The Faith-Based and Community Organizations Collaboration Institutes were designed to increase collaboration of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) agencies by leveraging existing community resources to help low-income participants attain economic self-sufficiency. Five institutes across the country brought together regional and State TANF leaders, as well as their local FBCO partners, with a goal of enhancing outcomes for TANF-eligible individuals and families. The Institutes create an incubated learning environment to apply the collaboration concepts learned in the early phases of the project in an effort to strengthen existing and newly formed partnerships. This report summarizes each event along with the evaluations and feedback received from a series of post-event follow-up calls.

This Urban Institute report details how state policy decisions affect TANF program administration in five states: California, Florida, Michigan, Texas, and Washington. The authors examined both cash assistance and other aspects of the block grant, plus how states responded to the Deficit Reduction Act and the recession.

The Essex County Division of Training and Employment in New Jersey was interested in learning strategies that would help assist TANF Work Eligible recipients to achieve marketable skills that will move them to self-sufficiency and remove them from TANF roles and other forms of public assistance. The ultimate goal of Essex County was for individuals to self-provide for their families. The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network convened a peer-to-peer conversation between Essex County and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Oklahoma so that Oklahoma could share strategies on running literacy programs designed to screen, assess, and provide literacy training to TANF participants. The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network also developed an environmental scan of literacy programs in TANF organizations for Essex County to use as a tool and resource.

The Maine Office of Family Independence was interested in learning strategies for setting goals, tracking and improving performance, managing staff activities and enforcing program requirements by utilizing accessible and complete data at various levels. Through the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network (Welfare Peer TA), the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office for Family Independence (OFI) and the New Hampshire Division of Family Assistance convened a peer-to-peer site exchange. This was conducted in order to initiate cross-site networking, to foster dialogue, and to exchange strategies for integrating education and training opportunities into TANF programming. A site visit and several conference calls were held, giving Maine the opportunity to observe the data collection methodology and tools utilized by the State of New Hampshire.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the number of States that reported counting third party non-governmental expenditures toward their State MOE spending increased over the past five years, from three States in fiscal year 2007 to 13 States in fiscal year 2011. Food assistance was the most commonly cited service provided by third party non-governmental organizations that States counted towards MOE requirements. Other services included medical or dental services, employment assistance, and family stabilization services. This report was compiled to address previous concerns raised that counting third party non-governmental expenditures towards a State's MOE may not keep with the intent of MOE requirements directed toward State and local governments.

The implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program presents a series of possible challenges and potential opportunities for local administrators providing services for low-income and working families seeking to achieve greater levels of economic independence. In an effort to assist TANF program administrators and stakeholders in understanding the application of Federal civil rights laws regarding discrimination, the Administration for Children and Families, Offices of Family Assistance (OFA) and Civil Rights (OCR) convened a virtual training on the applicable civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination. Covering topics relating to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other applicable laws meant to prevent discrimination against those with disabilities; racial, ethnic, and language minorities, and those of varied ages, the training was in response to technical assistance requests regarding the obligations of State agencies, counties, and service providers administering welfare programs. Facilitated by the OCR, the training focused on all aspects of the TANF program, including applications, assessments, work program modifications, sanctions, and time limits and is the first part of a two-part training series hosted by OFA Region VIII on improving civil rights and HIPPA compliance.

From Georgetown University's Center for Education and the Workforce, this report highlights the importance of certificates for workers in the labor market. Specifically, certificates recognize completion of a course of study in a specific field. Certificates can help advancement in the labor market because individuals with certificates earn 20 percent more than high school graduates without postsecondary education, on average. However, increased earnings vary based on a variety of factors, including the field of study. In this report, authors provide information on the population earnings certificates, the earnings return, and the institutions where they are earning certificates.

This video is from the directors of the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care within the Administration for Children and Families. The directors discuss a joint letter that offers innovative approaches for making partnerships between Early Head Start and family child care work for Early Head Start grantees and other communities.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office published this report on the TANF program. Currently, there are questions about the strength and breadth of the TANF safety net. Many eligible families are not receiving TANF cash assistance. Regarding TANF as a welfare-to-work program, the emphasis on work participation rates as a measure of State program performance has helped change the culture of State welfare programs to focus on moving families into employment. However, features of the work participation rates as currently implemented undercut their effectiveness as a way to encourage States to engage parents, including those difficult to serve, and help them achieve self-sufficiency. Finally, States have used TANF funds to support a variety of programs other than cash assistance as allowed by law.

In recent years, a significant change in the TANF caseload is the growth, proportionally speaking, of child-only cases. Child-only cases are typically defined as those TANF cases in which no adult recipient is included in the TANF cash grant. Child-only cases are classified as either parental or non-parental. Parental child-only cases are those cases in which a parent is present in the household, but is ineligible for TANF receipt due to a sanction, time limit, SSI receipt or alien status. Non-parental cases are those cases in which no parent is present; the children are residing with a relative or other adult with legal guardianship or custody. A small number of cases are in child-only status for unique reasons. (author abstract)