Online Event Archive Recorded: January 21, 2026
In the second of our 5-part series covering the essentials of SNAP E&T, NCRC’s Economic Mobility team share how community-based organizations evaluate and assess the alignment of your training programs and support services with SNAP E&T requirements as well as the capacity of their current workforce development staff.
We walk through the SNAP E&T work components and reimbursable support services. Then we assess if your staff capacity and tracking systems position your organization for success as a third-party partner. This includes reviewing the administrative infrastructure needed to successfully operate a SNAP E&T program such as participant tracking systems, service documentation requirements, and eligibility verification processes.
Speakers
Jonathan Osei, Principal, Adage Ventures LLC, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Simon Want, Economic Mobility Specialist, NCRC
Brandee Davis-Douglas, Director, Economic & Financial Mobility, United Way of Greater Nashville
Transcript:
NCRC video transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors. They are lightly edited for style and clarity.
Osei 0:07
Good afternoon, everybody.
Today, we’re excited to be sharing our SNAP E&T series webinar on assessing capacity infrastructure and staff requirements for SNAP Employment and Training Success. So just a little bit of housekeeping before we get started. So we have our code of conduct that applies to all of our gatherings. But if you have any questions, feel free to raise your hand with that raise your hand button in the zoom, and then one of us will acknowledge you, and perhaps have coming off mute or even send your questions to the chat. I know this is a relatively small group, so it might be actually a little bit more engaging too, so if you have any questions, please just ask away.
So just want to acknowledge some of the challenges that the ecosystem is facing right now, whether it be the funder and partner priority shifts, there’s more with less, conundrum, uncertainty, existential threats. All of these are like pretty serious and critical challenges that the whole like nonprofit ecosystem is really facing right now. And a lot of organizations who are doing this work of workforce development and economic development work, and just want to acknowledge that these are some of the things that are really affecting how we do this work right now. And also acknowledge that this is really an opportunity for us to think creatively about how we do this work and support participants and support communities despite all of these things going on. So hopefully this opportunity for folks to really like, “Oh, this is a clear opportunity to build out our programming and to like, strengthen some of our existing programming when it comes to serving participants through workforce development, career readiness programming.”
So here’s our agenda for today. As you know, this is, as you may know, this is the second webinar of our five-part webinar series on SNAP Employment and Training. And we’re really excited to welcome and introduce a couple of folks that we’ve brought together, recap some of the things we discussed on this first webinar in the series. Discuss the objectives for the day. Give a little insight onto what it takes for third-party providers to build their organizational capacity. Mention a tool, provide some actual strategies, and even have a guest who can field some questions. And hopefully we’ll support with questions as well, and we’ll talk a little about some next steps in the upcoming webinar, in the third webinar of our series.
Well, I’m Jonathan Osei work resolvement consultant with NCRC, and founder and principal of Adage ventures LLC, and I have over nine plus years of work resolment experience In the context of both community and national nonprofits, dedicated economic mobility advocate, working at the intersection of government, private sector, nonprofits and philanthropy to really modernize jobs, expand resource access and foster financial stability. We’re excited to have on the economic Project Specialist, economic mobility product specialist, Simon Wang as well, and I’ll pass the mic.
Wang 3:48
Yeah, thanks, Jonathan. Absolutely, so very happy to be moving into the second session of this series that hopefully is going to help everyone walk through the steps that are required to get involved as a third-party partner in SNAP E&T. We know it can be convoluted, and there’s lots of steps and lots of requirements. And so hoping to demystify some of that today and build off of the introduction that we had a couple of months back, which is now on our website. So super excited for today, Jonathan. And yeah, feel free to put in the chat, drop questions, use the Q and A feature. We have a smaller group today, so don’t be afraid to be interactive and to interrupt us and ask questions. And yeah, thanks, Jonathan.
Osei 4:31
Right on, right on. And then I want to introduce our special guest, Brandee Davis, who is the director economic and financial mobility at United Way of Greater Nashville, and also a SNAP E&T guru and administrator in the state of Tennessee. And I’ll just pass the mic to Brandee to give a little bit more introduction and excited, really, to have her.
Davis-Douglas 4:57
Thank you, Jonathan. Good afternoon, it looks like, time is flying. Brandee Davis-Douglas, as Jonathan mentioned, I’m the Director of Economic and Financial Mobility here at United Way. So I oversee all the financial stability and economic mobility work here. Some of those programs consist of the voluntary Income Tax Assistance Program, the SNAP Employment and Training program, where we serve as an intermediary statewide for the Department of Labor and the Department of Human Services, and also oversee the Financial Empowerment Center. Long history of state, local and federal government, grant work, project management work, lot of experience in scaling up programs and just demonstrating capacity and sustainability over time. So thank you guys for having me. If you have any pointed questions, just let me know.
