Based on input from state TANF programs during the 2023 National TANF Directors’ Meeting, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) developed five virtual Learning Collaboratives (LCs) on topics best addressed through a cohort-based, peer learning format. These LCs were designed to be a progressive series of interactive meetings that facilitated reflection, peer sharing, connection with experts, and human-centered design and planning activities to deeply explore facets of the collaborative topic. Sessions were held monthly from March to August 2024 for 60-90 minutes.

The Building Strategic Partnerships with Child Welfare Services LC was connected TANF professionals interested in building strategic partnerships with child welfare partners with experts and one another. It was designed to prepare states to partner with child welfare services to jointly explore a key area for upstream prevention, given the growing body of evidence demonstrating how the concrete and economic supports available through TANF can prevent and reduce families’ involvement with the child welfare system. Participating states included Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

This OFA resource highlights the Building Strategic Partnerships with Child Welfare Services LC, including key takeaways and resources from each session as well as overall themes and future considerations for follow-up.

On October 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the approval of up to $10 million in initial emergency grant funding to North Carolina to support disaster-relief jobs and training services in 25 counties to help respond to Hurricane Helene. This DOL release explains how the National Dislocated Worker Grant – supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 – will allow the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Solutions to provide people with temporary disaster-relief jobs for cleanup and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to address immediate, basic needs for those displaced by Hurricane Helene.

The National Governors Association (NGA) selected Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, and North Carolina to participate in the Policy Academy to Strengthen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) Delivery. These four states will receive technical assistance through the policy academy to identify and address barriers to successfully implementing SNAP E&T programs in their states. This NGA resource describes how workforce and human services agencies in these states will receive technical assistance to elevate their SNAP E&T programs to drive more resources and opportunities for economic self-sufficiency.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration funds the Disability Innovation Fund-Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) projects designed to decrease subminimum wage employment and increase competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities currently employed in or contemplating subminimum wage employment. This Mathematica practice brief explores how SWTCIE staff promote their projects to potential participants and employers. It summarizes interviews with four SWTCIE projects from agencies in Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Texas. The brief shares promising practices including (1) meeting people where they are and proactively addressing their concerns, (2) engaging a wide network in their communities, (3) consulting external resources such as communications firms to shape their branding, and (4) promoting success stories and using family and peer mentors. The lessons learned could help vocational rehabilitation agencies and other organizations interested in implementing aspects of their programs.

A benefits cliff may occur when an increase in income pushes a worker above the income eligibility limit for public assistance programs, and the loss of assistance is greater than the value of the increase. This Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta webinar explored the economic challenge of benefit cliffs from the perspective of employers and community leaders who help families navigate public assistance programs and plan for career advancement opportunities. The webinar presented tools that can identify and inform mitigation strategies as well as a discussion of innovation pilots in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington D.C. to develop benefits cliff solutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2023 forced TANF programs to rethink service delivery. Programs were forced to find new ways to implement policies and innovate through the use of technology. In response, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) launched the Leveraging America’s Social and Economic Resilience (LASER) TANF Learning Community (TLC). LASER TLC builds on the immediate adaptations to the pandemic. It helps programs design and implement sustainable strategies for the post-pandemic world.

Four of the ten program teams, highlighted here, focused their efforts on modernization projects. These four TANF program teams are: the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians Tribal TANF program; the North Carolina Work First Program; the Kentucky Works Program; and the North Dakota TANF Program.

This brief highlights the small and large ways of approaching TANF modernization. It further offers insight into what can be achieved through small, intentional steps guided by a bold vision for innovation.

A benefits cliff may occur when an increase in income (e.g., from working more hours, getting a raise, or taking a new position) pushes a worker above the income eligibility limit for one or more public assistance programs, and the loss of assistance is greater than the value of the increase. This forces people to choose between their family’s immediate financial best interest and their own longer-term wage growth and career advancement. The Federal Reserve is hosting a Connecting Communities webinar on October 12, 2023 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET to explore this economic challenge. Participants will learn about tools developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to identify and inform mitigation strategies, as well as innovation pilots including Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington D.C. that can inform state and community leaders working to develop solutions to the benefits cliff.

The Office of Family Assistance initiative, “Leveraging America’s Social and Economic Resilience TANF Learning Community” (LASER TLC), supported ten TANF Programs across the country as they worked to address the challenges of human service delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and focused on improving and delivering more responsive services to their TANF families. This document shares North Carolina Work First’s journey during their participation in the 18-month learning community. The site journey conveys how their LASER TLC site team, along with support from their dedicated coaching team and application of the LI2 framework, contributed to developing their action plan and strategizing the implementation of their change agenda to benefit TANF families.

The capacity to plan for, design, and conduct evaluations takes appropriately allocated resources, expertise, technical assistance, and tools to create over time. WorkforceGPS will host a virtual session on July 26, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET that will highlight the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration’s efforts and those of two state workforce agencies to expand or build evidence and implement evaluations as required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. Along with representatives from Washington State and North Carolina, presenters will share insights about the evaluation and research community of practice, describe lessons learned from past Evaluation Peer Learning Cohorts (EvalPLC), and provide information about the next round of applications for the 2023 EvalPLC.

In observance of National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, September 19-25, this compendium highlights nine practices that represent holistic approaches to delivering adult education programs. These programs represent approaches for modeling effective integrated education and training (IET) programs—transitioning adult learners from adult basic education to postsecondary education or training, and increasing access to adult education services. The practices are drawn from programs in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas.