The Washington, D.C. Department of Human Services contracts employment and training services for TANF clients and requires that all contractors use the same case management system. The Department requested TA from the Welfare Peer TA Network to learn more about Web-based case management capabilities. To gain a better understanding of centralized case management, DC conducted a site visit to Connectinc., located in North Carolina, to view their web-based case management system.

This report, from MDRC, provides an update on welfare reform in the cities of Cleveland and Philadelphia. This study specifically reviews the policies implemented through 2005, caseload and employment trends through 2003, and neighborhood indicators describing the conditions of low-income communities in 2003.

The TANF Seventh Annual Report to Congress has been published, reporting on FY 2003. Since the enactment of TANF, millions of families on the TANF caseload have achieved stable employment. Employment among low-income single mothers has increased significantly since 1996, and child poverty rates have declined.

The use of faith-based organizations to delivery public services has increased over the last two years due to program devolution and privatization. Researchers gathered information on faith-based organizations in each State, and outline the findings in the following report.

Engaging employers is key in supporting youth transition in the workforce and foster job retention and advancement. This paper, from the Center for Children at the University of Chicago, provides the findings from interviews with youth program providers, employers, and policy makers. Researchers conclude by identifying disconnects in the service delivery and offer recommendations on how providers can expand employer involvement.

This report describes this Rapid Response Technical Assistance event held in Washington, DC, September 5-6, 2001. The purpose of this conference was to give practitioners an opportunity to exchange information on experiences, learn of promising program strategies, and consider what can be done in to carry out the next phase of welfare reform.

This article offers strategies for education programs to sustain and grow, despite diminishing funding. Authors review challenges for States regarding this issue and supporting worker advancement. Successful strategies include focusing on local economic sectors that will provide the most potential for economic development.

This report, co-authored by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices and Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) is based largely on a roundtable meeting conducted in April 2000 by both organizations to discuss expanding postsecondary opportunities for low-income working parents and welfare recipients.

Examining federal, state, and institutional programs, the paper presents a framework for understanding challenges to securing comprehensive financial assistance for low-income working students. The paper identifies promising approaches for supplementing student financial aid based on a range of programs implemented in the past and planned for the future. It also raises issues that bear consideration in designing a program that would be both effective in ways that can be measured through random assignment studies and replicable.

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) studied TANF applicants taking part in a post-secondary education program through a local non-profit while on the TANF caseload. By interviewing students, this study explored the challenges and rewards of the program experiences of low-income mothers.