Osei 5:57
Yes, please bring all the pointed questions, everybody. This this group, this smaller group, I think, is like the perfect sort of environment for that, too, as well. Well, here’s a quick overview of SNAP Employment and Training, or E&T, as we say, for short. So it’s a federal program, administered by USDA, specifically, the Food and Nutrition Service that helps SNAP participants gain skills, training and work experience. It connects all those individuals who are interested in who are enrolled into education, job readiness and supportive services that ultimately reduce their barriers to work. And it promotes long term economic stability by really providing those holistic supports that along the way to that career stability. And it ultimately is a tool to help community-based organizations expand their reach and strengthen their existing workforce programs. So you may be wondering what makes a SNAP E&T third-party provider? Here’s a couple of bullet points that we’llpoint to it, but we’ll talk a little more about capacity in a couple. So a third-party provider is an organization delivering SNAP E&T services on behalf of the state or in partnership with the state, using existing workforce or training programs to serve SNAP participants. What really makes a strong third-party provider is mission alignment, so having intentional workforce training or programs already built out the capacity to track those services and costs, so whether it be the data capacity, the staffing capacity, and then the ability to offer the training and supportive services so the holistic supports that ultimately can help provide participants with the necessary supports to get to that eventual job, career, educational goals, and then a stable non federal funds for the 50-50 match. So really being prepared fiscally to be a third-party provider.
Okay, so now, now we’ve spoken through some of the things, like briefly did a brush on SNAP E&T and what it is, our objectives for today are really to, like, talk through and identify these core processes, like tracking participation, delivering service and verifying SNAP E&T eligibility. We’ll get more into some of these two along the way, as we go through this five-part series on SNAP E&T. We’re also here to assess existing systems, tools and workflows supporting SNAP E&T activities, really understanding that current capacity, and then identify capacity gaps and infrastructure staffing that may limit program effectiveness. And then perhaps we’ll get into some actual solutions. Like, we may not do some solution hearing on this call, but like, we’ll at least, like, provide you with a couple tools and a framework to really think about how you might solve some of those gaps as well. So this is a very key picture. I think this has circulated around for many years. Like what it really takes to be in SNAP E&T alignment, as you can see, it’s having the right participants, having the necessary funding, having the correct services and having the correct capacity. And then in the blue outer rim, you can’t quite see it, that’s like understanding your state context. That’s really a key as well. And the center is a 50/50, third-party provider, or third-party partner. And once you have each of these buckets in alignment, right, you’re. You may be in position to really be a third-party provider. We’ll talk a little bit more about the funding on in our next webinar. But today we’re going to really focus on capacity and then the services piece. So when it comes to services, there’s three key types of services. So we have the components, which are these, like very broad categories of employment, treatment activities, defined by the Food and Nutrition Act. We have the case management, which is that guidance and support during participant during participation in those components. And then we’ll dive a little bit deeper into each of these three types too, as well. And then we have the supportive services, or the participant reimbursement, is what we call it, but supportive services, so they’re the wraparound services, holistic services to increase access to participation. And these are what can be reimbursed by the state for administering and providing to participants.
So when it comes to what third-party providers must do to really meet that service alignment, they have to write at least one of the components have that case management, and then have access to supportive service, either themselves or through partners, so being able to provide those supportive services. And we think of supportive service something in like transportation, childcare, training, things like that. And when you think of case management, we’re thinking about that one on one support, the coaching, and then the components, John this next slide are like supervised job search, job search training, the education, job retention, workfare, work experience or self employment training. Like these are like a base for, like, existing offerings that your organization must have to be eligible to be a third-party provider. These are essentially what make you into a workforce agency, and like, having these offerings are what make you a workforce agency, a workforce provider. So when it comes to assessing your workforce development capacity, sort of mentioned three key pieces to think about, just from like an operational standpoint. So evaluating your current programming, those staffing models and the different roles, assessing the staff skills that your staff currently has, training and then a SNAP E&T readiness, so really preparing your team to really engage in SNAP E&T, because you have already built up an existing and successful program, SNAP E&T as something, as a tool to really like build your base of your program, and then understanding the workload, supervision and sustainability considerations as well. So how do you make this program last from a compliance standpoint and really being integrated into the services that you already offering? And to quote Seattle Jobs Initiative, Kathy Metcalf once said, she says, ‘SNAP ENT is ultimately a layaway program, so helping you to reimburse those supportive services that you’ve already offered.’ So you’re investing in your participants, and then utilizing your capacity that you have to reimburse through state funds, those supportive service that you’ve offered up to the participants. Okay, so here’s one of the tools. It’s a capacity assessment tool for readiness. Is there a certain amount of individuals that we must must be served annually? So this is one of those questions that’s going to be very specific to your state context and your partnership with your state administrator, or your administrating body like and this is something that you as a third party provider when you eventually become a third-party provider, eventually become a third-party provider, can really, like have an intentional discussion about, I think this might actually be a place for even Brandee to chime in to talk specifically about that question as well.
