The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a webinar on March 21, 2023 — the second of a two-part webinar series entitled, The Whole Family Approach: How TANF Programs Can Engage Customers in Mental Health Services. In Part I of the webinar series on January 26, 2023, State and Tribal TANF programs discussed the intersection between poverty, trauma, and mental health and highlighted how their programs have helped improve long-term mental health outcomes for families with low incomes.

Part 2 built on the concepts introduced in Part I and the speakers shared the details of their programs’ whole family design and implementation processes, including how they identify services to include in their TANF programs, how they select and coordinate with supportive partnerships, what types of assessments they use when meeting with clients, and funding streams they utilize. They also highlighted successes and challenges they have experienced throughout the process. Participants received insights into the options TANF programs can explore in expanding and improving the mental health care for their TANF customers.

The Office of Family Assistance has released tables that provide demographic data on the age, gender, and race/ethnicity of adults and children in TANF and Separate State Program-Maintenance-of-Effort active families and closed cases, as well as data on the financial circumstances of TANF cash assistance recipients for Federal fiscal year 2021. The data is presented for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. Data is available in Excel and PDF formats.

Recent state, tribal, and territorial use of pandemic emergency assistance funding (PEAF) demonstrated the utility of providing customized approaches to meet the needs of low-income families. Program evolution, whether driven by a pandemic, legislature, or new evidence-based knowledge about program effectiveness means changes in strategy, business processes, technology systems, and staff roles.

Too often, change is attempted without the creation of a proper foundation to support successful and sustainable implementation. The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on February 23, 2023 to focus on two critical elements that can effectively drive implementation of new approaches and strategies: first, to develop a clear understanding and definition of success, and then, to ground implementation in proven organizational change strategies. During the webinar, speakers provided an overview of these topics and highlight specific examples from state TANF leaders.

Registration for this event is closed.

Partnerships between TANF-funded programs and Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are the focus of this video series just released by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and the Office of Community Services (OCS). Filmed at four sites across the country, the five brief videos each look at how TANF programs and CAAs are working together to help shared customers achieve social and economic success. The videos are one result of the COVID and Safety Net Innovation (CASI) TA Initiative, a joint OFA and OCS initiative that provided technical assistance to TANF programs and CAAs, helping them develop a joint action plan to strengthen the safety net.

Hampton Roads Community Action Program and the Virginia Department of Social Services: Working together to create a whole family approach.

Audubon Area Community Services and the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program: Partnering to deliver diverse work opportunities.

Maricopa County Human Services Department and the Arizona Department of Economic Security: Planning a holistic approach to anti-poverty efforts.

Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership: The first video explores how DHS and MAHUBE-OTWA collaborate to serve families in a rural area. The second video looks at how they are supporting American Indian/Native American culture.

During the continued recovery from and ongoing response to the COVID-19 epidemic, every member of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) families has experienced a growing set of challenges to their mental well-being. Amplified socioeconomic issues such as the rising cost of daily expenses, especially food, gas, and housing; difficulties with finding quality and long-term employment; and challenges with access to healthcare continue to place an increased mental burden on low-income families. In addition, children who previously found stability at school, even when it was not present at home, have had to endure constant changes in school closures, learning styles, and staff fluctuations and shortages.

Due to the heightened need of mental health services for all members of the family, it is vital that health and human service departments and community organizations consider mental health promotion as part of a comprehensive approach to service delivery. TANF programs provide an important touchpoint to low-income families facing mental health challenges and can improve access and utilization of mental health services for parents and children.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on January 26, 2023 where speakers discussed the intersection between poverty, trauma, and mental health and shared strategies that could help improve long-term mental health outcomes for low-income families. Webinar attendees engaged with speakers and peers in dialogue focused on building mental health service strategies for TANF families impacted by various traumas.

This dataset covers the FY 2021 state work participation rates from October 2020 through September 2021. The data tables include state-by-state information on topics including combined TANF and SSP-MOE Work Participation Rates, TANF and SSP-MOE Families Work Participation Rates, and Changes in Combined Work Participation Rates.

Millions of food and cash assistance customers rely on cash transfers each month to meet their family’s needs. Much of today’s benefits available to families are deposited directly onto Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards that are assigned to customers. EBT card skimming is a growing challenge to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants, putting them at risk of losing crucial benefits. Challenges related to protecting beneficiaries from theft have increased for human services programs as they seek to improve the level of customer protections similar to those afforded credit cards.

The Office of Family Assistance Project IMPROVE team hosted a webinar in November 2022 that brought together a panel representing TANF and SNAP programs as well as experts on EBT card skimming prevention. Panelists discussed ways agencies can educate participants on how to protect their benefits from theft, and responded to questions around challenges, best practices, and lessons learned. Panelists included: Michael Cole, Deputy Commissioner for Policy & Programs, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance; Jennifer Reynolds, Program Manager, Utah Department of Workforce Services; Kristi Manseau, Program Specialist, Utah Department of Workforce Services; and Ernest Baca, Deputy Systems Administrator, Arizona Department of Economic Security.

TANF Disaster Response Highlights from the Office of Family Assistance provide a broad overview on how some state and tribal TANF programs responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many programs’ responses were informed from lessons they learned in responding to prior disasters. The information within these highlights has been shared to assist with the development of adaptable approaches and proactive disaster responses. Such preparations help ensure the uninterrupted continuation of services to the populations supported by TANF programs during crises like health pandemics and natural disasters.

TANF Disaster Response Highlights have been developed on the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and the Morongo Tribal TANF Program.

In the face of a public health emergency, economic downturn, or other unexpected circumstance, TANF agencies and other human services providers are required to reimagine and adapt previous expectations, behaviors, and service provision for a digital, dispersed, and/or displaced environment. At the same time, TANF agencies often face growing caseloads and increasing needs from participants who are struggling because of various crises.

OFA developed this three-part podcast series to increase awareness about state TANF agency responses to the unexpected as they relate to legislation, agency staff, and service provision to participants. The series leverages content from earlier resources which aggregate disaster response efforts across the country. The podcasts include interviews with representatives of the Owens Valley Community Development Center (California); the Maine Office of Family Independence, Department of Health and Human Services; the Vermont Department of Children and Families; the Colorado Department of Human Services; TANF of Sonoma and Marin (California) as well as the Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Labor-Management Partnerships Program at the University of California at Berkeley.

Objectives of this podcast series include:

• Identify state and federal policy responses to natural disasters and other public health emergencies including, but not limited to, hurricanes, recessions, and other calamities that directly impact TANF staff and clients.
• Equip TANF agencies with information and resources to support their staff and participants during major transitions.
• Highlight innovative and adaptive service provision solutions during unexpected events such as natural disasters, public health emergencies, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Explore options for pivoting employment-related services to prepare and upskill TANF participants for sudden labor market shifts.

The Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund (PEAF) provides $1 billion in funding to states (including the District of Columbia), tribes administering a TANF program, and five U.S. territories to assist needy families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While a specific amount was allotted for each grant recipient, they may qualify for additional, reallotted funds. Grant recipients may use these funds to provide certain non-recurrent, short term benefits. All grant recipients must use funds to supplement and not supplant other federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local funds. This Information Memorandum has been issued to remind grant recipients of the September 30, 2022 deadline to use PEAF initial awards by the end of the month, and of the guidance on allowable uses of PEAF funds.