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Category: Project

Description: Cash assistance, work supports, and traditional case management may enable families to make it through difficult periods, but these supports may not be enough to address the barriers to sustained economic security. In 2016, the DC Department of Human Services (DHS) started a pilot coaching program that used a person-centered approach to supporting families in place of the usual one-size-fits-all case management model. DHS was interested in adopting this coaching approach for all Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) customers in their employment program, but first, they wanted to learn from the past three years of coaching with a pilot group of residents. To inform how DHS refined the coaching model, The Lab @ DC conducted a descriptive analysis, provided resident-centered enhancements to the coaching model, and developed a user-testing protocol to support development of a new career pathways tool for coaches.