SNAP Employment and Training National Partnership Grants 2023

Summary

On Sept. 15, 2023, USDA awarded approximately $5 million in SNAP E&T National Partnership Grants to four organizations. The purpose of these grants is to support new organizational capacity in national non-profit organizations with broad member or affiliate networks that provide direct workforce development services to low-income and low-skilled individuals, including SNAP participants. Grant funds will be used to increase states’ capacity to serve SNAP E&T participants by encouraging the network members or affiliates to become third-party SNAP E&T providers.

Key Objectives

1. Expand the number of skill-based, employer-driven SNAP E&T providers that move SNAP participants toward economic self-sufficiency.
2. Create new capacity to provide technical assistance though activities such as, but not limited to, organizing conferences and meetings; developing and supporting peer-to-peer learning networks; creating technical assistance materials such as toolkits, checklists, and curriculum; promoting best practices by hosting webinars and site visits; and providing professional development opportunities for member or affiliate staff.
3. Provide technical assistance on SNAP E&T to member or affiliate organizations so they can become SNAP E&T third-party providers. Technical assistance should cover increasingly more complex issues over the life of the grant and/or be provided to additional member or affiliate organizations.
4. Increase expertise on SNAP E&T among member and affiliate organizations so that they can become third-party SNAP E&T providers.

FY 23 Awards

• Goodwill Industries International – approximately $1,500,000 will be used to build upon the existing FY 20 National Partnership grant to recruit and train more than 30 local Goodwill to become new SNAP E&T providers. The grant funds will be used to provide three 12-month cohorts of network members to increase awareness and expertise of SNAP E&T policies, procedures, and best practices. The grantee will also create a Third-Party Provider Implementation Guidebook to provide successful models of SNAP E&T to network members.
• National Community Action Partnership (NCAP) – approximately $999,000 will be used to recruit and train 9-15 agencies to become new SNAP E&T providers through a series of cohort learning models for four to five months that offer expert training and technical assistance from NCAP, Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI), American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), and current SNAP E&T providers serving as peer experts. The grantee will also offer learning communities with current SNAP E&T providers that meet quarterly, host 12 webinars, and create 10 new tools and resources. Additionally, the grantee will engage with SNAP E&T customers to provide context expertise in the cohort and learning community sessions.
• National Governor’s Association (NGA) – approximately $1,490,000 will be used to provide intensive technical assistance in the form of Policy Academies. The Policy Academies will be 8-10 months long and consist of state teams made of experts from the human services, workforce development, and financial management divisions in the state. The grantee will also host listening sessions with state and local leaders. The grantee expects to bring on 24 to 60 new SNAP E&T providers through the technical assistance provided in partnership with Seattle Jobs Initiative.
• Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) – approximately $1,000,000 will be used to create two cohorts for 6-month periods which will offer a combination of specialized training, targeted technical assistance, and peer mentorship. In addition, the grantee will develop a community of practice, create a three session E&T webinar series, and provide 1:1 technical assistance to provide in-depth and customized technical assistance. The grantee will also host a virtual and regional convening, trainings, and leadership development for affiliates to increase their knowledge about SNAP E&T and best practices.