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Last week, we held our annual APHSA National Human Services Summit in Arlington, Virginia. The event was a huge success, gathering approximately 600 representatives from human services agencies and organizations around the country to discuss emerging national policy issues as well as explore solutions to challenges facing our sector. Thank you to everyone who participated, and we hope to see you again soon at our Economic Mobility & Well-Being Conference, August 25 to 28 in Portland, Oregon. Register today!
We invite you to participate in the APHSA Member and Partner Survey: Charting Our Future. Share your invaluable insights with our new President and CEO, Reggie Bicha, and play a pivotal role in advising our organization on its future work and priorities. Also, at the end of the survey, you can enter your email address for a chance to win one of three $50 Amazon gift cards! The survey will be open until June 26, and responses are completely anonymous.
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Latest Issue of Policy & Practice Magazine
If you haven't already, be sure to check out the spring issue of Policy & Practice magazine, "Moving Human Services Upstream to Proactively Promote Well-Being."
We encourage you to get in touch if you have a story to share with our readers. We are always looking to lift up the voices of our members, partners, individuals with lived experience, and other subject matter experts who are committed to advancing the well-being of individuals, children, families, and communities.
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Disrupt the Dialogue Podcast
The season two finale of Disrupt the Dialogue features special guest Debra Johnson, who is on detail as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Debra shares the life experiences that have taught her why EDIB principles matter—both in the workplace and in our personal interactions. Check out this episode and catch up on all of season one and two—now streaming! Listen on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or go to your favorite streaming platform and search Disrupt the Dialogue.
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The Power of a Trauma-Informed Approach
Discover the transformative power of a trauma-informed approach in the latest post on our blog, The Catalyst. Written by Lofaine Bradford, Organizational Effectiveness (OE) Learning Coordinator, the article pulls from resources provided by the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It provides essential principles that can reshape how human services agencies foster resilience and a culture of empowerment among staff and the communities they serve.
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Enhancing Job-Seeker Success
With the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Doris Duke Foundation, APHSA and the Mississippi Workforce Hub recently released a report with strategies and recommendations to better support families and job seekers in Mississippi. Titled, “Enhancing Job-Seeker Success Through Collaborative Supports and Services,” the report is comprised of bright spots that should be considered for future investments and statewide scaling that could also be used as a model for other states.
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Lived Experience National Scan
APHSA conducted a Lived Experience National Scan (LENS) earlier this year, capturing the successful and emerging practices that engage people with lived experience to drive human services system transformation and modernization. The information collected represents 100 initiatives from 54 agencies located across 30 U.S. states. APHSA is developing a dissemination strategy to share identified best practices for engaging community voices and leveraging lived experience.
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Equip the Flip Leadership Convening
APHSA and Social Current convened with public and private human services leaders recently for our Equip the Flip Initiative. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we aim to create a leadership framework that fosters cross-sector collaboration and community-led solutions for greater impact. During the convening, leaders reviewed and assessed new leadership competencies and applied them to the challenges they face.
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$1M in Funding Enhancements Awarded to CSNS Sites
Members of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports (CSNS) program’s second cohort—Illinois, North Carolina, Caroline County (MD), and San Francisco County (CA)—were awarded additional funding from APHSA and Share Our Strength to deepen the impact of their ongoing initiatives. This funding aims to remove barriers to SNAP and related benefits as well as build processes for community members to co-design service delivery alongside government agencies and partners.
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ACCESS Project Convenes a Customer Advisory Council
APHSA established a Community Advisory Council (CAC) for the Aligned Customer-Centered Ecosystem of Supports & Services (ACCESS) project. The CAC is composed of five individuals who have lived experience across human services, labor, and health programs. They will join the project as strategic consultants working alongside APHSA and the National Association of State and Workforce Agencies (NASWA) to co-create a roadmap toward our desired future state of alignment across human services, labor, and health systems.
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Language Justice at the 2024 Code for America Summit
APHSA's Alexandra Ramos, Culturally Responsive Services Project Associate, and Jessica Maneely, Assistant Director of Process Innovation, presented at this year’s Code for America Summit highlighting findings from the Share Our Strength-funded Language Justice project. They presented alongside panelists Vicky Mendez of Second Harvest Heartland and Michael Nobleza with Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs.
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APHSA Presents at the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference
APHSA's Chloe Green, Manager of Food and Nutrition Services, and Morgan McKinney, Process Innovation Associate for Community Collaboration, presented alongside our strategic consultants, Leanne Auginaush and Joshua Vaughn, at the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference in June. Their panel, "Centering Lived Expertise to Guide Summer EBT Implementation: From Policy to Process to Technology," demonstrated how participatory design can reshape the relationship between government and communities.
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Learning from States: Summer EBT Survey
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research program, APHSA and Urban Institute surveyed state SNAP agencies to capture their experiences and implementation decisions for Summer EBT in 2024 and possible plans for 2025. The survey is helping us to better understand state agency decision-making around implementing the program. Additionally, we'll gain insights into the plan approval process and the flexibilities states could and could not employ. The survey results will inform recommendations on how to improve plan guidance and flexibility in future years.
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Jun 26 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM EST: Dive into the world of generative artificial intelligence (AI) with an APHSA hosted interactive webinar, “Enhancing Your Learning and Development Toolkit with Artificial Intelligence.” Presented by Francesca Robinson, Instructional Designer, and Adrian Saldaña, OE Consultant, participants will learn to streamline their instructional design tasks with the use of no-cost AI chatbots. This includes crafting concise summaries of lengthy subject matter content and developing tailored learning modules. |
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Interested in getting involved at APHSA? Click here to learn more about our affinity groups and peer communities, or reach out to our membership team at memberservice@aphsa.org.
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