To assist States in strategically and creatively utilizing their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars, while yielding better outcomes for low-income families, the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance (TA) Network sponsored a 1-day site visit to the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, April 2, 2003. The CPC program was designed in 1967 and is the second oldest federally-funded early childhood program in the United States. It is managed by the Chicago Public Schools, Office of Early Education, and targets children between the ages of 3-4. Furthermore, the CPC program is comprised of education sites or centers located within low-income areas with high concentrations of former Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program participants.

The Alabama Department of Human Resources is exploring ways to promote Healthy Marriage Initiatives in the State of Alabama. Endeavoring to fulfill this mission, Alabama sought and received assistance from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance (TA) Network to send a representative from the Family Assistance Partnership in Alabama. With the support of Ramona Warren, Team Leader for the Region IV Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program and the financial support of the Welfare Peer TA Network, Alabama was able to send Program Specialist, Sharon A. Finklea, to Allentown, Pennsylvania to meet with several marriage stakeholders in the Pennsylvania area.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network under contract from the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) coordinated a workshop on the topic of Post-employment Services: Making Job Retention and Post-Employment Services Work. The contractors on the Network are AFYA, Inc. and Caliber Associates. This one day technical assistance event was a multi-state workgroup designed to review the lessons learned from the Post-employment Services Demonstration Project (PESD) and to explore strategies for job retention and post-employment support.

This two-day workshop was coordinated by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Region IX and Region X offices, with the support of the ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network. The purpose of this event was to provide a forum for the sharing of the latest research, perspectives, and promising practices regarding job retention and post-employment services for TANF clients. The workshop combined presentations from key Federal, State and corporate experts. Information related to post-placement services was provided by Region X state representatives.

This teleconference was coordinated by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) as part of its Family Independence Forum series available to ACF Regional offices and State social service offices. The purpose of the Employment Retention and Advancement Program Design Manual is to help States design strategies for improving job retention and advancement among TANF recipients. States now have an opportunity to have their strategies evaluated as part of a national evaluation funded by the ACF Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE). The Employment Retention and Advancement Project will be conducted by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) to determine the effectiveness and cost-benefits of programs designed to help current or former TANF recipients or other low income families retain and advance in employment. OPRE has issued a grant announcement for State TANF agencies to participate in the evaluation.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, supported two 1-day workshops. The Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human services jointly presented a Region III workshop examining job retention strategies, marketing to potential employers of welfare-to-work clients, and marketing services to those clients.

The ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated this workshop on behalf of the ACF Region II office, the Administration for Socioeconomic Development, Department of the Family, Santurce, Puerto Rico, and the Department of Human Services of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The purpose of this two day technical assistance event was to present promising strategies and lessons learned from other states and local agencies regarding pre and post employment support for TANF participants, and to identify possible areas where they could be applied within Puerto Rico’s system.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance (TA) Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) assisted the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) in the planning and coordination of this workshop involving select representatives from sixteen Service Delivery Areas (SDAs), various workforce investment boards, several community colleges, employers, and key individuals from various private welfare service organizations from around the state of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development also participated along with representatives from the DOL Region I office.

The ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, coordinated this one day workshop presentation by Ms. Toby Herr, the Founder of Project Match. Ms. Herr provided an in-depth description of the Pathways System developed through Project Match. This workshop was the result of a collaborative effort between the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network and the New England Promising Practices Workgroup. The technical assistance event was a multi-state workshop with a focus on providing participants with a thorough understanding of the Pathways System philosophy and approach to serving a large and diverse welfare population with serious or multiple barriers to employment and self-sufficiency.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated this presentation as part of the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Region VI Head Start Mid-Winter Leadership Conference in collaboration with the Region VI office. The conference featured regional representatives from both Head Start and various public assistance agencies. These agencies included the Administration for Children and Families, the Department of Labor, the Health Care Financing Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. The conference was sponsored by the ACF Dallas Region VI Office.