Policy & Practice | Winter 2023

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plan would look like. Destiny Weaver, a former MAHUBE OTWA participant and primary caregiver to two young children, shared, at APHSA’s Economic Mobility and Well-Being Conference in August 2023, how she worked with her family coach to access the CLIMB program to go back to school for her adult diploma, gain her driver’s license, and obtain an internship that provided new and exciting work skills. As a new caregiver younger than age 24, effectively a young parent, Destiny and her coach worked together to continue moving forward and address barriers as they arose. Destiny’s expe riences and perspectives as a former foster youth and a Native American also informed her service plan. Destiny also mentioned a few ways that supportive services made the journey smoother, such as child care payments, providing bus tokens, assisting with installing an Intoxalock® to make transporta tion possible, and helping with GED fees and car repair. Today, Destiny is employed full-time at MAHUBE OTWA as an intake navigator. outcomes. There are three key pillars to One Roof’s success: n Public systems empowered and resourced to work together. In Los Angeles County, the current Board of Supervisors and Chief Executive Officer are strongly supportive of harmonizing county systems. This kind of political will, paired with innovative department leadership, goes a long way. n Philanthropic partners willing to take the long view. Systems change is not a quick fix—it requires sustained thought partnership and resources. In approaching potential partners, it is critical to have deep knowledge of local foundations, their interests, and funding patterns, or to work with someone who does. n Intensive backbone support. The center provides a range of support

“Having the support system from my DEED internship to make school a priority and give me time each week to be able to just go and focus on school while at the same time working with my niece and nephew’s schedule is amazing. Before my internship, I started the process of my Adult Diploma, but never fully com mitted to it. Meeting with my employment coach, as well as my teacher, weekly, really motivated me to keep pushing myself to obtain my Adult Diploma.”

— DESTINY

Strategies for Specific Populations States have a significant opportunity to leverage SNAP E&T to reach and serve specific populations that are likely to qualify for SNAP but currently face unique challenges to meaningfully engage in E&T services. To further support human services agencies and providers in strategic program design, APHSA has published a series of one-page information sheets exploring and offering strategies for how state agencies can plan to better engage the following populations: parents that varies according to initiative and partner needs. For high-stakes initiatives like One Roof, our consul tants play an active role in shaping strategies and supporting ongoing relationships to ensure an effective and sustainable partnership that is well positioned for success. When you pair a forward-looking and innovation-minded county gov ernment with philanthropic partners willing to invest in the long-term process of systems change, you can achieve incredible impact. Through One Roof LA and our collaboration, which has brought together public and private funders to support essential programmatic innovation, along with advocacy, technical assistance, and evaluation support, we are proud to have unlocked unprecedented housing

paying child support, people formerly incarcerated, parents ages 18–24, the aging population, youth transitioning out of foster care, college students, and English-language learners. More infor mation can be found on the SNAP E&T Third-Party Partnerships Resource Clearinghouse under the Strategies for Specific Populations section ( https:// www.snapeandtresources.com ). Khristian Monterroso is a Project Associate for Economic Mobility and Well-Being at the American Public Human Services Association. opportunities for DCFS-involved families and TAY. Reference Notes 1. Rosenberg, R. & Kim, Y. (2017). Aging out of foster care: Homelessness, post secondary education, and employment. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 12 (1), 99–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548 732.2017.1347551 ; Dworsky, A., Gitlow, E., Horwitz, B., & Samuels, G.M. (2019). Missed opportunities: Pathways from foster care to youth homelessness in America. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. http://www.chapinhall.org ; Shah, M. F., Liu, Q., Mark Eddy, J., Barkan, S., Marshall, D., Mancuso, D., Lucenko, B., & Huber, A. (2017). Predicting homelessness among emerging adults aging out of foster care. American Journal of Community Psychology, 60 (1–2), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12098 2. https://www.csh.org/2018/01/ one-roof-leadership-institute

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