Davis-Douglas 14:34
Sure. Great question, Vanessa. Honestly, what we do here is encourage partners to start small, so we don’t want you to reinvent the wheel. And usually scaling up shows much more long-term success than starting big, because starting small allows you to kind of work out the kinks. So we have partners, we have small, Mom and Pop type workforce development partners to larger partners that are well known in different industry sectors that are offering kind of the full gamut of different credentialing and apprenticeship, skilled Up program, skilled trade programs. So no, there is not a specific amount served that you as an organization needs to serve annually. However, as Jonathan mentioned, sometimes those are conversations that take place on the front lines with your state agency who’s kind of managing the program or administering the program, as long as it aligns with their goals. So I hope that answers your question in a roundabout way, but we have partners here that serve annually 10 clients where they are touching like young adults that are aging out of foster care. So they’re serving a small amount of individuals, and then we have partners that are serving 720 individuals because their programs and their organization are much larger. Yeah, I hope that helped to add some context. Thanks. Jonathan.
Osei 16:15
Right on. Thanks, Brandee and great, Vanessa. So here’s one of the tools that was developed in partnership with her red if Seattle Jobs Initiative Center for Employment Opportunities and Fair Start created. This is one of the great capacity assessment tools. We’ll make sure to drop in the chat and also include it in follow up after this webinar. But it’s really a good tool to, like, do a bit of that mapping to your current capacity and really assess, like, what your staff is currently able to do. There’s also another tool specifically on that component side too, to really just do a checklist of see if you already are currently operating one of those components. And this is really about just seeing whether you’re small or large you have the correct fit to even begin. So when it comes to mapping, I’ll use the frontline staff example. So frontline staff might include case managers, employment specialists, intake coordinator, job developer, or just the skills transfers that occur. So really, there’s a few potential SNAP E&T functions that any of these frontline staff can really be especially effective at completing.
Whether it’s the wraparound support so the actual case management, which is a core function of their existing role as already so, which includes that support service coordination, and then also case noting, which is a key part of the delivery of those frontline services. Then there’s that initial eligibility screening. So when it comes to SNAP E&T having that, there’s already some level of intake and screen that you might be doing as an organization right now. So really, including that SNAP screening as a key priority to ensure that folks who are already SNAP eligible and SNAP participants can be SNAP E&T participants as well and really see if they’re appropriate for the services that are offered, and then the ability to verify or conduct a process of verifying their eligibility and understanding whether they’re a good fit. And then the job placement services and employer partnerships, which is the services that sort of really help to get that next level for participants, and also show a lot of the impact that your organization is having in connecting folks to job opportunities. And then the employment skills training, so whether it be the soft or hard skills, really preparing folks for the workforce. But this is like a common example of like a frontline staff in the roles. And in the next slide, you’ll see the broader mapping tool. And this checklist really covers the staffing roles, their workload capacity, the data tracking and reporting systems, the service delivery workflows, compliance and documentation readiness, like, really it’s like 11 pages, and I think it’s a pretty good resource for waiting through the complexities of potentially adding SNAP E&T or becoming a third-party provider of SNAP E&T. You. So this is really a good tool to identify where there is room for your current programming to grow in terms of its alignment with the SNAP E&T model, to prioritize and sort out whether you’re either a good fit now or maybe there’s something for you in the future, and then maybe align some of the systems that you have internally to better support the third-party provider onboarding process. So would the state agency send us her for or we identify you? Thanks, Vanessa, for the question. So I can’t speak broadly to this, but I’ll pass the mic to Brandee, because Brandee might have some context specifically for Tennessee that she could speak to as well.
Davis-Douglas 20:58
Sure. So it can work both ways. Vanessa, you got some great questions this morning, keeping me on my toes in the chat and paying attention to Jonathan throughout the presentation. So Tennessee operates through direct referral systems. So the state agency, the Department of Human Services, their case managers, as they are determining eligibility real time with individuals. They go through a quick snippet of SNAP E&T and if individuals work, registrants, of course, who are required, based on policy, to look for a job and become employed, agree to employment after training and educational services. So they send direct referrals to partner agencies, sometimes through the American Job Centers, and sometimes directly through third-party partners. The way Tennessee works currently, we work twofold. So the State Agency, Department Human Services, sends direct referrals through the American Job Centers, and then we have a third-party partner model, and what that looks like is reverse referrals. So that means agencies such as yourself, Vanessa, you have individuals that are already walking through your doors. You’re already in the community, and that way, you send the referrals through whatever process your state agency has to them to determine eligibility. Once eligibility has been confirmed, then you are free and clear to onboard them and enroll them into the SNAP Employment and Training program. So it’s really, honestly based on your state and how they roll out its SNAP E&T program, because all states do it differently. Some simply do it through direct referral process, because you have a state agency that really, pretty much handles the administering and the management of the SNAP Employment and Training program, and then you have some states that do a two fold similar to Tennessee, where we do a third-party partner model, but we also offer those services through our American Job Centers. Was that helpful?
