During this session of the Urban Partnerships National Academy, Baltimore city participants offered information to other partner cities on developing internal quality assurance models within their TANF programs.

The Urban Partnerships Initiative cities of Cleveland, Oakland, and Portland presented during this session of the National Academy, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia. Partner cities explained how they have improved technology to better serve children and families on the TANF caseload in their localities.

This presentation was given as part of the Urban Partnerships for Welfare Reform's National Academy, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia in May 2006. Hennepin County, Minnesota (Minneapolis) shared strategies on utilizing diversion and emergency assistance programs.

This is a presentation on motivational interviewing that was given by Alyssa Forcehimes, Ph.D. at the New Mexico Works 2009 Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Client motivation is the key to change in terms of addressing barriers to work such as substance abuse.

This Webinar explored how rural TANF programs can expand technology access in rural areas. Presenters included Axiom Technologies, Business Access, and Connect Kentucky.

On July 9–11, 2007, in Memphis, Tennessee, the Urban Partnerships Initiative brought together employers and key leadership from 26 cities with the goal of continuing the exchange of innovative strategies and solutions for moving people from welfare to work, and identifying ways to enhance collaboration among TANF stakeholders, employers, and other community resources. During the event, the partners participated in panels, roundtable sessions, and other in-depth discussions about strategies for achieving universal engagement, improving work attachment, promoting job retention, and increasing wage advancement. For the city representatives, improving job placement services for their low-income residents is a critical, although extremely challenging, endeavor.

On October 21, 2008, the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network conducted a site visit to support the New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD) Information Technology Division (ITD) to assess technical options to transferring the Wisconsin ACCESS system to New Mexico. The purpose of the site visit to New Mexico was to provide technical assistance to New Mexico because they wanted to replace their Income Support Division system (ISD2). Several New Mexico Human Services Department assistance programs use ISD2 for eligibility determination, benefit delivery, case management, financial, reporting, and claims processing. The ISD2 system interfaces with other government agencies and private sector companies, and has been in operation for about twenty years.

This presentation was given by the Lewin Group at the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference that is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. This research utilized statistical models to determine the effects that the economy and the population had on the size of the Colorado Works caseload from July 1999 to December 2007. Using regression analysis, researchers determined the impact on the caseload and were able to predict how changes might affect caseload size in the future.

This presentation was given as part of the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference, which is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. Wisconsin presented how they have been using performance-based contracting within the State, and offered lessons learned from the evaluation of these contracts.

The Collaboration Institute was held in Arlington, Virginia on September 15-17, 2008. The meeting was designed for teams from medium-sized urban areas composed of three partners representing senior level managers from TANF, Child Support Enforcement, and Workforce Development agencies. The Institute provided a hands-on intensive opportunity for strategic planning and culminated in the development of an action plan to be implemented upon return to participants’ jurisdictions. The areas of focus during the Institute were on: ways to increase collaboration between State and local TANF, Workforce Development, and Child Support Enforcement agencies; examining the close link between welfare, workforce development, and child support; understanding how collaborative efforts are addressing State work participation rates; and providing a platform for key issues in child support and workforce development that impact TANF participants.