This report summarizes a national conference that took place in Arlington, VA, on March 20-21, 2003. The conference was jointly sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This conference brought together substance abuse treatment agency directors and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) administrators from forty States, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. The conference provided a forum for these policymakers and administrators to share information about their experience and concerns, and their promising strategies used in strengthening the collaboration and partnership of TANF and substance abuse treatment directors.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) and Emergency Assistance programs wit the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Under TANF, the nature of public assistance changed from an entitlement program to one that requires individuals to work in order to receive time-limited support. This change in the welfare delivery system was accompanied by an increase in State-level flexibility in program design and operation. Welfare reform required no less than a redefinition of the role of decision makers at the Federal, State and local level, including the role played by front line workers when interacting with welfare recipients. In the journey toward reinventing the social safety net, States have met a variety of formidable challenges. Five years after the passage of welfare reform, this report takes stock of the past and current challenges that States have encountered. This report focuses on the policies and services provided to the hardest-to-serve and on the network of collaborations that States have developed to address the needs of these populations.

The Rockefeller Institute of Government's Roundtable on Religion and Social Policy recently hosted a panel discussion on healthy marriage on June 28, 2004. The following report is a transcript of the event. Speakers include Richard P. Nathan, Director of The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute Of Government and The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy; John P. Bartkowski, Professor of Sociology, Mississippi State University; Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families; W. Bradford Wilcox, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia; Theodora Ooms, Senior Policy Analyst, The Center for Law and Social Policy.

The National Healthy Marriage Academy, held January 8 and 9, 2003,  in Arlington, VA, provided an opportunity for representatives from several States to learn more about the Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Healthy Marriage Initiative. The Academy afforded States an opportunity to hear presentations from nationally recognized speakers, researchers, and Federal policy makers, as well as from other States with successful Healthy Marriage Initiatives.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, coordinated two-day site visits at the request of several Regional and State Department of Health and Human Services Offices. States were invited to participate based on findings resulting from the Network’s national needs assessment regarding the challenges and successes of implementation of State welfare reform initiatives. Ms. Vesta Kimble, Deputy Director of the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services, led the site visit. Ms. Kimble provided an in-depth description of Anne Arundel County’s Family Investment Program. This technical assistance event afforded participants an opportunity to observe Anne Arundel’s welfare service delivery system first hand.

The Olmstead Decision and Welfare-to-Work ACF Region IV Meeting was held on August 23-24, 2000, at The Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 80 participants attended, including State Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) Directors, and Welfare-to-Work (WtW) administrators along with representatives from State Medicaid offices, and representatives of the Developmental Disabilities Network (State developmental disabilities councils, protection and advocacy agencies, and the university affiliated programs). The focus of this Regional meeting was to examine how the Olmstead Decision and Welfare-to-Work initiatives can be incorporated into each States’ Strategic Plan.

This report describes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Family, Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network meeting, Strengthening Communities Through Charitable Choice Connections. The workshop, jointly sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of Community Services, and the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, was held in Atlanta, GA on April 9, 2002.