanding executive functioning, and conducting motivational interviews. This webinar was designed to help the Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy sites, the TANF field, and other human service system stakeholders understand how to assess their own training systems, become more familiar with components of effective training, and ultimately work to improve training systems in their state and local agencies. Presenters included: Lisa Washington-Thomas from the Office of Family Assistance; Carol Mizoguchi from the Office of Family Assistance, Bill Callahan from Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, and Charmaine Brittain with the Butler Institute for Families at the University of Denver.

The 2016 Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Region I (Boston), Region II (New York), Region III (Philadelphia), and Region IV (Atlanta) East Coast TANF Directors Meeting was held on July 12‐14, 2016, in Providence, Rhode Island. The theme, Reflecting on the Past: Looking Forward to the Future, was an opportunity for TANF program directors and other key stakeholders to engage with peers about innovative ideas, strategies, and collaborations that promote economic and social well‐being for individuals, families, and communities. Meeting participants engaged with OFA leadership, their peers, and experts in the field to discuss some of the pressing challenges facing TANF participants and low‐income, vulnerable families today and ways that TANF programs can serve as a comprehensive support system for these families. Sessions focused on two‐generation approaches to breaking the cycle of poverty, TANF/WIOA coordination and implementation, career pathways and apprenticeships, targeting the hard‐to‐serve and executive functioning, and additional opportunities for TANF programs in 2016 and beyond. The context of these discussions was grounded in using data to measure program effectiveness and drive decision‐making.

Kentucky has been providing education-focused and work participation-driven case management to the TANF population since 1998. The TA Requestor, Ms. Shauna King-Simms, Director of Transitional Education Programs at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) heard a description of Crittenton Women’s Union’s (CWU’s) Mobility Mentoring® Model and was interested in integrating components of it into Kentucky’s program. Kentucky conducts similar case management activities with its Ready to Work and Work and Learn programs, but was interested in enhancing the current practices using this model. CWU is an economic mobility organization and the largest provider of transitional housing for homeless families in the greater Boston area. The organization provides job readiness training, parenting programs, and adult education. Almost 1,300 individuals are served each year. Ninety-two percent have a high school education or less. CWU’s clients are largely TANF participants with average earnings of $730 per month per family and the population is racially diverse. Their Mobility Mentoring® Model is the long-term developmental partnership between trained staff and program participants through which participants acquire the resources, knowledge, and skills necessary to attain and preserve economic independence.

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services requested TA to support the integration of components of CWU’s Mobility Mentoring® Model for case management. The OFA PeerTA team agreed to support this request and created a TA plan with the following objectives:

• Collaborate with CWU to provide Kentucky with a tailored, two-day training on CWU’s Mobility Mentoring® Model for their Ready to Work staff at the KCTCS system office in Versailles, Kentucky. The training was prepared to accommodate approximately 45 Kentucky Ready to Work staff and three staff from the Department for Community Based Services (a Kentucky TANF agency), with a maximum of 50 participants in total.
• Support an outcomes-focused training that encourages implementation and sustainability of what is learned, so Kentucky can integrate the core concepts learned into their program(s) at a statewide level.