Authored by Chelsea Farley. This issue brief describes the Philadelphia-based Amachi program, which partners faith-based organizations with public agencies and nonprofit service providers to identify children of prisoners and match them with caring adult volunteers.

This report explores the active role faith-based organizations are taking to better serve human, economic and neighborhood needs in their communities. The report is authored by John M. Wallace, Jr. PhD. of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work, Valerie L. Meyers, PhD. of the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, and Jim Holley, PhD. of the Historic Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church. In particular, the report notes that African-American churches have tended to take the lead in implementing holistic methods to solving community problems. It includes a case study of one such ministry that has been using a holistic approach to transform an inner-city neighborhood in Detroit.

Authored by Courtney Burke, James Fossett, and Thomas Gais. This report finds that significant activity at federal and state levels to extend opportunities for partnerships between government and faith-based social service organizations (FBOs) comes at a time of challenging long-term trends. According to the report, these trends include revenue pressures, shifting priorities, administrative barriers in health services, and increasing competition for social service contracts and grants.

The Urban Institute examined state and local contracting under three block grant programs with "Charitable Choice" provisions, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT), and the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)-and one discretionary program aimed specifically at engaging faith based organizations in public contracting, the Compassion Capital Fund. This article provides information on the role of faith within publicly funded programs.

Authored by David A. Long and Tammy Ouellette. Despite the TANF program's emphasis on employment, the policies, practices, and attitudes of the employers of TANF recipients have received limited attention. This study, conducted by Abt Associates and the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, synthesizes existing research regarding employers, workforce intermediaries, and TANF recipients and considers options for further study -- including a national survey of employers and workforce intermediaries -- to improve understanding in this area.

Employers can be a key component to help TANF recipients maintain employment. This resource, from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, reviews information from the Jobs Initiative on what kinds of employers are willing to work with workforce intermediaries and what activities are likely to help support workers.

This guidebook was developed specifically for small community-based, faith-based, and minority nonprofit organizations in Louisiana who are committed to providing valuable social services, leadership, and hope to needy citizens in Louisiana's most vulnerable communities. Information is provided on the competitive RFP process and contracting work with the State. The guidebook is part of a broader effort by Louisiana State government to increase the capacity of non-profit organizations in the State.

This resource reviews a project through New York City's Administration for Children's Service project called Neighborhood Networks. This project builds a foundation for collaboration among organizations that work with children and families. The goal of the project is to increase access to social services for families and decrease the number of children in foster care. The article reviews the effectiveness of these networks.

On June 18-21, 2001, the ACF Northeast HUB, in collaboration with AFYA, Inc., held a TANF Data Collection and Reporting Workshop in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The overall theme of the workshops was the importance of TANF data in managing the program and determining possible future changes.

This audio conference 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 Supporting Families After Welfare Reform program is a new $6.8 million initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the program is to help States and large counties address problems in eligibility processes that make it difficult for low-income families (particularly families moving from Welfare to Work) to access and retain Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), or Food Stamps. The program includes technical assistance for States and counties developing and using eligibility and enrollment data to improve their systems; workshops on the barriers in State and local eligibility and enrollment processes; and resources to implement proposed solutions. This new initiative will provide technical assistance and grants for up to twenty-two States and large counties to improve their enrollment and redetermination processes for Medicaid, SCHIP, and Food Stamps.