The chronic stressors faced by low-income rural families – including unemployment, low wage markets, lack of access to health care and nutritious food, substance abuse, and relative isolation – are issues that culturally responsive healthy marriage…

This national issue brief, from the University of New Hampshire Casey School of Public Policy, highlights findings from examining housing challenges in several New England regions through interviews and focus groups. While discussing the effects of…

Given the continued scale of poverty and limited job opportunities in rural areas, the Office of Family Assistance implemented the Rural Communities Initiative in early 2008. The Initiative provided States, Tribes, and local TANF agencies the…

This brief reviews poverty and housing issues in rural America. Issues include affordability, quality, and access to mortgage loans. Approximately 5.2 million, just under one-quarter of rural households pay more than 30 percent of their monthly…

As a strategy to provide asset-based training for caseworkers and serve New Mexico's growing population of individuals with substance abuse barriers, New Mexico Works requested a substance abuse case management training, with a focus on…

This Webinar was part of the Rural Communities Initiative's Rural Economic Development Webinar series. This Webinar provided an overview of successful entrepreneurship/microenterprise strategies and small business development models in rural…

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted the Rural Communities Initiative Implementing Strategies for Employer Engagement Workshop in Louisville, Kentucky January 28-29, 2010. Six rural communities, as a component of ongoing technical…

As part of their Rural Communities Initiative Technical Assistance Action Plan, the Montana team identified the prevalence of substance abuse challenges within their TANF caseload as among one of their chief concerns. The site was particularly…

The capstone event for the Rural Communities Initiative was the Rural Leadership Forum that took place in Charleston, South Carolina on September 1-2, 2009. Representatives from the 16 rural TANF sites met to share lessons learned; explore…

This Rural Communities Initiative Webinar explores distance learning options for TANF participants living in rural areas who wish to continue their education, earn their GED, or access job training. The challenge of engaging participants in…