In 1995, the Texas Legislature enacted H. B. 1863, which formed the basis for Texas’ waiver from existing Federal laws governing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The Texas waiver, officially known as the Achieving Change for Texans (ACT) demonstration, aimed to assist participants to achieve independence from welfare through an increased emphasis on employment, training, temporary assistance and support services. It included three primary components: time-limited benefits, a personal responsibility agreement and one-time payments in lieu of welfare payments. The evaluation of the ACT demonstration consisted of three approaches: a process evaluation, a random-assignment impact analysis, and follow-up interviews with persons who reached their time limits or who elected to receive one-time payments instead of cash welfare assistance. This report summarizes findings from all facets of the evaluation and draws conclusions and policy implications for welfare policy development in the post-waiver time period. (author abstract)

This report represents the first step in the process of identifying initiatives intended to assist TANF recipients living with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment that may be worthy of further study. The outcomes and impacts of such initiatives are of substantial interest to program administrators and policymakers for several reasons. First and foremost is the concern over the well-being of these recipients and their families. Second, these initiatives often require considerable staff effort and intensive services and, therefore, can be costly to implement. Third, states and localities are under growing pressure to meet increased federally mandated work participation rates and recipients living with disabilities are one of many groups that program administrators and policymakers may consider targeting to increase those rates. To assist program administrators and policymakers in deciding how they should spend limited resources, it is critical to know whether the initiatives are, indeed, producing their desired effects. The time may be ripe for rigorously testing the impact of employment initiatives for low-income families living with disabilities and this report presents some potential options for doing so. (author abstract)

The share of low-income single mothers disconnected from work and TANF ranges from 20 to 25 percent. Most disconnected low-income single mothers experience barriers to work and most of their families live in poverty. This brief reviews what we know about the numbers and characteristics of disconnected mothers, their economic well-being, their living arrangements, and the length of time that they tend to be disconnected. The brief draws lessons for policy, including efforts for keep TANF recipients in great need from losing TANF benefits and becoming disconnected and to improve employment prospects for those with serious challenges to work. (author abstract)

In 2004, Casey Family Services underwent an organizational change to help establish permanency for children and youth with special needs in foster care called “Move to Greater Permanence” (MGP). This report details the planning, implementation, agency processes, and outcomes as a result of the organizational change. Authors provide lessons learned to help child welfare providers and human service organizations utilize when conducting similar organizational change.

The Foundation Center issued this report on foundation giving trends in 2009. Education and health have the greatest shares of foundation grant dollars, which included areas of education, health, human services, and public affairs/society benefit. Human services had the most number of grants, but grantmaking did decline 2.1 percent from 2008 to 2009. Eight out of ten major fields experienced funding declines between 2008 and 2009 due to the economic recession.

State TANF programs are continuing to develop and implement strategies to improve the economic self-sufficiency of low-income families as the programs await reauthorization. From improving outreach and engagement of eligible refugees and immigrants to successfully utilizing data to effectively make programmatic decisions, these programs are finding innovative ways to maximize resources to meet the needs of increasing families in need. The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance Region IX convened the 2011 Innovative Solutions Workshop in San Francisco, California on September 21-22, 2011 to discuss the status of TANF programs and foster improved peer dialogue around practical solutions to common challenges facing TANF programs and participants. The meeting brought together State and Territory TANF directors and program staff to strategize on ways to move low-income and working families closer to economic self-sufficiency while providing important input on the development of new TANF legislation. Specific topics included improving service delivery for domestic violence survivors, career pathways for low-income workers, asset development strategies to improve long-term economic development, maximizing TANF funds, policy/program innovations for streamlining services, and using data to influence program development and service delivery.

In 2009, the United States ranked fourteenth in college graduation rates among industrialized countries, and this research highlights ways to improve college attendance and graduation rates at 4-year colleges. This working paper, through the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, provides a review of 38 studies on the relationship between assets and children’s education attainment. Then, authors discuss Child Development Accounts (CDAs) policies, which have been proposed as an asset approach for helping to finance college.

This resource was authored by the Alliance for Children and Families and was designed to help non-profit organizations plan for the future. The report identifies “disruptive forces” that will fundamentally change and transform the non-profit human services sector. Pulling from research, authors provide an overview of six “disruptive forces” to help organizations become adaptable to change, which include: purposeful experimentation, information liberation, integrating science, uncompromising demand for impact, branding causes, not organizations, and attracting investors, not donors.

August 22, 2011 marked the 15th anniversary of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program which was passed in an effort to “end welfare as we know it.” Although TANF cash assistance caseloads have fallen dramatically over the past 15 years, the need for assistance has remained high as the economic recovery continues to batter low-income and working families. Analyses of Federal and State caseload data, food stamp data, poverty data, and unemployment data show that TANF has not kept pace with the rates of food stamp usage or kept pace with unemployment and poverty increases, but remains an important component of the work-based safety-net for many Americans. State and Territory TANF programs are continuously challenged with developing and implementing effective work readiness, job skills, barrier reduction, and job placement activities for their TANF participants and as a result the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance. Regions I, II, and III convened the TANF at 15: Where Do We Go from Here 2011 Tri-Regional TANF Directors’ Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island on November 1-3, 2011 to discuss the status of the TANF program and to determine appropriate next steps for programs and families. The TANF at 15 meeting focused on pertinent issues impacting TANF families and the TANF programs including improving responsiveness, engagement, fiscal management, domestic violence, asset-development, the TANF/SSI connection, and the work-based safety net during periods of sustained and increased unemployment. The meeting brought together national experts, Federal officials, researchers and program officials from the Urban Institute, MDRC, ICF International, and State and TANF directors representing nearly a third of the country to strategize around peer-developed practical solutions to common challenges facing TANF programs and participants. TANF at 15 represented a beginning of a tri-regional discussion on the status of TANF programming and laid the foundation for continued dialogue, focused planning, and increased responsiveness.