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Reach Up Annual Report 2018 5

Using input from staff, central office staff sought appropriate field experts to facilitate workshops on the identified topics. Reach Up partnered with the federal Administration of Children and Families (ACF), Afya, Inc., EmPath, DAIL, and renowned TANF researcher LaDonna Pavetti to provide workshops focused on brain science, executive functioning, coaching, and setting goals with participants.

In addition to training, central office conducts in-depth, annual, on-site case reviews for every case manager in the state. Every year, Central Office staff spend a minimum of an entire day at each of the 12 district offices meeting with case managers individually. During the meetings with case managers, cases are carefully reviewed to find areas of strength and areas where the case manager can improve. This is followed by the Reach Up Supervisor and Regional Manager examining the case review materials and case manager interview. The day-long process concludes with a team meeting with all Reach Up case managers and supervisors to review common themes in the district.

Home Visiting Pilot in Newport In summer of 2017, the Newport district office launched a pilot project modeled after a highly successful TANF home visiting project conducted in Nebraska. The project in Nebraska showed positive results for participants with the most significant barriers such as mental health, substance use, homelessness and transportation. In Newport, one case manager works intensively with 13-15 families at a time, using the evidence-based curriculum to help the families set goals and overcome their barriers to employment. In just four months’ time, the Newport project has already documented promising outcomes including: • 6 out of the 17 families have found employment; 4 of those families are no longer receiving Reach Up; • Most have identified and engaged in treatment for mental health and/or substance use issues; many were previously unable or unwilling to do so; and • Participants have reported increased confidence that they can meet their goals, more interest in employment, and motivation to access needed services to address employment barriers.

Section 1: Participant Barriers

Charts in this section illustrate the types of families and number of adults participating in the Reach Up program; the number of participants with barriers; the number of participants with deferred work requirements; and the ages of children in Reach Up families. The figures below are the average monthly numbers for the period: October 2016 through September 2017.