Evidence-informed practice and program fidelity has taken on a renewed importance among programs serving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and low-income populations seeking to continue to operate and provide necessary services during a period of austerity. These programs are required to collect and report certain data about their clients to maintain funding, but those data are often not used strategically to ensure that program components are aligned with the goals of the program, to document program, or to drive performance. Notwithstanding this challenge, the degree to which a program strategy is delivered as intended and implemented successfully is vitally important to program success. Utilizing various data-sets to inform implementation and practice is a major component of the possible building of an effective evidence-informed program structure in programs that serve TANF and low-income populations. A cross-section of 10 sites that promote services (i.e., transportation, career pathways, subsidized employment, and workforce development have been engaged in a learning laboratory focused on ways to better collect, analyze, and utilize various program and client data-sets to inform practice and to re-align program components with the original intent of the program models being implemented. Based on an analysis of the lessons learned from these sites, the presenters will discuss the steps to effective data collection, analysis, and utilization to inform improved program implementation and practice among TANF stakeholders. Using information collected from the nine-month initiative, the presenters will discuss a preliminary conceptual framework for improving program fidelity and implementation and engage attendees in additional discussions on the value of data for increasing evidence-informed program practices. This workshop will also focus on emerging methodologies assisting service delivery sites for aligning implementation to the goals and theory of a program, the importance of data, and potential results—including greater return on investment.