CLASP is pleased to be part of the Work Support Strategies Initiative (WSS), a multi-state effort to design and test cutting-edge improvements in policy, service delivery, and technology to help low-income working families get and keep the benefits for which they are eligible.

WSS is led by Urban Institute’s Olivia Golden, who was recently tapped to be the new executive director of CLASP, a role she begins in August 2013.  When she arrives, CLASP will become the lead organization for the initiative, working closely with six states, two other national organizations, the Ford Foundation, and three other philanthropic funders. In the first year of WSS, CLASP provided technical assistance to states to strengthen the administration of their child care assistance programs in the context of the broader WSS focus on coordinating across multiple benefit programs.

Hannah Matthews, our director of child care and early education, has contributed a commentary to “New Perspectives on Transforming States’ Health and Human Services,” a publication from the Urban Institute about WSS. Olivia Golden edited the collection and contributed the closing essay. In addition, the publication includes perspectives from ten other authors–national, state, and county leaders, along with research and policy experts–on lessons learned during the first year of WSS. Learn more about how public programs for health insurance, nutrition assistance, and child care can help many low-income working families make ends meet, boosting their chances for long-term success. Read the commentaries here.