P&P June 2016

locally speaking

By Mike McCaman

Taking the Road to 60 Improving Work Participation in Franklin County, Ohio

S ix years ago, Chelsea Klosterman left her job to become a stay-at- home mom. Although the new mother had been employed in the banking sector, she wanted to commit to raising and caring for her newborn son full time, while the boy’s father would be responsible for financial support. It was a very different time for the young family. It was a very different time for the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services (FCDJFS) as well. Franklin County—Ohio’s second most populous county and home to the state’s capital and largest city, Columbus—was still recovering from the Great Recession with an unemploy- ment rate more than 8.5 percent for much of the year. As the local agency responsible for administering the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, known as Ohio Works First (OWF), in addition to an array of other public assistance programs, FCDJFS was seeing and feeling the impact of the economic downturn first hand. Franklin County’s TANF work par- ticipation rate (WPR) for All-Family households was less than 19 percent, while the rate for Two-Parent house- holds—where both adults have to fulfill work requirements—was even lower. Federal guidelines require states to maintain an average All-Family WPR of at least 50 percent and a Two- Parent rate of 90 percent, and Ohio was facing more than $100 million in potential sanctions for failing to meet the mandates. These conditions were exacerbated by rising caseloads, with no possibility for Caseload Reduction Credits or state

overhauling the agency’s operational model for determining participant eligibility and assigning work activi- ties; engaging with the local business community; collaborating with com- munity partners to manage the Work Experience Program (WEP); and improving technology by streamlining and automating participant tracking processes. Under the existing model, case managers conducted TANF eligibility determinations at each of the agency’s five regional Opportunity Centers.

maintenance-of-effort dollars, and an outdated, compartmentalized business model for determining eligibility and administering the program. Too many participants were falling through gaps in the program processes, whether by missing scheduled appointments, by not attending work activity assign- ments, or by failing to submit paper timesheets in time for state reporting. FCDJFS leadership recognized that it would need to make wholesale changes if it was to get the program back on track, avoid sanctions, and preserve essential TANF funding for local services. The plan included

See Road to 60 on page 36

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June 2016 Policy&Practice