The Office of Family Assistance hosted a Webinar on Providing Mental Health Services for TANF and Other Low-Income Participants on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 from 12:30-2:00 p.m. ET. In this facilitated webinar, presenters provided an overview of the challenges programs face in providing mental health services; progress made in states since welfare reform in 1996; and newer implications and opportunities for collaboration in the context of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Presenters provided examples from programs that have taken different approaches to addressing the mental health needs of TANF and other low-income participants, through work opportunities coupled with supportive services, partnerships with outside mental health services, and connection to Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Presenters included: Dr. Mary Spooner, Senior Manager, ICF International; Miranda Gray, Reach Up Administrator, Economic Services Division, Vermont Department for Children and Families; and Timothy Cantrell, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Rehabilitative Services, Human Resources Administration, New York City Department of Social Services.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a Webinar titled When TANF Intersects with Pregnant Teen and Young Parent Services on May 11th, 2016 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT. Pregnant teens and young parents have been a focus of national attention and intervention over the past two decades. While teen pregnancy rates have declined nationally, rates are still high for minority and low-income teens, and teen parents continue to be at great risk for living in poverty. Many teen parents struggle to find work opportunities, which increases the likelihood that their children will face similar struggles later in life. In this webinar, presenters provided information about innovative ways that programs are serving low-income pregnant teens and young parents. Presenters for the Webinar included: Sabrina Chapple, MPH, Public Health Advisor with the Office of Adolescent Health; Deborah Schlick from the Minnesota Department of Human Services; Ray Fleming Dinneen, Executive Director of CLIMB Wyoming; and Kristi Bruwer, Young Parents Demonstration Coordinator at Training Resources of America.

The Office of Family Assistance and its Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy hosted a webinar on Assessing Family History, Needs, and Well-Being to Improve TANF Services to Families on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 EDT. Many Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, and other programs serving low-income individuals and families, are seeking ways to better measure and assess how family histories and current family functioning affect service planning and delivery. With the increased focus on intergenerational approaches across human service systems, many are seeking new and improved ways to improve overall family well-being. This webinar was designed to help Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy, TANF, and other human service system stakeholders understand how assessing family functioning, history, and experience can improve outcomes for TANF and other human service system participants. Speakers discussed how family assessment tools are administered and used by TANF, child welfare, and other stakeholder programs. They also addressed how these tools can be used to measure improvements in family well-being and create opportunities to use data to improve service planning. Presenters included: Lisa Washington-Thomas from the Office of Family Assistance; Jill Tichenor from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services; Debbie Davis from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services; and Karla Aguirre and Marion Eckersley, both from the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

On Tuesday, March 15, 2016 the Office of Family Assistance hosted an Affinity Call Webinar for the TANF/WIOA Peer Exchange Initiative sites. The webinar focused on data sharing and integration, and highlighted Mississippi’s partnership with the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center to build a system that facilitates data sharing between TANF, WIOA, and other partners. The presenters provided information on what it takes to build a collaborative commitment, strategies for meeting different programmatic needs, and an overview of their common intake form and electronic referral system.

The Office of Family Assistance held a Webinar on Introduction to Social Capital on April 27, 2016 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT. Traditionally, attention has been focused on the human capital (education level; technical expertise; soft skills; hard skills) of TANF participants in order to improve their connection to and success in the labor market. Additional focus has been paid to an individual’s social capital (education, faith-based, neighborhood, cultural, and social networks; access to information and institutions; interpersonal interactions) and the important role it plays in improving employment and economic stability. Research has demonstrated that social capital provides valuable assets for families as they move out of poverty. Increasing a person’s potential for upward economic mobility involves strengthening three forms of capital that a person needs to possess: financial, human, and social. This webinar built upon the September 2015 Gateway to Opportunity: Improving Parental Employment and Family Well-Being Outcomes plenary session in Washington, D.C. 

Presenters for the Introduction Webinar on April 27th included: Dr. Natasha Pilkauskas, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan; and Andrew Freed, TANF Senior Manager, Cook Inlet Tribal Council.

The Office of Family Assistance held a Webinar on Integrating Two-Generation Strategies into TANF Programs on Thursday, April 28, 2016 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT. The two-generation approach to serving low-income or disadvantaged families has seen renewed interest in recent years, with models focused on combining comprehensive, career-focused employment and training opportunities for parents with educational and enrichment opportunities for their children. However, state, territory, and tribal TANF program leadership and staff have suggested a need for more targeted TA and information around two-generation approaches and TANF integration and implementation strategies. In this facilitated webinar, presenters provided an overview of the policy components of an intentional two-generation approach and offered tools and resources that may be applicable to the audience’s TANF programs, wherever they lie on the two-generation continuum. Through a “Town Hall” format, presenters also provided planning, policy, and implementation strategies and lessons learned from their own experiences with two-generation integration.

Presenters included Dr. Monica Barczak, Senior Advisor, Administration for Children and Families; Peter Palermino, Program Manager, Economic Security Unit, State of Connecticut Department of Social Services; Elaine Zimmerman, Executive Director, Connecticut Commission on Children; Sisifo Taatiti, TANF Program Manager, Utah Department of Workforce Services; Tracy Gruber, Director of the Office of Child Care and Senior Advisor of the Intergenerational Poverty Initiative, Utah Department of Workforce Services; and Dr. Sharon McGroder, Program Director, Economic, Human Services & Workforce Division, Center for Best Practices, National Governors Association.