The Government Accountability Office (GAO) authored this report on the TANF program to assess the state of the TANF program in the midst of the economic recession. Of 21 states surveyed, the TANF caseload grew from June 2008 to June 2009 in 12 states. Researchers provide an overview of factors that contributed to the decline in the TANF caseload since 1996 and give demographic data on participating versus nonparticipating families. The GAO concludes with the impact of the high participation more recently in the TANF caseload on child poverty.

On Wednesday, March 24, 2010, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance- Regions V and VII and the United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration- Region V hosted an interactive videoconference on the uses of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to improve summer employment for youth and low-income Americans. In addition, representatives from Los Angeles County presented on the successful use of ARRA funds, their strong TANF-WIA partnership, providing real life examples of how TANF and WIA agencies can work together to serve low-income youth and families with ARRA funds. HHS and DOL officials were on hand to answer questions and facilitate peer to peer dialogue.

The Promising Practices Network (PPN) is a group of individuals and organizations who are dedicated to providing quality evidence-based information about what works to improve the lives of children, families, and communities. The Promising Practices Network features descriptions of evaluated programs that improve outcomes for children. PPN programs can be found under a variety of topic areas, including poverty and welfare.

New York City’s Human Resource Administration designed and implemented the WeCARE program to assist the high number of TANF participants on their caseload with clinical barriers to work; the model has since been successful in moving clients with mental health and other needs off of cash assistance. This 2010 webinar provided TANF stakeholders with information on the program’s creation and implementation. Also available on PeerTA are reports from two site exchanges to WeCARE, with Wisconsin and Hawaii.

The Brookings Institution and the National League of Cities hosted this forum to discuss the current economic climate in relation to urban areas. National economic recovery depends on recovery in metropolitan areas, and the United States cannot begin to rebuild the economy without healthy regional economies. City fiscal concerns are beginning to materialize as many metropolitan areas are facing budget crises. This forum was designed for experts to provide an overview of potential budgetary issues and the outlook for the future.

The following report describes the Urban Partnerships for Welfare Reform Academy II that took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota from October, 26-29 2003 to continue partnerships and foster collaboration to improve service delivery and TANF implementation for families residing in urban areas.

The New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) requested technical assistance from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network to help design and implement effective strategies to mitigate the effects of the recent economic downturn on low-income families. OTDA requested assistance in identifying strategies that other jurisdictions have taken to respond to the recession and how they have successfully utilized the TANF provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). A peer-to-peer roundtable was convened in Albany, New York July 14-15, 2009 during the National Association of Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS) Conference in order to highlight state perspectives and to document state uses of the TANF-related components of ARRA and effective strategies for implementation.

From Public/Private Ventures, this resource was designed for workforce development organization managers to work with their frontline staff to encourage the use of data entry and management to ultimately improve performance and outcomes for their participants. The goal of this resource is to strengthen staff on program outcomes, teach staff to understand the importance of data, and to encourage problem solving among staff. This resource includes 5 activities for managers to lead with their staff and also provides worksheets to accompany each activity.

The Economic Mobility Project authored this report on ways that students can increase their long-term earnings and the role of community colleges. Twenty-six percent of community college students come from low-income families, compared to 15 percent of four-year college students. Research shows that by receiving a community college degree, students can increase their earnings by an average of $7,900 annually, which is an earnings increase of 29 percent over those with a high school diploma.

Recently, the Colorado Works Program requested Technical Assistance from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance (WPTA) Network, specifically on effective strategies for integrating subsidized employment programming into local Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. As a result, the WPTA Network hosted two conference calls in August and September for the Colorado Works Program by facilitating a peer-to-peer dialog with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, inquiring about its subsidized employment program, specifically its successful program in Perry County, Tennessee. During these calls, Paul Lefkowitz, Director, Family Assistance Policy, Tennessee Department of Human Services, and Jan McKeel, Executive Director, South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance, provided an overview of a subsidized employment program that began in Perry County, Tennessee, in May 2009, through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, to the Technical Assistance Requestor—Mary Roberto, Section Manager, Colorado Department of Human Services, Colorado Works Program. Some of the topics of the program discussed on the conference calls include eligibility, working with employers, outreach and marketing, data collection, and replication and lessons learned.