Project Overview
The Learn-to-Earn (LTE) Initiative is a large-scale interagency workgroup that was launched to improve coordination across state agencies and ultimately support individuals and families received public assistance move towards a path to self-sufficiency. The initiative focuses on five public assistance programs – the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, State-Aid Public Housing, Temporary Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and subsidized child care. While the programs serve many of the same clients, misaligned eligibility requirements and structural disincentives to work limit agencies’ abilities to serve the whole person or family. Third Sector supported the initiative’s efforts to leverage administrative data to define statewide education, employment, and income outcomes and improve the agencies’ abilities to match individuals and families with the right mix of supports through the development of data use license agreements.
Early Childhood Development
| Project Name | Scope | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reshaping Leadership in Early Childhood: Designing The Small Magic Provider Council in Alabama | County | AL | Complete |
| Third Sector collaborated with Small Magic, an early childhood nonprofit, to establish a Provider Council. This involved creating a sustainable governance framework, establishing decisionmaking protocols, and implementing efficient communication channels. The project successfully built a strategic foundation, outlining a clear path for future implementation and ensuring the cabinet's sustained effectiveness. This council will function as a coordinated body, fostering cross-sector collaboration among local community partners and providers, with the goal of enhancing outcomes for children and families in Jefferson County, Alabama. | |||
| Engaging Local Communities to Strengthen Early Childhood Care and Education Across Minnesota | State | MN | Complete |
| Third Sector partnered with SRI Education to support the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families in its work to strengthen local early childhood care and education systems. Working in seven communities across the state, we launched a series of “Mixed-Delivery Action Labs” that enabled local child care, public health, business, and community leaders to collaboratively develop solutions to child care challenges. Third Sector designed and facilitated these action labs, which incorporated Human Centered Design (HCD) and Community Co-Design practices to help local educators develop systems-strengthening projects, build connections within and across communities, enhance collaboration with state leaders, and implement “quick wins” to immediately help children and families thrive, no matter where they get their child care. | |||
