Since 1996, many childless adults between the ages of 18 and 50 can only get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for three months in a 36-month period unless they are exempt or are able to document sufficient work hours. This vulnerable population includes veterans, youth aging out of foster care, individuals reentering the workforce after incarceration, and the chronically unhoused. Many of the people subject to time limits either cannot find jobs or get too few hours of work in the jobs they do have. This Food Research and Action Center’s research brief explains the SNAP time limit provisions and discusses priorities for outreach, proper screening for time limit exemptions, and use of discretionary exemptions and waivers for areas that have 10 percent or higher unemployment or other indicators of insufficient jobs.

The Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Learning Agenda (WFSSLA) was developed by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation’s Division of Economic Independence and the Office of Family Assistance (OFA). It guides the development and execution of the Division and OFA’s activities to learn how TANF and other human services best support the self-sufficiency and economic well-being of children and families with low incomes. The WFSSLA includes briefs for workstreams, or focal domains, to build knowledge about effectively fostering family economic security, stability, and self-sufficiency. Each brief synthesizes learning to date in that area based on key Division of Economic Independence projects; discusses select remaining gaps in knowledge; lists learning questions to inform future learning activities; and includes a table listing current Division projects pertaining to the workstream.

The Skills and Experience for the Careers of Tomorrow (SECTOR) program provides employment and training services, cognitive behavioral interventions, and connections to mental health and substance use disorder services for people with previous legal system involvement. It uses a sector-based approach, which connects individuals to training opportunities that offer a livable wage, career advancement opportunities, and benefits for job seekers. The model anticipates that behavioral health, well-being, employment, and earnings improvements will reduce future interactions with the criminal legal system. This MDRC report presents the findings of the SECTOR program evaluation as part of the Los Angeles County Reentry Integrated Services Project. The evaluation focuses mainly on employment and criminal legal system contact and whether SECTOR successfully connects individuals to mental health and substance use disorder services.

Disaster displacement refers to the involuntary movement of residents from their homes and community because of an external phenomenon for a temporary, short-term, or long-term period. There are approximately 1 million new disaster displacements in the United States every year. After being displaced by a disaster, people often have critical human services needs in areas such as housing, income support, transportation, employment, and education. These needs can be acute for people with low incomes. A combination of federal, state, and local emergency management and human services agencies and nonprofit, community, and faith-based organizations work to address these needs. This report summarizes existing literature and available resources on disaster displacement and human services. The findings in this report can provide useful insights to policymakers, agencies, and organizations that provide human services to people displaced by disasters.

In 2014, three Ohio community colleges set out to adapt a developmental student support model pioneered by the City University of New York (CUNY) called Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP). This program requires students to attend school full time and provides support services for three years, including enhanced advising, financial aid, and career counseling, to help them graduate with an associate’s degree quickly. In this Evidence First podcast episode, MDRC talks with Christine Brongniart, the University Executive Director of CUNY ASAP, and Colleen Sommo, a senior research fellow in MDRC’s Postsecondary Education policy area, to learn more about the replication of CUNY ASAP and the latest findings from MDRC’s study of the Ohio program, including increased earnings and doubled graduation rates.

A work-based learning quagmire has arisen related to SNAP. Benefit recipients enrolled in subsidized work-based learning programs offered through their SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) are paid a reasonable wage in these transitional jobs; as a result, they are no longer eligible for SNAP and are forced off their training program. This sudden and unexpected decrease in or loss of government benefits that often occurs with an increase in wages is referred to as a benefit cliff. This American Public Human Services Association brief explains work-based learning and how it differs from unsubsidized employment, as well as possible solutions to benefit cliffs.

Team-based case management is an innovative approach that removes redundancies and emphasizes coordination across the multiple organizations that may be serving the same participant. This guide describes how team-based case management can benefit SNAP E&T participants and provides an implementation checklist and resources for State agencies considering this approach. It highlights innovative approaches from Kentucky, Vermont, and Washington, highlighting how each State adopted team-based case management during the 2014 Farm Bill E&T pilot projects.

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, in partnership with the Children’s Bureau, announces a new TANF-Child Welfare Learning Community. The “Families Are Stronger Together: TANF & Child Welfare Partnering for Prevention Learning Community (FAST-LC)” will center on innovative prevention strategies to strengthen families and mitigate and reduce their involvement with the child welfare system through partnerships between TANF and Child Welfare programs. The FAST-LC is a one-year initiative slated to launch in September 2023 and conclude in September 2024. An August 10, 2023 webinar discussed the self-nomination process and benefits of the FAST-LC.

Self-nomination packages are due by Thursday, September 7, 2023, at 6:00 pm ET and can be obtained by emailing TANF-CWLearningCommunity@blhtech.com.

Research shows that economic supports are critical to family well-being and prevention; programs including child support, SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF play a pivotal role. These programs intersect in complex ways impacting the lives of children and families. In 2022, the American Public Human Services Association partnered with the National Child Support Engagement Association and the National Council of Child Support Directors to establish a forum for TANF administrators and child support directors to improve collaborative ties across programs. Since the initial creation, this forum has expanded to a Technical Working Group of administrators in child support, TANF, SNAP, and child welfare, parents, and other national partners to identify foundational principles for coordination and collaboration in economic supports inclusive of child support programs. This publication highlights key practices and policy levers that can better support the families they serve.

The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state program and served to reduce public expenditures for recipients of cash assistance by obtaining ongoing support from noncustodial parents that could be used to reimburse the state and federal governments for part of that assistance. Over the years, CSE has evolved into a multifaceted program. While public assistance cost recovery remains an important function of the program, its other aspects include service delivery and promotion of self-sufficiency and parental responsibility. This Congressional Research Service summary explores how the CSE program has different rules for assistance families (e.g., those receiving cash benefits under TANF) and non-assistance families. Additionally, the summary highlights each of the CSE program’s seven major services -- (1) parent location, (2) paternity establishment, (3) establishment of child support orders, (4) review and modification of child support orders, (5) collection of child support payments, (6) distribution of child support payments, and (7) establishment and enforcement of medical support – and discusses how they impact TANF families.