During Phase 3 of the project (2009-2010), in close partnership with the OFA Federal Project Officer, the project team conducted two-day site visits with each leading organization, which included faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, and intermediary partners. The case studies were drafted to isolate key insights about local collaboration and help identify strategic on-the-ground practices for FBCO leaders or TANF practitioners.

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.

ACF Regions II and III held a Maximizing ARRA Funding in the TANF Program Meeting in New York City, New York on February 4-5, 2010. This meeting explored how States in these two ACF Regions were utilizing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which included the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund—which appropriated $5 billion for the provision of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for creating/enhancing subsidized employment programs, providing basic assistance (cash grants to low-income families), and providing non-recurrent short-term payments (e.g. four months of rental assistance for homeless families, security deposit and first month’s rent, utility assistance). In order to assist States in implementing innovative initiatives to respond to rising caseloads and/or rising expenditures, ACF Regions II and III coordinated this strategy forum for States to share experiences and work together to determine next steps.

The New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) requested technical assistance from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network to help design and implement effective strategies to mitigate the effects of the recent economic downturn on low-income families. OTDA requested assistance in identifying strategies that other jurisdictions have taken to respond to the recession and how they have successfully utilized the TANF provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). A peer-to-peer roundtable was convened in Albany, New York July 14-15, 2009 during the National Association of Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS) Conference in order to highlight state perspectives and to document state uses of the TANF-related components of ARRA and effective strategies for implementation.

The capstone event for the Rural Communities Initiative was the Rural Leadership Forum that took place in Charleston, South Carolina on September 1-2, 2009. Representatives from the 16 rural TANF sites met to share lessons learned; explore leadership and sustainability plans; and discuss successes garnered and challenges encountered from the implementation of the Rural TANF sites’ TA plans over the past year.

The Rural Communities Academy was the "kick off" event for the 16 selected rural sites and included time for each rural site team (consisting of four/five team members) to participate in information gathering, networking, and action planning. The team members who attended the Academy participated in workshops and plenary sessions, and met with Rural Content Specialists and representatives from other rural communities who shared their insight into strategies being utilized in rural areas with TANF participants.

The North Dakota Department of Human Services/Career Options Roundtable was held in Bismarck, North Dakota from May 5-6, 2009. Attendees included representatives from seven Rural Communities Initiative sites as well as administrators and case management staff from Career Options, Inc. Based on Career Options’ presentation during the Rural Communities Academy in September 2008, a number of Initiative sites requested follow-up on certain aspects of the programmatic work taking place at the organization. Specifically, sites expressed interest in Career Options’ organizational development model, child care and education programs, and case management strategies for hard-to-serve participants. With these requests in mind, the Roundtable was designed to include a series of in-depth breakout sessions that focused on the unique tools and case management approaches utilized by Career Options. In addition, as a way to show the diversity of Career Options’ caseload, Roundtable attendees participated in a site visit to the Standing Rock Reservation where they visited with case management staff and toured the Reservation. During the close-out session, attendees discussed their next steps for taking strategies from this Roundtable and replicating them in their local areas.

This Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network site exchange was conducted to support the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families in exploring the WeCARE (Wellness, Comprehensive Assessment, Rehabilitation, Employment) program of the Human Resources Administration (HRA) in New York City. The site exchange took place on October 31, 2008, and the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network facilitated the visit and interaction between the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, staff from the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) and Arbor, the contractor who operates WeCARE in Brooklyn. The site exchange featured presentations by both HRA and Arbor staff responsible for the program, tours of the Brooklyn facility; a tour of a community partner’s office, a tour of the medical facility at a local hospital and dialogue among participants to discuss the details of operations and the implementation of the current program.

On November 13-14, 2008, the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network sponsored a two-day site exchange to New York City (NYC) Human Resources Administration (HRA). The purpose of the Technical Assistance (TA) was to provide the Hawaii Department of Human Services the opportunity to observe NYC’s use of JobStat, which allows the city to set goals, monitor, and measure outcomes of performance indicators established for NYC Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants, workers, job centers, and vendors. Hawaii was also able to learn about NYC HRA’s Wellness, Assessment, Rehabilitation, and Employment (WeCARE) program that serves NYC TANF and Safety Net participants who have clinical barriers to employment.

From the Population Research Bureau, this outlines recent data on the cost of child poverty by State. Specifically, children that grow up in poverty have negative health, social, and economic consequences, which can have large costs for States. California, with an estimated 1.7 million poor children in 2006, had the highest cost of child poverty at $63.9 billion, followed by Texas at $57.5 billion and New York at $33.4 billion.