This resource, published by Nova Southeastern University, outlines strategies and provides examples of techniques used in Motivational Interviewing. For each technique, the authors include both a rationale for the technique and samples of the technique in use. In this brief, the authors cover the following topics: Asking Permission, Eliciting/Evoking Change Talk, Exploring Importance and Confidence, Open-Ended Questions, Reflective Listening, Normalizing, Decisional Balancing, Columbo Approach, Statements Supporting Self-Efficacy, Readiness to Change Ruler, Affirmations, Advice/Feedback, Summaries, and Therapeutic Paradox. The strategies and techniques sketched out in this resource provide practitioners with real world examples of how to implement Motivational Interviewing in day-to-day interactions with clients.

This 2-page resource from Nova Southeastern University provides tips for using the five general principles of Motivational Interviewing: 1) expressing empathy, 2) developing discrepancy, 3) avoiding argumentation, 4) rolling with resistance, 5) supporting self-efficacy. The resource describes what motivational interviewing is not, including how to avoid making assumptions about others, and provides tips about strategies for handling resistance and helping participants explore goals and hopes for the future.

The federal government provides assistance aimed at helping people with low-incomes who may earn too little to meet their basic needs, cannot support themselves through work, or who are disadvantaged in other ways. With fiscal pressures facing the federal government and the demands placed on aid programs, GAO was asked to examine federal low-income programs. This report: (1) describes federal programs (including tax expenditures) targeted to people with low incomes; (2) identifies the number and selected household characteristics of people in poverty; (3) identifies the number, poverty status, and household characteristics of selected programs' recipients; and (4) examines research on how selected programs may affect incentives to work. For a list of low-income programs that were $100 million in obligations or more in fiscal year 2013, GAO consulted with the Congressional Research Service; surveyed and interviewed officials at relevant federal agencies; and reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, and agency guidance. GAO also conducted analyses on low-income individuals using Census data on the SPM and official poverty measure and microsimulation data from the Urban Institute that adjusts for under-reporting of benefit receipt in Census survey data. To examine labor force effects, GAO reviewed economic literature.

This resource from Generations United focuses on frequently asked questions and resources that may be useful to grandparent and relative caregivers. Oftentimes, TANF is the only financial support available for grandfamilies. The information from this fact sheet can help grandparent and relative caregivers access the supports they need by utilizing TANF and/or other federal programs.

OFA published data on state implementation of the five-year time limit on federally-funded TANF assistance. By law, a state may not use TANF funds to provide assistance to a family that has an adult head-of-household who has received federal assistance for a total of five years (i.e., 60 cumulative months, whether or not consecutive).

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) has posted Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Separate State Program (SSP) caseload and application data for the first and second quarters of FY 2015. For the first two quarters of FY 2015, the monthly average was 1,663,008 families receiving assistance (TANF & SSP), which represents a decrease of less than one percent (.45) from the prior fiscal year of 1,670,576. The monthly average number of recipients for FY 2015 was 4,178,589 receiving assistance (TANF & SSP), which represents an increase of approximately 6.6% from the prior fiscal year of 3,919,192.

This resource from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) explains the provisions from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) regarding revisions to performance management requirements. Some of these revisions include: new measures of interim skill gains; new approaches to defining overall performance success; and revised sanctions for states.

This fact sheet from the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) examines the changing relationship of whether the government or the custodial family is owed child support arrears, and how this influences the financial stability of TANF participants. Child support arrears accrued during periods of TANF received have declined from 51% of total arrears in 2002 to 26% of total arrears in 2013; possible reasons for this decline include increased TANF arrears collection, or decreased number of cases on TANF, or the amount of TANF arrears owed per case. OCSE data collected since 1999 is used to analyze these potential reasons and a possible relationship with the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Policies that continue to shift the distribution of TANF arrears from the government to families are shown to have a powerful effect on TANF participants’ financial success as well as state revenue.

Previous research has shown that receiving child support not only reduces the chance of families returning to welfare, but that it also reduces child poverty and, on average, accounts for 40% of a low-income family’s income. This study examines the relationship between child support receipt in Maryland and returns to the TANF program. Results show that women who do not receive child support after leaving the program are far more likely to return to welfare; that larger and more consistent child support payments reduce the chances of a family returning to welfare; and that receiving any child support reduces recidivism, though this is less likely for women with lower incomes.