This report explores the active role faith-based organizations are taking to better serve human, economic and neighborhood needs in their communities. The report is authored by John M. Wallace, Jr. PhD. of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work, Valerie L. Meyers, PhD. of the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, and Jim Holley, PhD. of the Historic Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church. In particular, the report notes that African-American churches have tended to take the lead in implementing holistic methods to solving community problems. It includes a case study of one such ministry that has been using a holistic approach to transform an inner-city neighborhood in Detroit.

On April 7-8, 2004, the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network provided support resources for two members of the Michigan Family Independence Agency (FIA) to attend the USDA Food and Nutrition Service meeting entitled "Using Technology to Improve Administration of the Food Stamp Program" in Olympia, Washington. Please reference the below link to read the final report.

On March 2, 2004, the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network hosted its first moderated Online Forum as part of the Child-Only Learning Community. Representatives from eight States logged onto this moderated discussion to engage with Federal resource personnel around the value of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in supporting low-income and TANF families.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) coordinated this workshop in conjunction with the El Paso County Department of Human Services (DHS). Ms. Barbara Drake, Deputy Director, El Paso County DHS, led the planning and carrying out of this site visit. It was intended for site visitors to gain an understanding of El Paso County’s uniquely holistic approach to integrating intake and case management activities for multiple programs including TANF, child welfare, child care, domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, with the CalWORKs/Child Welfare Partnership Project, hosted a Roundtable entitled Establishing Linkages Between TANF and Child Welfare Programs May 31, 2002 in Sacramento, CA. This Roundtable was attended by representatives from four States (NC, NJ, WI, CO) as well as the State of California and ten of its counties currently working toward improving service coordination.

The Welfare 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 meeting involving select representatives from States that received an ACF High Performance Bonus Award in December 1999. The High Performance Bonuses were authorized by the 1996 welfare reform legislation.

This report details the presentations given and questions, answers, and concerns articulated by members of the ACF Region V States at the June State Human Services Officials Meeting.

This audio conference was coordinated by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) as part of its Family Independence Forum series available to ACF Regional offices and State social service offices. The Supporting Families After Welfare Reform program is a new $6.8 million initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the program is to help States and large counties address problems in eligibility processes that make it difficult for low-income families (particularly families moving from Welfare to Work) to access and retain Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), or Food Stamps. The program includes technical assistance for States and counties developing and using eligibility and enrollment data to improve their systems; workshops on the barriers in State and local eligibility and enrollment processes; and resources to implement proposed solutions. This new initiative will provide technical assistance and grants for up to twenty-two States and large counties to improve their enrollment and redetermination processes for Medicaid, SCHIP, and Food Stamps.

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.

This short report describes the Roundtable entitled Developing Strategies to Address the Child-Only Caseload that was held April 8-9, 2003 in Colorado Springs (El Paso County). The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network conducted discussion with State TANF administrators around the country to assess their current policies and programs designed to meet the needs of the child-only caseload, and to gauge their level of interest in participating a Roundtable on this topic. The full report fully describes the meeting, attended by California, Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, and includes important highlights and lessons learned.