Savings accounts that are started when children are born can allow parents to build savings to pay for college, home ownership, and businesses. This report is from the Center for Social Development, the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), the Initiative on Financial Security at the Aspen Institute, the New America Foundation and the University of Kansas’ School of Social Welfare, and presents results from research on families who participated in child development account pilot programs in 12 states and communities.

The Hoopa Valley Positive Indian Family Network in California requested technical assistance (TA) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance to help improve Hoopa Valley’s Positive Indian Family Network and their collaboration with other Hoopa Valley human service agencies, particularly Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The Network operates through a Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination Grant. An event was held on July 8-9, 2008, that focused on wraparound case management practices and the Systems of Care framework from the perspective of the Medicine Moon Initiative through the Native American Training Institute.

The Collaboration Institute was held in Arlington, Virginia on September 15-17, 2008. The meeting was designed for teams from medium-sized urban areas composed of three partners representing senior level managers from TANF, Child Support Enforcement, and Workforce Development agencies. The Institute provided a hands-on intensive opportunity for strategic planning and culminated in the development of an action plan to be implemented upon return to participants’ jurisdictions. The areas of focus during the Institute were on: ways to increase collaboration between State and local TANF, Workforce Development, and Child Support Enforcement agencies; examining the close link between welfare, workforce development, and child support; understanding how collaborative efforts are addressing State work participation rates; and providing a platform for key issues in child support and workforce development that impact TANF participants.

Staff from the Healthy Family/Healthy Child Project in Siletz, Oregon, submitted a technical assistance (TA) request to the Welfare Peer TA Network in hopes of increasing their knowledge around collaborating among their tribal service agencies to better serve their TANF and Child Welfare participants. The Healthy Family/Healthy Child Project operates through a Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination Grant from the U.S. Department of Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance. In response to the request, an event was held on December 3-5, 2008 that focused on wraparound case management practices and the Systems of Care (SOC) framework from the perspective of the Medicine Moon Initiative through the Native American Training Institute. Deb Painte, Director of the Medicine Moon Initiative, Jan Birkland, Sacred Child Project Coordinator for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and Claresa Blacksmith, Parent Coordinator for the St. Mary’s Parent Support Group of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, facilitated the meeting.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 gave tribal governments’ new authority to structure and administer their own cash assistance, employment and training, child care, and child support enforcement programs. This report describes some current characteristics of tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs and emerging challenges in serving tribal members through tribal and state TANF programs. It also presents findings from recent studies on welfare reform's impact on tribal members and explores tribal issues likely to be raised during TANF reauthorization in 2002.

The interaction between child support and TANF is vital for the success of not only each program, but also, and more importantly, each client’s success. As a result, Welfare Peer TA sponsored a Focus Group in Anaheim, California called “TANF/Child Support Enforcement Collaboration.” The Focus Group emphasized the need for collaboration between the child support enforcement and TANF agencies, and the need for solutions to identify gaps in services for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants.

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Administration for Children and Families. NCSACW works with States and Tribes to improve their service delivery for expanding cross-systems collaboration in an effort to improve outcomes for children and families in their states. TANF agencies can learn a framework, tools, and strategies for increasing cross-systems collaboration.

This report is from the Child Welfare Information Gateway, funded through the Children’s Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families, and provides information on the placement of children with relatives in the child welfare system. Information on kinship care is crucial to TANF stakeholders in supporting the child-only caseload in their States.

From the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this report provides data on the importance of father involvement within the lives of children. Researchers analyze case outcomes for children within the child welfare system in relation to nonresident fatherhood involvement.

This Web site offers teleconferences on various topics. On May 31st, 2007 they offered a teleconference titled "Building and Maintaining State-Tribal Partnerships to Improve Child Welfare Programs". During the teleconference, representatives from two States discussed their relationships with Tribes and how to maintain a productive partnership. The representatives discussed challenges and successes in that they had experienced while cultivating these relationships.