Improving Employment Outcomes: Using Innovative Goal-Oriented Strategies in TANF Programs

This brief describes the efforts of four TANF programs to implement three new interventions that are informed by evidence on self-regulation and designed to help participants reach their personal and job-related goals. It also offers overarching lessons for the field based on the programs’ experiences on how to adapt, implement, and scale up these types of interventions.

. Findings from this brief include: (1) Science-informed, goal-oriented strategies can require time and effort to integrate into the service environment; (2) Strong “champions” at all levels of the organization can be critical to the success of interventions focused on self-regulation and goal-achievement; (3) The purpose of and rationale behind the new tools and processes should be made clear for staff; (4) More specific and tailored guidance is needed on how to use interventions focused on self-regulation and goal achievement with participants who are in crisis; (5) Using a systematic, analytic process like a LI² can pay off by helping programs uncover “sticking points” in implementation, reinforce desired behaviors among staff, and foster staff buy-in.

This brief is based on work conducted under the Goal-Oriented Adult Learning for Self-Sufficiency (GOALS) project, funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Mathematica used a framework called Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI²), which involves iteratively refining and testing implementation approaches, in work with four TANF programs deploying new interventions informed by evidence on self-regulation and designed to help participants reach their personal and job-related goals. Mathematica created LI² in partnership with OPRE and the Harvard Center on the Developing Child. The framework consists of a series of replicable, evidence-informed activities conducted by practitioners (for example program administrators, supervisors, and direct-service staff) in collaboration with researchers to improve the quality of new interventions. They include trying out program changes in contained practice settings, collecting data on the process and results, and making adjustments before scaling up the changes.

. Derr, Michelle, Jonathan McCay and Jacqueline F. Kauff. (2019). Improving Employment Outcomes: Using Innovative Goal-Oriented Strategies in TANF Programs, OPRE Report #2019-40, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.