MEF Presents MEF Associates

This podcast is produced by MEF under the PeerTA contract on behalf of the Office of Family Assistance (OFA). It explores various strategies agencies have taken to gather and use input from individuals with lived experience to benefit agencies’ understanding, decision making, and programming. Podcast speakers discuss varying approaches that range from gathering survey feedback on program operations, to forming participant advisory committees, to incorporating participant-led case management practices, to hiring individuals with lived experience into permanent positions. The podcast also explores how to engage lived experiences equitably, including discussions of appropriate compensation of individuals for their time and expertise.

Compassion can be defined as ‘feeling for’ others who are in pain with warmth, empathetic concern, and the capacity to understand their perspective and intentions. Compassion can be necessary for human service settings to effectively engage clients, understand the context surrounding their journey and personal goals, and accurately identify appropriate support services. But if we consider compassion as a finite resource, what happens if it runs out?

Host Bright Sarfo explores a condition called compassion fatigue in this second episode of the PeerTA podcast. He talks to Anna Tekippe, a clinician at the Center for Work Education and Employment in Denver; Santa Molina-Marshall, a holistic psychotherapist located in the DC with expertise in compassion fatigue; and, Gerrie Cotter a Project Manager for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. They share their experiences and knowledge about compassion fatigue, as well as effective strategies to combatting compassion fatigue within TANF programs and other human services settings.

The PeerTA Podcast series facilitates information sharing across state and local agencies implementing TANF and other programs serving low-income families to provide technical assistance, facilitate dialogue, and help programs learn about effective strategies to support families.

Music: “Penny the Snitch” by Ikebe Shakedown from the Free Music Archive under Creative Commons licensing.

Welcome to our first episode of the PeerTA Podcast! This episode explores what it means to be a change-ready organization for TANF and other human services agencies. It equips listeners with concrete strategies to build their readiness for change. While change can be unexpected, organizations can foster change readiness to weather the unexpected and prepare themselves for proactive changes too.

Our host, Bright Sarfo, talks to Fannie Ashley from the Alabama Department of Human Resources and Maria Wortman-Meshberger from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services to learn about their experiences leading big changes within their organizations. He is also joined by an expert on the topic, Michon Hicks from Strategic Doing Institute at the University of North Alabama, who offers a few concrete strategies to prepare staff for a successful change.

The PeerTA Podcast facilitates the sharing of information across state and local agencies implementing TANF and other programs serving low-income families to provide technical assistance, facilitate dialogue, and help programs learn about effective strategies to support families.

Music: “Blue Highway,” “Downtown,” and “Slotcar” by Podington Bear from the Free Music Archive under Creative Commons licensing.

The Child Support Research podcast from MEF Presents serves as an “audio pairing” to the newly released Child Support Research Agenda, available at childsupportresearch.org. In this podcast, we interview four child support experts about ways research can inform better child support policy, what they see as the Research Agenda’s most pressing new areas for research in the coming years, and why this matters to the 20+ million children the program serves in the United States every year.

Guests: Lauren Antelo (Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services); Andrew Chin (Washington Division of Child Support); Asaph Glosser (MEF Associates); and Alisha Griffin (Alisha Griffin Works)

Music: “Penny the Snitch” by Ikebe Shakedown from the Free Music Archive under Creative Commons licensing

Host: Justin Germain (MEF Associates)

Producer: Angela Gaffney (MEF Associates)