One Door to Work
A better way to connect people with support, work, and long-term independence.
When safety net programs and workforce services operate separately, families can get stuck navigating disconnected systems without a plan for self-sufficiency. One Door to Work empowers leaders to create statewide workforce strategies, modernize programs to improve customer service and reduce fraud, and provide a clearer path toward work and opportunity.
See State Implementation Steps | Read the Utah Model
Insights in 90 seconds: See how the One Door model works
What is One Door to Work?
The One Door Model is a policy solution that allows states to transform bloated government bureaucracy to create a working system that serves the whole person. It does this by integrating safety net support and workforce development into a single system. Instead of sending people to separate offices for benefits, training, employment help, and case management, states coordinate those services around a person’s path to work and independence.
Is One Door right for your state?
One Door may be worth exploring if your state is dealing with:
- Multiple agencies administering overlapping safety net and workforce programs
- Residents repeating information across separate benefit systems
- Weak coordination between eligibility, case management, and employment services
- High improper payment or error-rate concerns
- Limited visibility into whether programs help people move toward work
- Benefits cliffs that make it harder for families to accept raises or more hours
- Workforce shortages alongside low labor-force participation
- Pressure to modernize outdated eligibility or case-management systems
How One Door works
- Simplified intake
Residents enter through a simpler front door instead of navigating multiple agencies.
- Integrated eligibility and case management
Case managers can serve the whole person and understand the whole picture of their benefits, barriers, work capacity, and support needs.
- A work-first system
Benefits are seen as supports to employment, training, education, and work-related services.
- Individualized plan
Participants have a clearer path out of crisis toward stability, work, and independence.
- Data and program integrity
Integrated systems improve visibility across programs and help states identify duplication, conflicts, and improper payments earlier.
- Outcomes measurement
States can track progress beyond enrollment, including work participation, earnings, program exits, recidivism into benefits, and long-term stability.
What Changes for States?
A One Door model can help states move from:
| Current approach | One Door approach |
|---|---|
| Program-by-program siloes | Whole-person service delivery |
| Separate, costly eligibility systems | Shared or aligned eligibility processes |
| Workforce and human services don’t interact | Integrated work-focused case management |
| Enrollment-focused success metrics | Outcome-focused accountability |
| Fragmented fraud detection | Cross-program visibility and integrity checks |
| Residents navigating multiple offices | A clearer, coordinated front door to opportunity |
Spotlight on Utah
Utah shows that One Door is not just a theory. By integrating workforce and human services, Utah created a model that allows staff to respond to people’s needs more holistically and connect assistance to employment.
Read the Utah Case Study | Download the One Door Brief
The Three Pillars of a One Door to Work System
1) Administrative Integration
Consolidate employment, training, and social service programs into an integrated state workforce agency. Co-locate services physically under this structure.
2) Service Delivery Integration
A. Regional Alignment: All programs are delivered with a consistent regional approach where the state operationalizes service delivery coordinated locally.
B. Integrated Eligibility and Intake: All appropriate eligibility functions are consolidated into a dedicated eligibility division to support work-first casework.
C. Work-First Case Management: Because programs are administratively integrated, deploy employment-first case management consistently utilized by all workers.
3) Financial Integration
Develop a Statewide Cost Allocation Model or Administrative Arrangements that braid funds statewide to support a system instead of individual programs.
Policy Toolkit
Step 1: Safety net and workforce audit
Start by tasking your state or third-party auditor with analyzing individual program outcomes, enrollment, administrative costs, and physical footprint. Audit non-coordination between programs and report findings to the public, governor, and the legislature.
Step 2: One Door to Work taskforce
Appoint a taskforce composed of sector and agency leaders in both safety net and workforce programs that produces an implementation roadmap for the state. The task force will determine solutions for administrative integration and reducing inefficiencies, create a statewide case management and eligibility plan, and a financial integration strategy.
Step 3: Implementation
Federal flexibility and waivers
Utilize Department of Labor waivers to create flexibility in WIOA program administration to create a statewide workforce strategy.
Braid federal administrative funds
Develop a cost-allocation plan that allows caseworkers and systems to serve people holistically across funding streams.
Case management redesign
Create a consistent workflow for staff to build individualized plans around work, community support, family stability, and long-term independence.
Program integrity
Use integrated data to identify duplicate enrollment, conflicting information, improper payments, and eligibility changes earlier.
Outcomes reporting
Track whether programs are helping people work, earn more, leave assistance, and remain stable over time.