Dataset
This Office of Family Assistance dataset includes financial data tables, interactive maps, and national and state pie charts to illustrate the uses of TANF and Maintenance-of-Effort funds and transfers in FY2019.
October, 2020
Webinar / Webcast
Trauma can have significant short and long-term effects on individual functioning and family well-being. Many human services agencies have begun to recognize the profound implications this issue has on how agency staff interact with their customers, and how staff themselves are impacted. The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on September 30, 2020 to help TANF sites interested in moving from trauma awareness to practice transformation using evidence-informed strategies.
September, 2020
Webinar / Webcast
The Office of Family Assistance hosted a free webinar on August 19, 2020 on understanding how to assess and build executive functioning skills in TANF participants. Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Trouble with executive function can make it hard for individuals to navigate life, including obtaining and retaining employment.
August, 2020
Video
Vicarious trauma can occur when indirectly exposed to another person’s trauma through images or verbal, written stories; it is an occupational challenge for people working in victim services, law enforcement, emergency medical services, and human services. Individuals who experience vicarious trauma may develop a shift in their world view and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Organizations with staff experiencing vicarious trauma may face higher instances of staff turnover, absenteeism, and reduced work quality.
August, 2020
Webinar / Webcast
As a part of continued support to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs and their endeavors to serve individuals and families virtually during the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Family Assistance recorded a PeerTA webinar on June 24, 2020. TANF staff and those they serve had to retool quickly to adapt to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
May, 2020
Stakeholder Resource
In honor of May’s National Foster Care Month, the Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau writes in this blogpost that incorporating family voice into the permanency-planning process and encouraging collaboration between parents and resource parents can help the community, the courts, and related professionals inform a highly supportive child welfare agency culture.
May, 2020
Stakeholder Resource
Through the TANF Works! Series, the Office of Family Assistance seeks to disseminate information about promising practices within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) field that can be scaled or adapted by other programs. The series includes three components:
April, 2020
Webinar / Webcast
The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on Wednesday, February 26 entitled Improving Employment Outcomes for TANF Recipients with Substance Use Disorders. The webinar outlined employment-focused strategies that can contribute to, rather than inhibit, substance use treatment and featured experts with backgrounds in research and practice on working with TANF recipients who have substance use disorders. Speakers discussed national trends in substance use disorders and strategies to move those with substance use disorders towards treatment, employment, and economic stability.
February, 2020
Question / Response(s)
A representative from the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families would like to know if there is a state directory that lists contacts for teen parent residential programs (also known as Second Chance Homes or Maternity Homes) across the U.S. for TANF recipients, and if so, how to locate such a directory.
February, 2020
Question / Response(s)
A representative of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is interested in finding out if any states have successfully implemented programs or other initiatives to help individuals with the "benefit cliff" (i.e., when an individual loses TANF or other benefits due to increase in earnings)—maybe with matching programs, payment points for continued employment, etc.
February, 2020