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PROGRAM CHANGES Summarize changes for the upcoming Federal fiscal year (FY) from the prior FY. Significant changes may include new initiatives, changes in funding or funding sources, policy changes, or significant changes to the number of partners or participants. Significant changes could include those made as a result of management evaluation findings or participation in program improvement initiatives, such as SNAP to Skills. It is not necessary to include changes made as a result of new Federal rulemaking. In FFY2026, Ohio will begin work with The Only Person You Cheat is You (TOPUCU) as a provider of SNAP E&T education/work readiness. This will be a state held contract in which county agencies may choose to use as part of their SNAP E&T program. TOPUCU is a proven personal development and workforce readiness program that helps individuals build better habits, improve motivation and develop soft skills needed for success in life and work. The course(s) offered through TOPUCU is available at no cost to individuals participating in ODJFS programs, including SNaP E&T. Included in the TOPUCU course are 7 core video lessosn (Starter Program), interactive reflection and accountability exercises, AI-powered coaching tool, a 2-part finisher program (mission statement and goal setting) and a certificate of completion. The estimated time to complete the full TOPUCU course is 10 hours. As part of a recent initiative, Ohio will continue work on strategic planning for the Ohio First to Work. First to work supports Ohioans with obtaining and keeping jobs to meet local workforce needs through individualized life skills, job skills and work supports. The vision for First to Work is to move from transactional to transformational service delivery that stabilizes Ohioans by meeting their urgent needs, emphasizing work and reducing dependency. In its future state case workers will support clients in determining how they can get to work and off SNAP beneits via the continuum of services. Ohio First to Work aims to align services across ODJFS programs including SNAP E&T in the areas of job skills, income supports and life skills. Ohio is also working with the Center of Employment Opportunities to aid in providing technical assistance to counties in regards to expanding their programs to focus on returning citizens within their county. This project is still in its early stages and we are working to determine which counties will be utilizing this technical assistance. CEO will work with the county agencies and providers in their communities to provide assistance in doing outreach, case management, and component design focusing on occupational advancement and subsidized work-based learning activities. Highlight any changes from above that the State agency is making to the E&T program based on the prior year’s performance, for instance changes made as a result of E&T outcome and participation data. The State is currently starting design sessions to work through automating the linking of a request to participate in SNAP E&T to an open/pending SNAP case as opposed to the current manual process. The automation will occur in the Ohio benefits work portal and will allow a request to participate to auto population on a case without worker action. SNAP eligibility workers will still review the requests for participation and determine if the individual is then appropriate for referral to SNAP E&T. The State additionally built a SNAP E&T pre-assessment questionnaire to allow an individual requesting to participate in SNAP E&T to log into their self service portal account and answer preset questions. These results are then generated for the SNAP E&T case worker to aid in completing a more holistic and in depth comprehensive assessment. The pre-assessment questionnaire also gives the SNAP E&T worker a glimpse into any barriers that the individual may be facing and allow them to be better prepared in ways to help the individual address these barriers. Ohio has put together several "tips and tricks" videos for county agency use. These videos are short 1/29/26, 9:30 AM State Plan OH FY26 - Original Submission https://dam-fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/microsite/snapet-ohfy26stateplan//index.html 6/121