IM-06-01, "Better Outcomes Through Collaboration" Seminar Curriculum (Facilitator Guide and Participant Manual)

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

IM-06-01

ATTACHMENT: Better Outcomes Through Collaboration: Seminar

DATE: January 5, 2006

TO: STATE AND TRIBAL AGENCIES ADMINISTERING CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT PLANS UNDER TITLE IV-D OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT AND OTHER INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS

SUBJECT: "Better Outcomes Through Collaboration" Seminar Curriculum (Facilitator Guide and Participant Manual)

The Administration for Children and Families’ Offices of Child Support Enforcement and Family Assistance, and the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, have partnered to create the attached seminar curriculum on improving program outcomes through interagency collaboration. The seminar, designed for office and/or regional managers from child support, TANF, and workforce investment, demonstrates the advantages of working together to achieve program goals to help client families.

Why create an interactive seminar for three agencies? Child support, TANF, and workforce investment share goals and clients. There are numerous benefits to agencies and families if the systems collaborate. Benefits to agencies include improved performance, increased funding, and savings in resources and worker time. Benefits to clients include quick processing of cases, faster access to services, increased money to children, reduction in poverty, more father involvement, fewer months on TANF, and increased self-sufficiency.

Target audience. The seminar is designed for office and/or regional managers from child support, TANF, and workforce investment from the same tribe or geographical area(s) of a state. The seminar size is 21 participants (7 from each program).

Seminar format. The seminar is 10 hours in length, plus breaks. It is not lecture style. Rather, it is interactive, requires active participant engagement, and builds on participants’ knowledge and experience to identify potential areas of increased collaboration and to create an action plan for change. The seminar is divided into five modules:

Module 1 provides context for the seminar. A power point presentation describes the systems involved and their clients and services, provides an overview of the benefits of collaboration, and presents evidence that collaboration could be improved. It also describes the remainder of the seminar.
Module 2 begins the exploration of individual agencies and emphasizes how performance in one agency can affect the others.
Module 3 describes agency processes in detail, including goals, clients, areas where agencies intersect, current areas of collaboration, and barriers to collaboration.
Module 4 provides tools and exercises to help program managers visualize what an ideal collaboration would look like, including desired outcomes.
Module 5 helps participants develop an action plan.

Because these agencies differ across the states, tribes and localities, the seminar material is generic. We encourage states, tribes and local agencies to tailor the content of the seminar to reflect some of the more localized issues and policies.

INQUIRIES: Please contact Dail Moore at dmoore@acf.hhs.gov or 202.401.3438

Margot Bean
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosures

cc: State and Tribal IV-D Directors
Regional Program Managers
ACF Regional Administrators