In keeping with the goal of engaging all families and improving employment and self-sufficiency outcomes as well as the goal of increasing collaboration between the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Regions IV, VI and VIII, held a Tri-Regional Technical Assistance Forum, September 23-25, 2008, in Dallas. The theme of the 3-day Forum was titled, “The Power of Partnership.” The forum, in plenary sessions, addressed the interfacing issues of both programs. Separately, State TANF Directors and members of their staff learned about strategies and new resources to help refine implementation of the provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

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.

This publication is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance under contract with ICF International. Through the Urban Partnerships Initiative, this resource shows the outstanding efforts of ten cities to meet the needs of families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The innovative practices highlighted in this piece can be applied in other urban areas throughout the Nation to enable other cities to write their own success story during the next decade of welfare reform.

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.

At the request of the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the OFA Peer TA Network sponsored this event to assist participants in improving systems and resources for providing services to TANF participants residing in rural areas. This Roundtable included participants from the Utah Department of Health and Welfare’s Regional Offices, and representatives from programs in Texas, New Mexico, Virginia, and Vermont. Partner states presented on innovative ways to serve rural families and address barriers to employment in States with large rural areas. Networking sessions afforded participants the opportunity to leverage the Roundtable as a catalyst for action planning efforts across and among regions in the State of Utah.

This discussion paper, from the Urban Institute, summarizes how States are serving clients with multiple barriers on their TANF caseloads and provides information on recent changes in States’ approaches to serving this population. Authors interviewed TANF program officials in the States of California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The goals of the meeting were to bring together State, Tribal, and Federal officials working in TANF and/or Child Care programs, to highlight best practice models of TANF/Child Care coordination, to explore how the combination of TANF and CCDF subsidies can contribute to self-sufficiency and improve families, and to provide information on federal programs that help strengthen families.

The following report describes the Urban Partnerships for Welfare Reform Academy that took place in Dallas, Texas from February 2-4, 2003 at the Fairmont Hotel-Dallas.

The following report describes the Urban Partnerships for Welfare Reform Academy III that took place in St. Louis, Missouri from March 8-11, 2005 to foster collaboration to improve administration and delivery of services to TANF families.

The Urban Partnerships Initiative was designed by the Administration for Children and Families to support the work of TANF stakeholders in urban environments by promoting shared learning, enhancing cities' performance management, and developing strategies to improve services to families so that they may achieve and maintain self-sufficiency. The following report describes the Urban Partnerships for Welfare Reform Leadership Forum that took place in Baltimore, Maryland.