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 team members who attended the Academy participated in workshops and plenary sessions, and met with Rural Content Specialists and representatives from other rural communities who shared their insight into strategies being utilized in rural areas with TANF participants.

This Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network site exchange was conducted to support the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families in exploring the WeCARE (Wellness, Comprehensive Assessment, Rehabilitation, Employment) program of the Human Resources Administration (HRA) in New York City. The site exchange took place on October 31, 2008, and the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network facilitated the visit and interaction between the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, staff from the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) and Arbor, the contractor who operates WeCARE in Brooklyn. The site exchange featured presentations by both HRA and Arbor staff responsible for the program, tours of the Brooklyn facility; a tour of a community partner’s office, a tour of the medical facility at a local hospital and dialogue among participants to discuss the details of operations and the implementation of the current program.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families Region II Office and the New York City Human Resources Administration co-sponsored this event. The purpose of the workshop was to present child care providers with additional skills on how to handle questions and issues relative to young children who may have been traumatized by events such as what occurred on September 11, 2001.

This Final Report describes a workshop that took place on September 16, 2003, in New York City, sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

Face to face contact with children in foster care by caseworkers is a key element to maintaining child wellbeing. The Administration for Children and Families reviewed all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico between 2001 and 2004 to determine whether the frequency of caseworker visits was sufficient to meet the child's needs. This article reviews the written standards States have implemented for frequency of caseworker visits with children in foster care, the extent to which States can provide automated reports on the frequency of caseworker visits, and the extent to which statewide reports indicate that children were visited.

Face-to-face contact with children in foster care by caseworkers is a key element to maintaining child well-being. The Administration for Children and Families reviewed all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico between 2001 and 2004 to determine whether the frequency of caseworker visits was sufficient to meet the child's needs. This article reviews the written standards that some States have implemented for caseworker visits with children in foster care and the practices of States without written standards.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) and Emergency Assistance programs wit the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Under TANF, the nature of public assistance changed from an entitlement program to one that requires individuals to work in order to receive time-limited support. This change in the welfare delivery system was accompanied by an increase in State-level flexibility in program design and operation. Welfare reform required no less than a redefinition of the role of decision makers at the Federal, State and local level, including the role played by front line workers when interacting with welfare recipients. In the journey toward reinventing the social safety net, States have met a variety of formidable challenges. Five years after the passage of welfare reform, this report takes stock of the past and current challenges that States have encountered. This report focuses on the policies and services provided to the hardest-to-serve and on the network of collaborations that States have developed to address the needs of these populations.

The National Healthy Marriage Academy, held January 8 and 9, 2003,  in Arlington, VA, provided an opportunity for representatives from several States to learn more about the Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Healthy Marriage Initiative. The Academy afforded States an opportunity to hear presentations from nationally recognized speakers, researchers, and Federal policy makers, as well as from other States with successful Healthy Marriage Initiatives.

This report summarizes a meeting of Region II and III Directors to address challenges to increase work participation rates in TANF programs with the expectation that work participation rates will increase with TANF reauthorization. The stakeholders took this opportunity to learn from well performing States with higher participation rates and States that had overcome barriers to improvement. The meeting provided an opportunity to promote and enhance collaboration and partnerships within the regions.

The ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated this workshop on behalf of the ACF Region VII office. The network is a contract from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA). The contractors for the Network are AFYA, Inc. and Caliber Associates. The purpose of this two-day technical assistance event was to identify the transportation challenges of participating states, examine other state’s initiatives that have addressed these challenges, identify available resources, and explore next steps to address these challenges. Additional topics included the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) and the wealth of resources available via the National Transit Resource Center, operated by the Community Transportation Association of America.