Brighter Future, Inc. (Brighter Future) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Texas. This organization is a minority operated, community-based organization that provides educational training, vocational support services, and pre-vocational services to underprivileged Texas adults and adolescents. Brighter Future submitted a technical assistance (TA) request to the Welfare Peer TA Network requesting assistance and guidance in securing grants that would allow for the expansion of their youth and adult literacy education program services.

The OFA Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated a workshop on behalf of the Philadelphia County Assistance Office. The purpose of this one day technical assistance event was to identify barriers that large urban areas such as Philadelphia encounter in their efforts to move Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients from welfare to meaningful employment, and to explore strategies to overcome these barriers. Two focus groups were set up to obtain information about barriers identified from both an operational perspective and an administrative perspective from within the Philadelphia County Assistance Office. TANF provider representatives from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Indiana shared information about some of the obstacles that they had encountered and successfully addressed within the past year. The workshop concluded with a discussion of strategies that the Philadelphia County Assistance Office could implement, resources available to assist with the implementation of these strategies, and next steps.

The Peer Technical Assistance Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, held a 1 and a 1/2 day interactive workshop addressing the issue of welfare reform in the rural community context. The focus of the 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 to employment and self-sufficiency.

This document details a recent review of Nebraska’s new Employment First Screening and Assessment Form (“Screening Form”) and Guide, conducted by the staff of the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network. This review involved a document analysis of the Screening Form and the Guide, as well as interviews with an Employment First Program Specialist and two Employment First caseworkers.

One of the most prominent roadblocks that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients face to a successful transition to employment is substance abuse. In order to address these issues that TANF families affected by substance abuse face the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network held a conference entitled Effectively Serving Clients with Substance Abuse Problems: Making a Difference on the Frontline in Newark, New Jersey on February 19th and 20th. The purpose of this 2-day seminar was two fold: to provide participants with an opportunity to understand how TANF agencies and treatment providers can work together to better serve clients and to showcase New Jersey’s referral process for families struggling with substance abuse in order to meet work requirements and remain self-sufficient. The report provides a summary of this workshop.

On March 26-27, 2002, the Welfare Peer TA held a technical assistance meeting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in order to compare and contrast Louisiana’s joint interagency substance abuse initiative to that of the State of North Carolina. As part of this comparison, staff members from North Carolina’s Division of Social Services and its Division of Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities/Substance Abuse Services were onsite to participate in the meeting. Their role in this technical assistance meeting was to provide information about their initiative and informal observations and recommendations to Louisiana about their interagency substance abuse initiative. The overall goal of the meeting was to examine what “works” and what “doesn’t work” from the perspective of the North Carolina staff. The meeting included a visit to a pilot site for the State’s substance abuse initiative, which afforded the North Carolina staff an opportunity to gain an in-depth observation and understanding of Louisiana’s program.

Professionals from Cass County solicited specific technical assistance from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network in response to this developing problem of drug screening. Their technical assistance request broadly covered substance abuse screening in general, but also included specific aspects of methamphetamine use and identification among TANF clients. The TA request from North Dakota touched on multiple aspects of substance abuse. The technical assistance request from North Dakota solicited help in addressing substance abuse among TANF families and devising strategies to assist substance abusing families find and maintain employment. 

In March 1999, the Welfare Peer TA Network hosted a workshop for the state of Oregon on learning disabilities strategies. Oregon identified learning disabilities as a major barrier to self-sufficiency, and as their caseload dropped, many participants were identified has having some type of learning disability. This meeting included partners to how to best identify learning disabilities and provide appropriate services to their participants.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network supported a one and one-half day technical assistance event in New Hampshire on April 4 and 5, 2000. The first day of the event centered on training for approximately 25 state professionals working with TANF clients with learning disabilities. The second day involved an extensive discussion with the New Hampshire Learning Disabilities Coordinator, Ms. Linda Swenson, and provided an evaluation of the current process of identification and referral for TANF clients with learning disabilities in New Hampshire. Mr. Daniel Fey, Learning Disability Project and Educational Services Coordinator for the Seattle-King County One-stop Center, and a BRIDGES2 trainer, facilitated the training day and provided his expertise in evaluating the current assessment and referral system. Dr. Jeanette Hercik, from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, was also present for the training day and the evaluation.

The Pacific Hub State TANF Directors Meeting took place in Seattle, WA on July 25-26, 2001. States heard presentations on the following: national perspective on welfare reform, a learning disability program, case manager training and retention, and caseload dynamics and time limits.