Saving Penalties Push Families Deeper Into Poverty
Record Description
This report from Prosperity Now provides information about why creating savings penalties towards welfare programs such as SNAP and SSI actually harm families instead of aiding them. Studies have shown that low-income families with savings are able to more easily handle financial shocks. Most states are in the process of eliminating savings penalties due to the fact that eliminating them reduces administrative costs and caseloads.
State TANF Policies - A Graphical Overview of State TANF Policies as of July 2016
Record Description
This brief provides a graphical overview of selected state policy differences for TANF cash assistance. The Welfare Rules Database (WRD), a database maintained by the Urban Institute and funded by the OPRE and ACF, provides the information for this brief. The paper discusses policies related to initial eligibility, benefit amounts, and ongoing eligibility. Additional information about the resources the WRD offers is also included.
Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors: Seventeenth Report to Congress
Record Description
This report from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation is a required annual report to Congress on indicators and predictors of welfare dependence. The report provides data on benefits provided only by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The indicators reported on are mostly current through 2015, and some select indicators are current through 2016; the report summarizes the changes to the data over time.
Building Evidence Culture and Capacity in Federal Agencies
Record Description
This brief from the Urban Institute explores building evidence capacity within federal agencies, which has been identified as a priority within the 2017 report from the bipartisan Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking created by Congress. The brief explains how federal agencies can position themselves to establish, strengthen, and sustain evidence-building activities such as program evaluations. Current efforts of existing agencies are given.
Since 1998, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has convened the Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS) to present the latest findings from evaluations of programs, policies, and services that support low-income and vulnerable families on the path to economic self-sufficiency. For nearly 20 years, the RECS been a leading forum for researchers, State and local administrators, practitioners, and Federal officials and policymakers to discuss cutting-edge research on family self-sufficiency and social welfare programs and policies. The next RECS, which will take place May 30-June 1, 2018, will provide an opportunity to gather in Washington D.C. and hear the latest findings from evaluations of social welfare programs and policies, discuss ways to incorporate findings into the design and implementation of programs, and develop strategies for future evaluations. The agenda for the three-day RECS includes six different session tracks (http://recsconference.net/2018agenda_detail.htm). The deadline for registration has been extended to May 17.
This blog post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) describes how the President’s proposed FY2019 budget request for ACF aims to strengthen the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. High priorities of the Trump Administration are encouraging work, changing the culture of dependence on government assistance, and reducing poverty. The President’s budget hopes to focus on work and support integrated approaches to helping families reach self-sufficiency.
TANF-ACF-PI-2017-04 (Renewed Form ACF-202, Caseload Reduction Report)
Record Description
The purpose of this OFA Program Instruction is to transmit the renewed form ACF-202 and instructions for completing that form, which states must use to report caseload reduction information for fiscal year 2018 and thereafter.
TANF-ACF-IM-2014-03 (Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Opportunities and TANF Resources For Prevention and Action)
Record Description
In recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Administration for Children & Families (ACF) program offices have released a series of Information Memoranda (IM) and other guidance discussing the importance of addressing domestic violence situations and providing resources and support for victims and their families.
This infographic from MDRC describes the behavioral principles applied in the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project. The goal of the BIAS project was to use insights from behavioral science to improve human services programs that serve low-income families. Each letter in the SIMPLER acronym corresponds to a behavioral concept, and the infographic provides a definition for each concept and an example of how one of the BIAS sites applied it.