Mobility Mentoring® in Family Support and Preservation Programs

Background

Children thrive when they have regular interactions with responsive, caring adults. Families experiencing significant stressors related to financial insecurity, housing instability, or the impact of systemic and interpersonal trauma can be overwhelmed with stress, interrupting those interactions. To better support families overloaded by stress, Children’s Wisconsin and ICFW supports the implementation of EMPath’s Mobility Mentoring intervention into Family Preservation and Support programs in Wisconsin.

Mobility Mentoring is a science-based approach to support family-led goal attainment with a primary goal of economic mobility out of poverty. Mobility Mentoring partners with clients to build the skills, resources, and behavior to achieve financial independence through the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency. Mobility Mentoring^® engages clients through a coaching model to develop decision-making and goal-setting skills in five key pillars:

• Family Stability,
• Health and Well-being,
• Financial Management
• Education and Training
• Employment and Career

In 2018, Children’s piloted Mobility Mentoring in child welfare program. The intervention has since become a cornerstone of serving families experiencing the crisis of children being place in foster care.

In partnership through the Children’s Home Society of America learning cohort, Children’s Wisconsin is expanding the Mobility Mentoring^® program to five programs in six regions in Wisconsin: Family Support (Black River Falls, Northwoods), Home Visiting (Black River Falls, Northwoods, Stevens Point, Milwaukee, Rock County), Early Head Start (Northwoods), and Education and Employment (Madison). Children’s ICFW team members support this implementation, evaluation, and shared learning.

Learn More

ICFW Webinar- Executive Functioning for Child Well-Being

ICFW Practice Brief- Mobility Mentoring

EMPath’s Website