EF-Informed Programs (Adults) – Building Better Programs

Executive Function – Using Brain Research to Improve Job Search Outcomes

FIS Intern — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 20:17:34 +0000

This Executive Function (EF) resource focuses on a demonstration project in San Diego, CA, that takes the concepts of EF and applies them to a 12 week week. The program brings together employment related coaching, healthy living workshops and guided fitness activities, in an effort to impact both employment and health outcomes. The piece also examines where EF-informed practices could fit in to other aspects of client services. Click below for the presentation slides.

PCG Demo on Executive Function and Workforce: Using Brain Research to Improve Job Search Outcomes (Applying research based concepts in our program and practice) – Slides in PDF (June 2014)

Crittenton Women’s Union Mobility Mentoring and the Bridge to Self Sufficiency

FIS Intern — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:10:05 +0000

Mobility Mentoring® is a practice developed by the Crittenton Women’s Union. It is defined as the professional practice of partnering with clients so that over time they may acquire the resources, skills, and sustained behavior changes necessary to attain and preserve their economic independence.

CWU’s work is based on its theory of change, the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency®, which details an individual’s journey from poverty to full economic self-sufficiency. Mobility Mentoring is the implementation platform for the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency.

CWU fully implemented Mobility Mentoring first in its pilot program, Career Family Opportunity, in 2009. CWU now applies its Bridge to Self-Sufficiency Assessment tool and Mobility Mentoring techniques throughout its programs and services.

Mobility Mentoring by Elizabeth Babcock

The New Haven MOMS Partnership

Ife Floyd — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 18:09:46 +0000

The New Haven MOMS Partnership is a coalition led by mothers, community-based providers, local and state government, national partners and academic institutions committed to the vision and mission of maternal and child well-being. The MOMS Partnership not only focuses on helping mothers meet their basic needs, but also seeks to improve their mental health so that they can become better parents to their children and more active members of their community. Community ambassadors, neighborhood residents hired to work for the project, recruit participants and work with mental health counselors to deliver an 8-week cognitive behavioral therapy intervention. The project makes extensive use of incentives and has developed a cell phone app to keep mothers engaged in the project and with each other. The Partnership is in the process of adding an employment component and is building a mental health and employment services center that will be located in the neighborhood grocery store. The Partnership’s innovative strategies have led to high participation rates in the program.

CBPP webinar on the New Haven MOMS Partnership
Webinar Video
Webinar Slides

New Haven MOMS Partnership program website

Building Nebraska’s Families: Teaching Life Skills Through Home Visiting Program

Ife Floyd — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:49:51 +0000

Building Nebraska’s Families (BNF) was an intensive home visitation and life skills education program to prepare high-risk TANF clients in rural Nebraska to succeed in the world of work and improve their families’ well-being. BNF operated in more than 10 multi-county rural service areas from 2002 to 2005. Masters’ level educators, with very small caseloads of between 12 and 18 clients, carried out the home visits. On average, clients participated in one-hour home-based sessions weekly or bi-weekly during an eight-month period. Research from Mathematica Policy Research’s randomized control trial of the program found large and highly significant impacts on stable employment for hard-to-employ TANF clients who faced substantial employment barriers and skill deficiencies. The strengths-based curriculum used to teach the life skills is available for purchase at extremely low cost (see below). While the curriculum was designed to be implemented in individuals’ homes, it could also potentially be adapted for office-based work.

BNF Curriculum – Survive, Strive, Thrive: Keys to Healthy Family Living
The CD (which has all the curriculum materials on it) is $20. The notebook which has hard copies of all of the curriculum materials is $35.

Mathematica Presentation on the Program and the Findings: The Impacts of a Home Visitation and Life Skills Education Program for Hard-to-Employ TANF Recipients

Mathematica Policy Brief – Teaching Self-Sufficiency through Home Visitation and Life Skills Education

Utah’s Work Success Program

Ife Floyd — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 20:17:52 +0000

Utah’s Work Success program is a highly-structured job search program for unemployed individuals (TANF and non-TANF). The program, which requires a 40-hour per week commitment on the part of participants, is delivered by Work Success coaches with support from licensed clinical social workers. The coaches work with a relatively small number of people – usually 10-12 at a time—intensively for 2-4 weeks. The program is designed to build on participants’ strengths and to help them identify and reach their individual employment goals. The program is targeted to individuals who are ready to work 40 hours per week.

CBPP Webinar on Utah’s Work Success Program
Webinar Video
Webinar Slides

Program Materials:
Work Success Brochure
Work Success Job Coach Description