Implementation of a Goal-Oriented Approach to Providing Employment Services to Cash Assistance Recipients: The Lifelong Learning Initiative in Ramsey County, Minnesota

This study documents Ramsey County’s experience incorporating the goal-setting principles into their TANF program, and provides lessons for others interested in this approach. The TANF program provides cash assistance to low-income parents, as well as a range of other supports and services to help them become self-sufficient, such as employment-related services, childcare, and transportation. To date, employment-related services designed to improve cash assistance recipients’ employment outcomes and reduce dependency have had mixed results. Many TANF recipients struggle to find and keep jobs and increase their incomes above the poverty level despite the assistance provided.

Interventions using a goal-oriented framework in non-TANF settings have been found to successfully improve a range of outcomes including academic performance, educational attainment, and health. Because of its success in other settings, a number of researchers and program administrators developed a set of goal-oriented principles for employment programs that provided the basis for Ramsey County’s Lifelong Learning Initiative.

• Staff have a favorable view of a goal-oriented approach to guiding recipient’s engagement in program activities. While some of recipients’ incremental goals under the LLI were not specifically focused on job search activities per se, staff reported recipients were taking steps to resolve issues (e.g., housing or childcare) they viewed as necessary for employment.
• Ramsey County program administrators invested considerable resources in developing the LLI and training employment counselors. This included contracting with several expert consultants to develop and refine the approach and to train staff. Program administrators and employment counselors also reported that it took time, practice, and ongoing guidance to learn to use the new approach and tools and change how they interacted with recipients.
• Caseload size and other responsibilities are important considerations when implementing an LLI-type approach. The goal-oriented approach, which reportedly required more time with recipients than a more directive approach, could be difficult with high caseload sizes. The ability of staff to use their discretion in the application of the LLI tools was important when staff faced high caseloads. Providing guidance on which tools to prioritize, and in which situations, appears to be an important next step in the refinement of the approach.
• Employment counselors varied in using all tools consistently. Staff reported high levels of use for the initial assessment tool and the tools to set and track goals, while they experienced more difficulty with the executive skills-oriented ones. Additional supports for counselors – including regular expert-led training or guidebooks with examples – may help them feel more comfortable working with recipients to develop executive skills-informed goals.
• Appropriate staff selection is important for implementing the LLI approach. Program managers reported that staff with certain types of skills (e.g., flexibility in their approach to recipients, coaching backgrounds) were able to adopt the LLI approach more easily than staff who are generally more prescriptive in their overall approach.
• Within a TANF program, goal-oriented coaching requires a balance between recipient-driven goals and tasks that focus on addressing barriers to employment (e.g. housing, mental health, children’s needs) and those focused on moving directly to employment. All TANF programs must meet federal rules, known as the work participation rate (WPR), requiring that a specified proportion of cash assistance recipients participate in work-related activities. Because of Minnesota’s success in meeting the WPR, the state and Ramsey County allowed flexibility in the types of activities recipients could attend to meet the WPR. LLI staff reported that it would have been difficult to implement the LLI as intended without this flexibility.

The implementation report focuses on development and early operation of the LLI from its start in February 2016 through July 2017. The report is based on three site visits conducted in March 2015 (before the LLI was implemented), July 2016, and March 2017. The goal of the visits was to document the implementation of the LLI tools and coaching approach, as well as changes made to the program over time. In addition, the evaluation team conducted an on-line survey of employment counselors who were using the LLI to document their perception of the LLI and use of LLI tools. Of the 16 employment counselors surveyed, 13 responded for an 81 percent response rate. Finally, the March 2017 site visit included a focus group with 11 MFIP recipients who worked with a LLI employment counselor.

Martinson, Karin and Rachel Cook. (2018). Ramsey County Lifelong Learning Initiative: Implementation Report, OPRE Report # 2018-93, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.