From the Urban Institute and funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, this publication provides information on the Jail House Reentry Roundtable Initiative. Specifically, this report provides a synthesis of best practices from the Initiative from the past two years, which included a Jail Reentry Roundtable and two national advisory meetings, a "scan of practice," and interviews with stakeholders from around the country.

This Research-to-Results issue brief is from Child Trends, and provides information on challenges faced by rural out-of-school programs and offers strategies to improve such programs. Rural youth are less likely to complete high school and more likely to use drugs and alcohol than their urban and suburban peers. After-school programs can often help improve positive outcomes for rural youth by providing academic support as well as supporting positive relationship building.

This Web site offers teleconferences on various topics. On May 31st, 2007 they offered a teleconference titled "Building and Maintaining State-Tribal Partnerships to Improve Child Welfare Programs". During the teleconference, representatives from two States discussed their relationships with Tribes and how to maintain a productive partnership. The representatives discussed challenges and successes in that they had experienced while cultivating these relationships.

This paper, from the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Utah, provides an overview of the Navajo culture and their Tribal TANF program. The paper also discusses barriers that the Navajo Nation faces in effectively engaging their Tribal TANF clients and promoting self sufficiency. Barriers include support costs and lack of jobs among others.

This report to Congressional Requestors from the Government Accountability Office found that poverty and unemployment is still extremely high on Native American reservations despite Tribes’ efforts to stimulate the economy. According to the study, “57 Tribes with reservations reported that at least half of all families living of their reservations had incomes below the federal poverty level.” The report describes various specific Tribal enterprises. The authors also describe specific challenges that Tribes face in operating TANF programs including developing expertise quickly, obtaining data, and leveraging resources. Through the report, the Government Accountability Office recommended that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provide for more assistance to Tribes in operating their own welfare programs.

Written by Jo Ann Kauffman of the Kaiser Family Foundation, this paper describes case studies of eight Tribes. Of the Tribes studied, six operated their own Tribal TANF programs, one left TANF implementation up to the State, and the remaining Tribe served as a contractor for the State’s TANF program. The paper describes lessons learned in operating Tribal TANF programs and the appendices include the methodology for conducting the interviews.

This resource provides facts about the Administration for Native Americans (ANA). The program administers about 220 projects each year focused on social and economic self-sufficiency for all Native Americans. ANA provides technical assistance, training, and funding. See ANA Web site in related Tribal links section.

From the Urban Institute, this resource is a toolkit for reentering prisoners into society. Specifically, this toolkit focuses on all types of inmates that are faced with the challenges of reentry, regardless of jail time. Information in this toolkit was developed from jail administrators, correction and law enforcement professionals, county and community leaders, and service providers.

The Urban Institute authored this article on determinants of asset building for families in the United States. Specifically, the report presents a conceptual framework for the determinants of saving and asset accumulation. Authors also provide policy-relevant recommendations to increase asset accumulation among families.

From the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, this issue brief provides facts on the economic security of women and men in the United States. Specifically, researchers found that Social Security is the most common source of income for seniors in the United States. This data is from a larger study in which authors provide information income sources, marital patterns, and living arrangements of older Americans across racial and ethnic groups.