The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Region VI hosted a hands-on and interactive training for TANF programs on September 11-13, 2012. The 2012 Fiscal and Data Management Workshop in Dallas, Texas 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. The workshop brought together State TANF directors and fiscal staff to strategize on ways to manage TANF dollars, collect, analyze, and report TANF participant and program data. Attendees learned strategies for maximizing TANF dollars and local partnerships and worked with peers to understand promising strategies for improving program performance and participant outcomes.

The Essex County Division of Training and Employment in New Jersey was interested in learning strategies that would help assist TANF Work Eligible recipients to achieve marketable skills that will move them to self-sufficiency and remove them from TANF roles and other forms of public assistance. The ultimate goal of Essex County was for individuals to self-provide for their families. The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network convened a peer-to-peer conversation between Essex County and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Oklahoma so that Oklahoma could share strategies on running literacy programs designed to screen, assess, and provide literacy training to TANF participants. The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network also developed an environmental scan of literacy programs in TANF organizations for Essex County to use as a tool and resource.

The final report is now available! The Administration for Children and Families Regions VI and VIII and the Employment and Training Administration Region IV came together to host the Client Success through Partnership: 2010 TANF and Workforce Meeting in Dallas, Texas from July 25-27, 2010. The meeting contained a series of targeted discussion forums, interactive plenary sessions, and peer-to-peer breakouts coordinated to improve partnership and collaboration among TANF and workforce programs. Over the two and one-half days, attendees were exposed to a variety of sessions presented by more than 20 distinguished experts and peers from the TANF, workforce, social service, and research communities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sponsored a 3-day conference for Tribal TANF grantees in Regions VI, VIII, and X. The annual meeting was designed to address the needs of grantees who have received funding to operate Tribal TANF programs. A total of 30 Tribal TANF programs were represented at the conference. The objective of the conference was to promote awareness and provide information on effective implementation and service delivery, as well as afford grantees the opportunity to collaborate and communicate with each other.

Welfare Peer TA network designed the Bringing Hope to Children of Incarcerated Parents Roundtable. The first Roundtable was held in Denver, CO in November 2003. This second Roundtable, held in Nashville, TN, showcased promising practices from around the country, and provided time for participants to think strategically about how to design and implement these programs as well as opportunities to learn about and discuss “what works” in serving this population. Participants included representatives from the States of Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Roundtable speakers included State and local government agencies, service providers, practitioners, Federal personnel, and leaders of national organizations.

The Peer Technical Assistance (TA) Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) coordinated this rural workshop involving select representatives from twelve States from across four ACF Regions. State agency representatives were present from a variety of agencies including TANF, WTW, transportation, economic development, and domestic violence. Private sector speakers included a town mayor, a chief executive officer for a mass transit district, directors of several State coalitions against domestic violence, and key individuals from various private state-wide welfare service organizations. States represented included Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

The purpose of this one-day workshop was to promote the sharing of ideas and innovative practices designed to assist rural communities to effectively collaborate and utilize community resources to move welfare recipients toward employment and self-sufficiency. During the workshop, participants examined partnership building and the importance of collaboration among and between state, local, and community agencies as a key element in addressing many welfare reform issues. Collaboration among the following agencies was discussed: welfare, transportation, domestic violence, and economic, community, and housing development.

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 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 ACF West-Central Hub Family Stabilization Workshop, held September 26 and 27, 2001, in Denver, CO, had three primary themes: Responsible Fatherhood, Faith-based and Community Initiatives, and Marriage and Family Stabilization. The Administration for Children and Families West-Central Hub includes Region VI (New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas) and Region VIII (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming). The objectives of the workshop were to introduce participants to successful programs in the three key areas, to encourage networking, and to serve vulnerable children and families by focusing on making lasting connections. Speakers from various programs and perspectives  shared promising practices, challenges, and lessons learned in the area of family stabilization.