ACF is committed to building evidence through strong evaluations to identify approaches that more efficiently and effectively serve families and children with low incomes. Part of this work includes supporting efforts to build research and evaluation capacity among state and local human services agencies through the provision of evaluation technical assistance (TA).
To that end, in 2021, OPRE awarded 20 Family Self-Sufficiency Demonstration Development (FSSDD) grants to support the planning for and execution of evaluation-related activities by organizations that serve families with children with low incomes. The FSSDD grantees operate programs that are client-centered and target outcomes related to employment and family well-being (e.g., education, health, food security, financial security, or social capital). Grantee programs are also part of a network of services available to families who are eligible for or at risk of becoming eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The FSSDD grantees were funded from September 2021 to September 2023, with many grantees finishing up their projects in fiscal year (FY) 2024 under a no cost extension.
The 20 FSSDD grantees are:
Grantee | State |
Maggie's Place, Inc. | AZ |
Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County (CommUnify) | CA |
Brighton Center, Inc. | KY |
OneHeart | SD |
Housing Authority of the City of Austin | TX |
Cook Inlet Tribal Council | AK |
Lutheran Services in Iowa | IA |
HomeFront, Inc. | NJ |
Michaels Community Services Corp. | NJ |
Northern Virginia Family Service | VA |
Bethany Christian Services Michigan | MI |
Family Assistance for Renaissance Men | MI |
Urban Neighborhood Initiatives Inc. | MI |
FamilyWise Services | MN |
Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc | MN |
Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri | MO |
Ascentria Community Services Inc. | MA |
Project Self-Sufficiency Sussex Co. | NJ |
Korean Community Service Center | VA |
Prevent Child Abuse Virginia | VA |
In FY 2024, OPRE announced the availability of funds for the Family Self-Sufficiency Demonstration Development Phase 2 Awards. The organizations that received the first FSSDD award are eligible to apply for this new opportunity to continue building their internal capacity to understand, create, and use evidence to strengthen program services and contribute to the evidence base on interventions serving families receiving and eligible for TANF.
Under the FSSDD Evaluation Support contract (known as the Supporting Evaluation Efforts for Demonstrations in Self-Sufficiency (SEEDS) project), the FSSDD grantees are working with an evaluation technical assistance provider (Mathematica and its partner The Adjacent Possible™, or TAP) to build their capacity to conduct research and evaluation, use data to improve program outcomes, demonstrate the value of their programs, and ultimately, contribute to the evidence base on interventions serving families with children with low income. The evaluation TA provider is collaborating with each grantee to understand their existing evaluation capacity and providing research and evaluation support through activities appropriate to the particular stage of development of each grantee’s intervention. Such activities range from creating a program logic model or theory of change to conducting pilot or other small-scale studies. Throughout the project, Mathematica and TAP are also coordinating FSSDD grantee meetings, learning communities, and other universal/cross-site support to foster learning and collaboration among grantees. At the end of the FSSDD grantees’ project periods, grantees’ readiness for future research and evaluation activities will be assessed and possible next steps to move them toward rigorous evaluation will be identified.
Point(s) of contact: Amelia Popham, Emily Ross, Sarita Barton, and Siri Warkentien.