APHSA’s economic supports and services strategies mobilize public practitioners that administer cash and food benefits in conjunction with work and family supports to collaborate with people experiencing poverty in building pathways for long-term success. We do this by focusing on whole family approaches—investing in parents as both caregivers and providers—and by eliminating benefit cliffs that erect artificial barriers for individuals seeking to advance to family-sustaining wages.
Embedded across our strategies is a commitment to shift power by centering lived experience, championing strategies to eliminate disparate outcomes, and promoting community-led services and decision-making.
Current Portfolio
Advancing Family Economic Mobility
Advancing Family Economic Mobility (AFEM) is a national initiative committed to creating sustainable pathways to economic mobility and well-being for all people and families through national, regional, and local peer learning communities. Learn more on our AFEM microsite.
Engaging Child Support Services
APHSA is committed to strengthening partnerships and connections among economic supports, inclusive of child support programs, to build more responsive and holistic services for whole families. In conjunction with peer associations, APHSA has developed shared spaces and co-led opportunities to bring economic support leaders together to explore and chart a path toward a whole family approach for economic supports, inclusive of child support.
Farm Bill in Focus
In anticipation of the upcoming Farm Bill, APHSA has worked with our members to develop comprehensive recommendations to build toward a more effective, modern, and customer-centered SNAP program. Learn more on our Farm Bill page.
Language Access in SNAP
APHSA is committed to supporting those serving families experiencing language inequities due to limited English proficiency. The results of both broad and focused information-gathering efforts with state and local human services professionals, as well as partner CBOs, will be synthesized into a set of recommendations and resources supporting access through improved language equity strategies.
Summer EBT
APHSA is focused on supporting state and territorial SNAP and Child Nutrition agencies, as well as partners in Tribal agencies, in Summer EBT implementation through peer communities, special projects, and events.
Get Involved
American Association of SNAP Directors
The American Association of SNAP Directors (AASD), an APHSA affinity group, fosters a national peer community for public SNAP agency leaders and leverages insights to inform federal policy and state implementation. Learn more on our AASD page.
Economic Supports for Refugee and Immigrant Families
The Economic Supports for Refugee and Immigrant Families, an APHSA Community of Practice, is an interdisciplinary forum in which economic supports administrators and state refugee coordinators (or persons with similar functions) can raise challenges, jointly interpret changing policy, share resources, and identify opportunities for greater system alignment in serving refugee and immigrant families.
Employment and Training National Partners Roundtable
The Employment and Training (E&T) National Partners Roundtable convenes national partners to discuss the design of E&T services and solutions that optimize skills development in SNAP E&T, TANF, and WIOA.
National Association for Program Information and Performance Measurement
The National Association for Program Information and Performance Measurement (NAPIPM), an APHSA affinity group, fosters a national peer community for public quality control and performance measurement and leverages insights to inform federal policy and state implementation through Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) focused on SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, and child care. Learn more on our NAPIPM page.
SNAP Ed & Outreach Work Group
The SNAP Ed & Outreach Work Group is an ongoing peer community space for SNAP-Ed and SNAP outreach leads in state agencies.
SNAP Employment & Training Work Group
The SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) Work Group is an ongoing peer community space for SNAP E&T leads in state agencies.
Summer EBT Community of Practice
The Summer EBT Community of Practice is an ongoing peer community and resource space for Summer EBT agency leads in state, territory, and Tribal SNAP and Child Nutrition agencies, hosted in partnership with Share Our Strength.
TANF Modernization Work Group
The TANF Modernization Work Group is an ongoing group focused on advancing national policy and state and local practice reforms that advance our TANF Modernization Core Principles and Legislative Framework.
Exploring Child Support & TANF Partnerships Community of Practice
This community, hosted by APHSA along with the National Council of Child Support Directors (NCCSD), and National Child Support Engagement Association (NCSEA), will provide a forum for public administrators to explore opportunities for collaboration and alignment between TANF and child support programs in the interest of shared values and outcomes for families.
National Association of State TANF Administrators
Bipartisan and membership driven, the National Association of State TANF Administrators (NASTA) provides national leadership for the development of sound policy, successful and innovative practices, and critical capacity building to improve agency performance and consumer outcomes. Learn more on our NASTA page.