And if I may, Jonathan, I want to piggyback on the first question that Vanessa asked. I thought about this after I kind of wrapped it up. What we do here in Tennessee, just as an example, when we are having conversations with partners that are interested in becoming third-party partners, while we assess their capacity based on the programs that they currently offer, we ask for a percentage of individuals based on that population that are receiving SNAP benefits or that may be eligible staff for SNAP benefits. So for instance, if they’re serving already in a skilled trade program that they’re offering, that you may be offering through your organization, and you’re already touching 100 individuals annually that are coming in and out. Based on that current 100 individuals, what is the percentage? Because I’m sure you’re already doing screening questions prior to enrolling them into your program. So you’re already asking some of the direct questions around, are you receiving any type of government assistance? What does that look like? And that can kind of give you a better idea of how much of your population you’re already currently serving outside of SNAP that may be receiving SNAP food benefits. And so if it’s 10% then, then you would agree to serve 10 people in that particular component. But you may be, you may have another arm of a training program, or let’s say, job search training, that you’re currently already offering in a different gamut of some of your workforce development programs, and let’s say all of them are 50% of the 100 are SNAP eligible because you already confirmed that through their self-attesting or whatever processes that you currently have in place, and so you are able to build capacity in different components versus just offering one component. So you may offer job search training, you may offer Work-Based Learning. You may also offer some vocational arm let’s say CDL or CNA training, and you got different pipelines of individuals that are coming through all three of those programs based on those pipelines and based on your assessment that you’re currently your intake and assessment screening processes that you’re already doing for those particular programs, you can identify what the population looks like as it relates to SNAP food benefits, which will give you a better idea when it comes to projecting and estimating how to propose what your program and what your partnership will look like under SNAP E&T.
Osei 25:48
Awesome, awesome. And folks, as I said, this is a smaller group, so ask those pointed questions. Please, please. So just one more point on this SNAP E&T staff mapping tool, so I’m dropping it in the chat, but essentially, it’s a tool to help you identify strengths and gaps, prioritize some near term improvements and align to those internal systems so readiness could look like dedicated staff time towards SNAP E&T participants, a clear intake and referral process, the ability to track participation hours and outcomes and then establish documentation reporting practices.
So I, I think this really positions us to, like, really think through some of the actionable strategies, and to what I would say is like open up a little bit for questions, too, about gaps that folks may already have identified, but also acknowledge some gaps that may be existing with your current programming in terms of being eligible and being ready to be a third party provider. So yeah, so the key steps to move from assessment to participation, so, like, now that you’ve identified these gaps, now you might have used that mapping tool, like, like, what’s next? Really getting to that what’s next, whether it be the lining of staff and current training and the supportive service with the state or county plans, really understanding those state or county plans and being in communication and then just having some strategies to strengthen partnerships and maximize that community impact, I think, really position you well, but we can get to sort of broad level, actual strategies and some of the weedy ones as well. So and you’ll notice when I the strengthening partnerships for impact piece, like, there’s a reason why Brandee specifically is on this call. Like, engage state or county administrators early, really having an understanding of who they are, like know your people. Really understand that plan and set a shared expectation when internally for your referrals and reporting and communication, and externally, communicate that with those partners that you’re working with as well, and then just leverage those partners to extend services and reach more participants like ultimately, this is about shifting opportunities for your your community, in your region, and it really starts with like, how you prepare your organization to serve the participants, and if you’re already doing the work well, like, the third party provider model really is a way to, like, bolster those efforts that you’re already doing right now. Okay, so we’ll mention a couple popular gaps, and then some practical strategies. And like, some of these are a little more weedsy. Some of these, I would say, like, they might be just like the nature of doing the work. So please, please feel free to ask questions, and we could dive deep and sort of parse some things.
So, next slide, sorry about that. So maybe you have no dedicated SNAP E&T lead. So this could be you essentially deputizing somebody who has, like, strong compliance, strong grants management, contract management abilities, and figuring out a way to, like, provide shared responsibilities, maybe to their other tasks and other responsibilities they’ve already have in their in the current state of the organization. So it also could be limited or manual tracking systems. So like, and this is really thinking about whether the organization, small or large, like what it means to like, adjust, what it means to shift and. It means to rethink those tracking systems. So maybe it’s starting simple with your tracking tools and templates, maybe going back to the drawing boards a couple times. Like those data conversations are, they’re gonna take some time to really iron out. So just be willing to, like, keep going back to the drawing board a couple times, and then maybe it’s unclear intake and referral process. So really documenting basic intake and referral steps. I’m a big standard operating procedures person, so get you that SOP, get ready to really, like, put pen to paper about what you already are actively doing, and maybe you can identify some gaps from there. Like, Oh, wait, this doesn’t make sense. Or wait, this is an unnecessary step, like, so it’s really about who you’re centering and these processes. So from an organizational standpoint, how are you building out systems that work for your team, that work for participants, that work with your community partners as well? Like, there’s a lot of different stakeholders to think about, but it helps to think about that early. But build something that could be sustainable by adjusting as you go to as well, And then the staff training gaps. I think it’s from my experience, it’s been really helpful to have, like, strong state administrators in this part, I think, specifically, and also being connected to a good national partner. It helps as well to like to really help you understand. So obviously, NCRC is is running a few different communities of practice on SNAP E&T, offering webinars, but like a strong state administrator, may set up intentional time or intentional spaces for you to build that understanding of how to really work through the SNAP Employment and Training like and I’m talking about like deep weeds of levels of like compliance. So they utilize those existing state guidance and peer learning opportunities. And then another good question from Vanessa, I see, ‘are participants required to report weekly to verify compliance participation? Do we sanction if non-compliance?’ Okay, so this is going to be heavily dependent on your state, and your your or your county, or your your context that you’re existing in. So whether it’s like, are you talking about, like, job search logs, are you talking about ensuring the correct usage of supportive service, like, maybe a little more context? Okay, yes, um,
Davis-Douglas 32:40
If I may jump in.
