The New Haven Mental Health Outreach for MotherS (MOMS) Partnership™ is a collaboration of agencies across the city of New Haven, Connecticut that work together to support the well-being of mothers and families living in the city. This partnership created a social media application called “MoMba™,” which connects new mothers locally to promote healthy mother-infant interaction, social connectedness, and community engagement. New mothers may feel socially isolated after giving birth, thereby making it more difficult to form a healthy mother-infant bond with their baby. The application focuses on promotion of social support and capital, maternal-infant attachment, and skill building related to parenting. Representatives of the collaboration shared an overview on how this application harnesses technology to enhance social capital among low-income mothers at the September 2015 OFA Gateway to Opportunity convening.

The Office of Family Assistance’s (OFA) Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy (Policy Academy) was an 18-month intensive technical assistance (TA) initiative in 2015–2016 for seven states and one county interested in modernizing and improving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practice. During the initiative, sites received dedicated coaches, onsite strategic planning, access to expert consultants, and tailored written resources. Additionally, they participated in several in-person convenings, peer exchanges, and virtual training. These state profiles detail the journey and lessons learned of the 8 teams that participated in the Policy Academy.

Throughout the past three years, the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices has provided technical assistance to Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming to develop statewide plans to improve outcomes and reduce cost of care for high-need, high-cost Medicaid enrollees. This road map from NGA can be used by states across the country that are interested in housing as an element of improved health and a reduction of costly health services.

This post from a TANF program specialist at the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) describes OFA’s efforts in improving TANF programs across the country. To share ideas about improving case management, integrating two-generation approaches, engaging workforce partners, and enhancing training, OFA has launched a national policy academy. The first groups to enter the academy are Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland, North Carolina, Ramsey County (Minnesota), Utah, Washington, and West Virginia.

The Peer Technical Assistance (TA) Network responded to a technical assistance request from the Connecticut Department of Social Services in June and July 2014. Connecticut's technical assistance request focused on understanding how other states have restructured or redesigned their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) service delivery, intake process flows, participant engagement, and service coordination. Eight states were identified as having recently restructured various components of their TANF programs and were engaged in semi-structured conversations by Peer TA Network staff around their processes, procedures, lessons learned, and other information, including assessment, engagement of participants, case management, and service coordination. The eight states interviewed include: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Regions I, II and III hosted representatives from 14 States in the Northeast region at the 2013 Tri-Regional Technical Assistance Meeting entitled "Developing an Exit Strategy for Leaving TANF on the Pathway to Family Stability." This meeting was held on September 17-19, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) stakeholders were brought together to engage with peers on innovative strategies and collaborations to promote economic and social well-being for individuals, families and communities. State and territory representatives shared strategies they are utilizing to overcome barriers to self-sufficiency. In addition to peer networking and dialogue with ACF and OFA leadership, experts from the field presented on topics ranging from the intersection of learning disabilities and TANF families, to maximizing collaborations to improve TANF program outcomes.

A strong, stable, and comprehensive social safety-net is critical to the well-being of low-income and working families. Strong partnerships not only improve the quantity of services delivered, but also contribute to the overall quality of available services that families rely on in order to become economically self-sufficient. The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Regions I, II, and III hosted the 2012 East Coast Strategic Collaborations Workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 18-20, 2012 in an effort to bring together TANF, workforce, child support, responsible fatherhood, housing, and community services stakeholders to map out a plan for better communication and collaboration. The workshop included targeted discussions with policy, research, and service delivery experts and culminated with an interactive building of a self-sufficiency puzzle made up of specific next steps, action items, and technical assistance needs. The workshop brought together State TANF directors, local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) directors, and other human service administrators and leaders to strategize on ways to better coordinate services for low-income and working families while improving program performance and service delivery outcomes. Workshop topics included the role of TANF in the safety-net, the current and future research agenda, career pathways, subsidized employment, and partnership development.

August 22, 2011 marked the 15th anniversary of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program which was passed in an effort to “end welfare as we know it.” Although TANF cash assistance caseloads have fallen dramatically over the past 15 years, the need for assistance has remained high as the economic recovery continues to batter low-income and working families. Analyses of Federal and State caseload data, food stamp data, poverty data, and unemployment data show that TANF has not kept pace with the rates of food stamp usage or kept pace with unemployment and poverty increases, but remains an important component of the work-based safety-net for many Americans. State and Territory TANF programs are continuously challenged with developing and implementing effective work readiness, job skills, barrier reduction, and job placement activities for their TANF participants and as a result the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance. Regions I, II, and III convened the TANF at 15: Where Do We Go from Here 2011 Tri-Regional TANF Directors’ Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island on November 1-3, 2011 to discuss the status of the TANF program and to determine appropriate next steps for programs and families. The TANF at 15 meeting focused on pertinent issues impacting TANF families and the TANF programs including improving responsiveness, engagement, fiscal management, domestic violence, asset-development, the TANF/SSI connection, and the work-based safety net during periods of sustained and increased unemployment. The meeting brought together national experts, Federal officials, researchers and program officials from the Urban Institute, MDRC, ICF International, and State and TANF directors representing nearly a third of the country to strategize around peer-developed practical solutions to common challenges facing TANF programs and participants. TANF at 15 represented a beginning of a tri-regional discussion on the status of TANF programming and laid the foundation for continued dialogue, focused planning, and increased responsiveness.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was developed to assist low-income and working families transition into employment and achieve greater levels of economic self-sufficiency. State/Territory/Tribal TANF grantees are responsible for managing more than $16 billion in Federal funds and successfully managing TANF programs requires skill and understanding. On June 15-16, 2011, the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Regions I, II, and III hosted the first ever fiscal management workshop for TANF programs. The 2011 Tri-Regional TANF Fiscal Management Symposium in New York, New York covered topics from caseload reduction credits and maintenance of effort (MOE), to cost allocation, audits, and penalties and provided TANF program representatives with the most comprehensive and hands-on training on managing TANF programs available.

In the foreground of reauthorization the Administration for Children and Families Regions I, II, III, and IV convened the first ever 2010 East Coast TANF Directors’ Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 19-21, 2010. The conference brought together 24 State TANF directors and program staff to strategize on ways to move low-income and working families closer to economic self-sufficiency while providing important input on the development of new TANF legislation. Specific topics included subsidized employment, strengthening safety-net partnerships, improving assessments and service delivery for domestic violence victims, and asset development strategies to improve long-term economic development. The conference brought together federal, state, and local partners and stakeholders to develop a new vision for a new decade and to enhance the program options available to low-income families and TANF participants.