Capturing Capacity for Self-Sufficiency: A Multidimensional Framework and Measurement Tools

As part of the Tennessee Opportunity Act (TOA), the Tennessee Department of Human Services launched the Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative, awarding $25 million grants to seven community initiatives to support low-income families' economic mobility and well-being. The pilots provide families with direct services and connections to existing services within their communities. The service mix and structure of the pilots vary, but they include similar components such as care coordination and coaching, employment support, financial support, and family or other individual support. TOA also established a rigorous evaluation to inform future policy and programs. The evaluation aimed to create a state-level learning laboratory to produce evidence on program effectiveness and implementation, enabling Tennessee to enhance human services delivery.

This MEF resource includes recommendations for a set of outcome measures to more fully describe the impact of services on individual and family capacity for self-sufficiency, as well as use of safety net programs. This resource was a result of nearly 300 sources and input from five experts from the field. While these recommendations were developed to support the TOA pilot evaluations, findings may be applied more broadly to efforts to promote capacity for self-sufficiency among families with low-income.