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…

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…

The Rural Communities Initiative conducted a Site Visit to the White Mountain Apache Tribal TANF Program based on their request for TA. Rural Communities Initiative staff partnered with consultants from the U.C. Davis Extension at the University…

Recognizing the importance of expanding transportation options for their TANF participants, the North Dakota Rural Communities Initiative site sought to learn more about innovative car ownership programs serving individuals on public assistance.…

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a Rural Communities Initiative Economic Development Roundtable in Spring 2009 to strengthen economic development activities among programs serving TANF participants in rural communities. Nine rural…

The Rural Communities Academy was the "kick off" event for the 16 selected rural sites and included time for each rural site team (consisting of four/five team members) to participate in information gathering, networking, and action planning. The…

Staff from the Montana (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes/Roosevelt County) and Hoopa Valley Tribal TANF (California) met with personnel from various social service providers on the Turtle Mountain Reservation to learn more about innovative…