Cooperative extension service faculty at New Mexico State University started the Steps to Employment and Personal Success (STEPS) program to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients qualify for and maintain full-time employment and strengthen their families for long-term success. Clients are referred to STEPS by New Mexico Works. Approximately 65% of STEPS' clients are Hispanic, and 41% lack a high school diploma or its equivalent. STEPS' goals include improving participants' awareness and knowledge of requirements of the evolving workplace and helping them develop and/or improve their job search skills. Participants also receive training in family management skills, including setting financial goals, budgeting, cutting costs, using credit wisely, reducing debt, and saving and investing. To strengthen families, STEPS includes nutrition education and parenting classes. Through the program, participants also develop a network of social support that links families to community resources. STEPS features a rolling admittance policy and provides several experiential learning activities, including family outings for participants' children and field trips to the local community college. Classes meet 7 hours per day. Since July 1, 2001, 323 TANF recipients have been referred to STEPS. Many former STEPS participants credit the program with giving them direction in their lives, and 24% of them have subsequently enrolled in some type of further education. (MN)