CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF FT WORTH INC

Our agency’s overarching goal is to serve 10,000 families on a pathway out of poverty by 2026.

Each Pathway has a unique goal/client outcome:
– Education: Achieving educational credentials that increase earning potential and employment opportunities
– Emotional Resiliency: Developing emotional resiliency – the ability to cope with stress and adversity and the ability to plan
– Employment: Securing employment that provides sufficient income
– Financial Resiliency: Developing financial resiliency – the ability to absorb unexpected financial shocks and crises
– Resource: Solving chronic resource-related barriers (housing, transportation, childcare, food, etc.) and/or providing short-term resource relief and resource connection that helps bridge a temporary gap in basic needs

Within each Pathway, programs measure client outcomes that are tailored to the specific service each program provides. For example, a Financial Resiliency Pathway program will include outcomes such as “increased savings” while our Education Pathway programs track the number of clients who graduate with a post-secondary credential.

By Pathway, our strategies include:

– Education: College persistence programs that pair low-income/nontraditional college students with a personal Navigator who helps them pursue goals and remove barriers to success.

– Emotional Resiliency: Clinically-informed coaching techniques, including motivational interviewing and modeling, to help clients develop problem solving skills, decrease reactivity, increase their sense of self-efficacy, and work on other indicators associated with the ability to cope and the ability to plan.

– Employment: Career development and job readiness programs that help clients navigate the job search process and prepare via resume building, interview prep, and application assistance.

– Financial Resiliency: Financial coaching that gives clients the tools and tactics necessary to build a strong personal safety net and work toward their unique long-term goals.

– Resource: Resource connection and temporary financial assistance to help clients address an urgent/pressing need and leverage available community resources. (Resource connection is integrated with service planning within long-term case management programs.)

We know our role and impact:
Our programs and services are uniquely positioned to help address a variety of key factors that keep families in poverty. As mentioned above, we have identified five main areas in which we have an impact: Education, Employment, Emotional Resiliency, Financial Resiliency, and Resource Stability. These are our Out of Poverty Pathways, forming a multidimensional, research-based framework that clarifies our own role as well as deepens our understanding of poverty as a complex, interconnected system.

We are invested in research and evaluation:
We are committed to continuous learning, drawing on the most current research and ideas in social work, behavioral economics, and other fields.

Our Research and Evaluation department facilitates and tests experimental solutions using a variety of evaluation methods. In addition, we have partnered with the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at the University of Notre Dame to conduct randomized control trials (RCTs) that assess our long-term case management model as well as our college persistence program, Stay the Course® (STC).

We are person-centered, holistic and relationship-based:
Poverty looks different for everyone. We treat every person we serve with dignity and respect, letting their individual experiences, needs, goals, and strengths guide our services. As much as possible, our programs work to holistically assess and meet a client’s needs, understanding the interconnected nature of many barriers.

Recent agency accomplishments include:

– We became the #1 referral source for those calling 2-1-1 for help due to COVID-19.
– We have almost fully transitioned our programs to our new Out of Poverty Pathways framework, which has allowed us to increase our evaluation readiness and lay the groundwork for developmental program evaluation.
– Two years in, the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) for our premiere long-term case management program, Padua, revealed promising results in support of the program’s impact. Our partners at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities found, after 24 months, real improvements in self-sufficiency and labor market outcomes for Padua participants, including:
– Padua participants were 25% more likely to have full-time employment than the control group.
– Monthly earnings for Padua participants were 18% higher after 2 years, compared with the control group.
– As for self-reported health, 43% of Padua participants reported improved health after two years.
– We were recently recognized as one of Fort Worth's Best Places for Working Parents® in recognition of our family-friendly practices that help our employees and our organization thrive.