Osei 32:41
Yeah.
Davis-Douglas 32:42
So participants aren’t required to report anything. Honestly, it’s your responsibility as the provider to follow up, as required by FNS, every 30 days, not monthly, because months change. So you may have 28 days, like in February, you know, and so on and so forth, and 31 days in another month, but every 30 days, as a provider, your case managers are responsible for following up with the individual, and that’s just really to assess, like, how is training going? Are there any other barriers that have come up to remain in compliance? But it’s not the participants responsibility to call you and say, I’ve done X, Y and Z. It’s the other way around. I hope that answers your question.
“So this is different from traditional, traditional welfare transition programs.” Can you give me some context on welfare, transitional, transition programs, trying to make sure I understand. Sorry, Vanessa, we’re making you work this morning.
Osei 34:13
We may be able to, we may be able to add her in as a to speak, if, if she…
Davis-Douglas 34:19
Yeah, required to come into the office weekly, amount of hours, whether training, job search, etc. So again, this is based on your state. So every state’s policy looks different when it comes to SNAP. Now you know a parameter FNS and the Fed set a parameter for what policy looks like for the administrative entity to roll out SNAP benefits. However, as it relates to SNAP E&T and in some states, those processes look a little different. So like here in Tennessee, there used to be a. Day and time where individuals had to record when they did job search training to remain eligible. So I want to make sure we’re not mixing apples with oranges, because you have a population of a bonds able bodied adults who are required to show proof in order to continue their benefits outside of that three-month time period. And so to that regard, yes, they will be required to show documentation to support them continuing to receive those benefits. But the workforce development arm looks fairly different. Again, the responsibility falls on the provider to ensure that the program and the individual remains in compliance, because it’s our job as providers to help lead the way for them to be successful. And participants don’t know how to do that, but from a food benefit standpoint, and I believe that’s what we’re talking about, a little bit, they are required, an able body is is required to demonstrate that they’ve done all the things to continue to receive their benefits that’s totally different from either E&T part, the Employment and Training Part. Was that helpful? Okay, thanks, Vanessa.
Osei 36:17
Right on. Right on. Vanessa, we appreciate you asking some great questions. Okay, okay, Brandee, so I have a question for you. So what are some popular gaps that you’ve seen working with third-party providers in your role, or like, or what’s like? One that stands out the most, one that is like, maybe the easiest, lowest hanging fruit to address, and it’s sometimes dealt with.
Davis-Douglas 36:39
That’s a great question. Jonathan, I think the popular gaps that you name are dead on, one that we see a lot with E&T programs that are definitely scaling up or showing that momentum is partners like reinventing the wheel. So they there’s an attempt to create a program that fits into all the regulation and and policy and compliance requirements in order to be a SNAP E&T partner. And so they are tweaking and changing their internal processes and practical processes to fit into SNAP E&T to be eligible for the thing. And so that’s what we walk away from. We do not encourage that at all. We don’t want you to reinvent the wheel. You’re already doing the work as a workforce development partner, as the provider or the intermediary, it’s our job to figure out where you best fit and to assist you in scaling up and growing so don’t reinvent the wheel. Again, we see a lot of partners and providers that create programs that sit outside of what they’re they are being successful in, and it’s almost like this is a whole new thing, SNAP E&T so we’re going to push the people over here SNAP, they go through this track record when traditionally, your processes look totally different. So that’s a huge gap, and a misconception with a lot of providers, is that okay? Well, we offer workforce development training opportunities programs. We say it’s we name it this, but in your state plan, it says this, so maybe we need to change it to this, so it can look like this, so it can look like the thing to do the thing. And that’s where you find a lot, you know, inconsistencies, a lot of gaps and transparency and communication, a lot of huge compliance risk and red flags, because you are creating something to fit into something when our job as the provider is to figure out where you best fit, so that you’re not reinventing the wheel and doing something. We want partners that are already demonstrating success, that are already investing into these individuals in their community, these potential participants in their communities and their programs are already standard, for the lack of a better word, so we don’t want you to reinvent anything in order for it to fit. It’s our jobs to help kind of guide you and lead the way to figure out where you best fit, and to really help you make minor, if any, tweaks in order to be in compliance with the E&T part versus the WIOA piece. So let’s say you’re touching Title One, folks, but you’re also touching SNAP E&T, folks. And so there’s a lot of cross-pollination going on here and a lot of shared successes that are going on here. Most of the individuals that qualify for Title One also are receiving SNAP benefits. So how do we leverage that and braid those dollars so that Title One is paying for tuition and maybe SNAP E&T is covering all the supportive services, like based on your budget, based on your agreement, and based on what the model is or the practices is within your state that’s how you can better assess, like, how to scale your program, or how to share the successes versus, you know, cherry-picking who should go one way and who should go another way.
