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.

This report was authored through the U.S. Conference of Mayors and provides relevant information on hunger and homelessness across cities in the United States. This report includes data from 25 urban centers across the country in 2008. Specifically, it was found that 95 percent of cities reported an increase in the demand for emergency food assistance over the past year. Additionally, 83 percent of cities reported an increase in homelessness over the past year in comparison to 2007.

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 General Accounting Office (GAO) convened this forum in June 2008 to address and discuss current issues for disadvantaged children and families in a time where the Federal budget for such programs is decreasing. It is projected that Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security will dramatically increase as a share of the Federal budget, and the GAO was interested in learning about how disadvantaged families and children will fare.

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 a feasibility assessment, which is an analysis of alternative datasets and analytic approaches that might be used to assess the effects of Hurricane Katrina on populations served by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This report shows the continuing needs and programs needed to serve the population. Additionally, authors identify lessons learned that can help improve service delivery in future disasters.

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.

This report was completed through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and the Office of Human Services Policy. Researchers reviewed data on homeless families with children, and identified knowledge gaps on homeless families among existing research. The report provides a wide range of data, which includes information on receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).