This resource is from the Families In Society’s “Practice and Policy Focus.” Authors provide an overview of strategies for overcoming resistance to change in organizations. In order to implement an outcome management system, plans must be in place based on realistic expectations of the organization as well as aligned with its goals.

This issue brief was part of the Strengthening Rural Families initiative from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Rural Family Economic Success (RuFES) framework is “Earn it, Keep it, Grow it,” and designed to help families increase their income, stabilize finances, and build assets. Specifically, this piece looks at Franklin County, Maine, which developed a consortium of local partners to bring community college courses and other job-skills training to the area.

This publication is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance under contract with ICF International. Through the Urban Partnerships Initiative, this resource shows the outstanding efforts of ten cities to meet the needs of families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The innovative practices highlighted in this piece can be applied in other urban areas throughout the Nation to enable other cities to write their own success story during the next decade of welfare reform.

This resource is from Mathematica Policy Research and provides an overview of innovative work opportunity programs for TANF recipients with disabilities. Specifically, authors provide profiles of three strategies that can be utilized to support employment for TANF recipients with disabilities, which include unpaid work experience, subsidized employment, and unsubsidized transitional employment.

The Urban Institute authored this report on the Minnesota Integrated Services Projects (ISP), which was designed to support TANF recipients in the state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) provided grants to sites around the State to improve outcomes for families by increasing access to comprehensive services that address multiple needs.

This report provides an overview of President Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative. The Initiative was developed in 2001 by President Bush to help eliminate government barriers inhibiting partnerships with faith-based and community organizations. This report gives a seven year overview of the Initiative’s progress.

Recent research shows that when work and education programs are combined, low-income families have improved outcomes. This research is from MDRC and provides evaluation information from programs that include education components to increase earnings of low-wage workers. Specifically, performance-based scholarships can have a large positive effect on academic achievement among a single-parent student population that faces multiple barriers to completing college.

This Webinar, entitled “TANF Rule Implementing the DRA,” was sponsored by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance. This Webinar featured staff from the Office of Family Assistance, who discussed major changes from the Interim Final to the Final Rule. The Final Rule takes effect on October 1, 2008, the beginning of fiscal year 2009.

New regulations to strengthen welfare reform were published February 5, 2008 in the Federal Register. The changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program will help move individuals off of the welfare rolls and into the workplace by giving states the flexibility to design their own effective welfare-to-work initiatives.

This newsletter is from the What Works Clearinghouse and provides an overview of the New Chance program. The program supports TANF recipients who have dropped out of school through GED preparation, life skill training, parenting programs, childcare assistance, and case management. New Chance was found to be successful in helping participants complete education.