Osei 40:15
Amazing, yeah, like that. That’s awesome. Really speaking to how SNAP E&T can help bolster an existing program and really strengthen and the supports that you already provide to the participants that you served. Okay, so one of the questions I have, I’m not quite sure where folks are at in their SNAP E&T journey, or even their workforce development agency community organization journey, but like, what do you say to that organization that’s a little bit newer to the work of like, building out a workforce development or career readiness or programming? Like, what do you say to them when, if they come to show interest in potentially working with you to build a SNAP E&T third-party provider partnership?
Davis-Douglas 41:03
Definitely want to make sure that their workforce services are in alignment with our state plan. And do they which component do they actually fit in? Again, every state looks fairly differently. They roll their programs out differently. And what is beneficial to the provider, so that we are not layering work and providing extra responsibility than they’re already doing. So, figuring out, like, where the sweet spot is to onboard them, ensuring that they have identified and have adequate non-federal funding set aside, and really driving home what success is. Because success to your organization may look totally different to what success means to me, to United Way and to the program overall. So really understanding the SNAP plan, understanding the SNAP E&T plan, the state plan, understanding what the state agency’s expectations are, understanding if they can meet those internal deadlines. Because keep in mind, as an intermediary, you have to filter parameters for your internal processes and deadlines in order to meet the state’s required deadlines. And again, it just kind of goes up the chain. So the state is required to report to FNS, and then that folds down. So finding the sweet spot so that we are not creating bottlenecks for providers. We’re not creating levers of stress because we’re asking them to do more than they typically do is some of the things that we kind of think about while we are assessing if this is a good fit, because you may have great programs, doesn’t mean you’ll be a great SNAP E&T program, I mean partner. So there, there’s a difference there, you may have great programs, great successes. You may be serving 500-plus individuals every year, but if you can’t meet those administrative pieces, then it doesn’t work for any of us.
Osei 43:13
Okay, okay, so conversely, then, okay. So what do you say to the powerhouse organization that is, they’ve done WIOA, they’ve done this, they’ve done this, they’ve done that. They receive a lot of funding, and they’re interested in adding on another potential funding source, or via the reimbursement model. In this case, what do you say to that organization?
Davis-Douglas 43:33
Again, what does your non-federal funding, your unrestricted dollars, look like? Because you named a lot of different organization that receive federal dollars, yeah, and so really identifying and ensuring that we are not duplicate, being duplicate love. You know what I’m trying to say? I know I couldn’t get that to roll off my tongue. But ensuring I would slow walk a partner that is really, really big, because they have money coming in from our gamuts and so in to ensure that we’re not putting them in a compromising position, and that we are clearly articulating what the requirements are to be a SNAP E&T partner to receive those reimbursements on the back end will be a very candid conversation that we would need to have, because, again, you have title one, you have, you know, SNAP E&T, and then there are a number of other federal funding sources that support workforce development trainings really just to ensure that those dollars either they’ve lost this identity and it’s no longer considered federal funding at some point, there are some programs that does that. They are pass through dollars, and by the time they get to you, they are considered unrestricted dollars. Don’t want to go down a rabbit hole, but there are a lot of circumstances where that happens, and so ensuring that if that’s a situation, we need to clearly be able to follow the trail to ensure that we are not using federal dollars because it’s a huge audit finding that’s for the state, which again, flows down to the partners and the intermediary who’s kind of managing those relationships. So that’s what I would say. I think it’s exciting to know that they understand the landscape of workforce development. They understand what those goals are. They understand how to identify different participants and what arm and what pathway they need to go to, and where there are opportunities for co-enrollment, which is huge, because you’re braiding dollars and you’re leveraging dollars against other programs, which is great because it helps you grow all of your programs across the board. But again, just that federal funding stream and ensuring that it’s non-federal dollars, and what’s the difference between restricted and unrestricted? That gets lost on some folk.
