Child support and workforce staff were co-located and communicated regularly to quickly connect noncustodial parents to employment services and to modify child support orders. These staff also worked closely with the court system to require noncustodial parents to participate in Parents to Work, review participation, and impose incentives and sanctions when appropriate.

The Office of the Attorney General partnered with the Texas Workforce Commission and Title IV-D court (part of the state child support enforcement system) to administer the program with the goal of helping parents become more responsible parents and preventing them from falling behind on child support payments. NCP Choices EP was a voluntary program that assisted noncustodial parents early after having a child support order established to help them avoid the accumulation of significant child support debt.

CET’s MFSP program provided out-of-school youth with full-time basic education and skills training in a work-like setting to provide participants with hands-on training experience. The program worked with local employers to develop and teach training curriculum and focused on improving the participants’ practical skills to meet the employment demands of the local labor market. Individualized job placement services were also provided to assist participants in securing jobs after the training program.

Master’s-level care managers placed telephone calls to Working toward Wellness participants to encourage them to seek treatment for their depression. The care managers also helped coordinate health appointments, encouraged and monitored follow-through on appointments and treatment plans, and provided supplemental information and counseling. To build rapport and identify potential referral services, care managers also asked participants about their employment status and goals and about barriers to employment, such as child care.

FTP was one of the demonstration projects made possible by Section 1115 waivers to the rules in effect at the time for the AFDC program. These Section 1115 waivers allowed states to test new approaches to advance the objectives of the AFDC program.