Osei 45:49
Right on. Okay, okay, so you’re jumping ahead a little bit. We’re gonna talk about that’s our next webinar. But no, but the point is, the point is not lost. I’m hearing a piece really around, like mission and alignment and like, what people call scope creep. So like, making sure that your organization has a very clear scope of why they’re doing the work before, like, instead of chasing the dollars. And I know, like, chasing dollars feels like the work of a regular nonprofit, especially now, so it’s just like a little bit of a warning to folks like, this isn’t one of these opportunities to chase dollars. This is like, to like, bolster up what you already have. Yes, absolutely. Okay, so thank you for answering those questions. I now kind of want to open up to like, the audience. I know we’ve had a couple folks chime in via the audience, but like, one of the things that is like, very key to alignment outside this capacity. We spoke about funds. How many services and capacities we’ve mentioned funds lightly. We’re not getting too deep into that until our next webinar, but the state context that that ring around all of this that really helps the third-party provider to be successful. So I think what have you found in your role as, like a state administrator has been like, just the most beneficial for folks to just come to the door with like or then also, what do you see is, like, a key part of your role in like, helping third-party providers to be successful, right? Those, those are the two questions I’m really thinking of, but really opening it up to the audience as well, to chime in too.
Davis-Douglas 47:39
I don’t see anything coming in. I think my role, from an intermediary, nonprofit provider standpoint, a part of our role is, as you said, to ensure alignment, ensure that partners that are coming to the table have the intention of providing the necessary skill and also warm handoff to employment. So the goal is to train them up and get them employed. And so we have experienced some providers that provide great services. I mean, they’re doing all the things, but what they’re what they are very clear about is it’s not their responsibility to ensure the individual gets a job. Well, that’s a that’s a red flag for me, because the intention and the goal for the program is to scale them up and help them give them a warm handoff to an employer. So those employer relationships are very important. So when providers or potential partners knock on our doors and want to learn more about the program. One of the things that we asked through, through our assessment is, what does your employer pipeline looks like? Do you have direct relationships, indirect relationships? Are they pen to paper through MOU agreement, you know, contractual, or are you guys just friends and they are willing to hire, you know, we need to see a strong commitment that these employer pipelines are willing and ready to hire individuals fresh off the press, once they’ve completed training. If there isn’t an employer pipeline, you may not be a good fit, because our requirement as it relates to FNS, and then our, our direct partner, our contractual partner, which is the Department of Labor. We are required, we have KPIs that we have to meet, and not that, you know, this is just another data number that we’re checking off the box, but we are really ill equipped and participants to train them and not hand walk them to an employer to get them onboarded for a job, we have to remember that most of the individuals that we serve need the skill, but also don’t have the social and the other life skills to help them retain the job, not to mention walk into an interview and, you know, and kill it and actually get offered the job. And so it’s our responsibility as partners that we are holding their hand throughout that process to ensure that we’ve landed them in the right space based on that skilled trade program, based on whatever their credentialing program look like that they went through to demonstrate success, because you can have success through successful completion, but if that employment number isn’t one in one, that’s not a success.
Yeah, I hope I’m not too forward, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a skill ’em and to get them employed. And so without those employer relationships and that pipeline, essentially, you’re just training people and giving them a certificate of completion.
Osei 50:49
Yep, yep at the end of the day, like you’re a workforce development organization, a workforce agency, a workforce community lever, you’re supposed to be helping to develop the workforce, like, if it’s not, lead to jobs really, really questioning what the purpose of your program is. Brandee, appreciate you providing a little bit more context. I don’t know the state context is really, I think what helps to, like, prepare folks to really, as you said, walk through this journey of becoming a SNAP E&T third-party provider really want to open up the floor once again, to additional questions. I have more questions. So if y’all are, if y’all have any more questions…
Okay, so one of the questions that I had too so specifically in reference to the state context, is like responsiveness of the state. Like, if I call, will you answer? That’s kind of what I’m wondering. Like, the level of like engaging as a third-party provider, like, is there a certain level of like preparation that requires to engage with you in the first place, or do you reach out first like, how does this partnership really build?
Davis-Douglas 52:21
It should happen twofold. So, you know, the state agency develops the strategy. They develop the state plan. They pretty much set the parameters of what they would like their employment and training program, SNAP Employment and Training program to look like. And then it is the provider or the intermediary or the partner’s responsibility to articulate that real time with serving within the community and really championing that. What makes of a great partnership and alignment, just across the board, is transparency and open communication. We understand that government agencies are also reporting to the federal agencies, and thinking about the scope of that from a national standpoint, that takes time, and so you’re not going to get a quick response oftentimes when you’re working directly with your state agency. But the intermediary piece allows you to have a buffer with your partners, because they are the experts at the table. They already have the community relationships, the network to build upon to provide that real time hand coddling or hand-holding support that some of the new providers may need as it relates to policy. And so, you know, our government is, you know, is bureaucratic. So there’s a lot of bureaucracy that goes on with policy. And how do we say the thing? Or we don’t want to say it directly, so we’ll round about say it. And so that’s where the role of the intermediary and the partners come in for us, as you know, United Way being the intermediary, we do all the monitoring of our partners, you know, our network, our model is handled by us. So all the technical assistance, all the monitoring, all the training, ensuring that we are up to speed on policy change and possible policy shifts and understanding how to be more responsive and quickly responding to individuals when it comes to participants, what’s allowable, what’s not allowable, and things like that. Most of those parameters are already set within your state plan, and so understanding what the state stake is and what their direction is, will help the intermediary, such as ourselves, be able to provide that, that timely response. Sometimes, as things shift though between the relationship with the intermediary and the state agencies, not to mention when you’re in a state, when you’re dealing with two state agencies, sometimes that kind of bottlenecks and slows things down. We know leadership changes often, transitions happen, and so giving everyone at the table a little grace, but also having enough keen and knowledge with yourself and your team, your staff boots on the ground to be able to provide that hands on support when needed, makes for a seamless process. But I don’t think any state is perfect, especially within this program, because of the systemic barriers that already exist that they are already maneuvering around. You know what I mean? And some of it is at no fault of their own. However, we’re all just kind of in it, trying to make the best of it. I hope that kind of answers your question.
Osei 55:47
No, definitely answers the question. I think you sort of paint the larger ecosystem that, like, it’s like, we’re busy, but we’re listening, but we’re busy. Like, I sort of get that dynamic as it shows up in the work that y’all are doing. Well, first and foremost, I want to thank you for taking something out your busy schedule to be here. It really shared a lot of like, key insights that really helped folks understand SNAP E&T from both that third-party provider perspective as like, what it takes to become one, and then also being that state administrator, being that intermediary who helps folks to navigate becoming that third-party provider. One thing I’m wondering from you, I guess, before we wrap, is just like, is there any insights they provide these 10 folks, or these five, these six folks, this this group of folks with and then even to a larger community, because this, this will be recorded as well, so folks can watch it as well that they should take in mind and keep in mind when they go on their journey to become a third-party provider.
Davis-Douglas 56:59
Ask questions for sure, ask all the questions. If it doesn’t make sense to you, definitely ask the question. No question is a silly one if you are if you don’t quite understand or can’t articulate, reach out. Ask for help. Make those relationships. Build those relationships with your state agency. Visit the FNS website or your state agency’s website to get a better idea of what their intention and their mission is as it relates to their goals and plans for the SNAP Employment and Training. Kind of get a wrap your head around what their processes is when it comes to what processes are as relates to how to determine eligibility, what compliance look like. And some kind of, you know, understand some of the hoops that you may have to jump through based on its current state within the ecosystem. Because, again, each state looks fairly different. Some have case management systems. Some do things manually. So, you know, just understanding what it’s going to take and what a team needs to look like for you in order to build and scale up your program over time. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Stay strong and be an expert in what you know. Do what you’re already doing. Again, this is a great model, outside it kind of sits on the island by itself, because, in essence, it’s a grant, but really it’s a reimbursement program. And so you can invest as much money as you want, demonstrating that you’re already spending these dollars, you already have the capital and the investments in place to be able to support these participants, so that you are able to receive that 50% reimbursement on the back end. And understand that the reimbursement on the back end, in essence, is a reward. It’s a bucket of revenue that loses its federal identity, that allows you to reinvest and scale up either your SNAP E&T program or other programs, or add additional programs, increase staff capacity and so on. The idea of this model is for the program to ultimately pay for itself. And so our program here as an intermediary, we hope we have a 5% administrator fee that we hold back for managing the partners, monitoring the partners, training the partners, reimbursing the partners, while we are waiting to be reimbursed by the state. And so that keeps the ebbs and flows moving very smoothly, but it also creates, again, a bucket of revenue that we have been able to create that is now well over several million dollars. And so as we continue to scale up our programs over time, in essence, United Way as a provider, I mean, an intermediary is no longer investing in the program, because the program is now paying for itself. So it’s covering all our operational expenses, any supplies, any staffing, any fringe benefits, any other great things that we want to offer our partners. It’s covering itself. And so it does take time to build that bucket of revenue to ultimately pay for the program itself, but that’s ultimately what you end up doing. And so you’re just creating more impact. You’re able to serve more participants, offer more programs, and really help spotlight your agency for being a great workforce development partner. A great program to be a part of.
Osei 1:00:25
Thanks so much, Brandee and y’all. If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the chat or send them we’ll try answering like it’s it. Thank you all for for being here today and appreciate your time, Brandee. One thing we’ll mention is, if you noticed, Brandee mentioned the reimbursement model and budget strategy very frequently throughout this whole presentation. So our next webinar will be funding your SNAP E&T program, a 5050, reimbursement and budget strategy on March 18, 2026, so stay tuned for a bit more insights on like the fiscal element of SNAP E&T there’s a whole lot of ways to think about how you can sort of fund your operations and reimburse your operations for the work that you are already doing. So would love to have you there. Stay tuned and get registered. Once we send out information, we send that on the follow-up email as well. But thank you all for your time today.
Davis-Douglas 1:01:30
Thanks for having me. Bye.
