During this Roundtable, participants heard presentations from El Paso County, Colorado, and the States of Alabama and New Jersey about innovative practices in those locations. South Carolina shared results of a large-scale research effort regarding the demographics and wellbeing of the TANF child-only caseload. The Roundtable also enjoyed sessions regarding economic security, presented by staff from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the AARP. Thanks to the hospitality of the State of Alabama Department of Human Resources, Roundtable participants were given a tour of Alabama’s Kinship Care (KC) program. Participants in the Roundtable were also able to speak with program specialists, staff, and clients of these child-only services.

In response to a request for technical assistance from the Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County Social Services Department, Welfare Peer TA sponsored a Roundtable event in Nashville, TN April 26-27, 2005. Welfare Peer TA Roundtables are designed to bring together a group of professionals working in similar or complimentary disciplines in a workshop setting to foster peer-to-peer learning through interactive sessions. This Roundtable was attended by individuals representing federal, State and local agencies, and community-based organizations. The goal of this TA effort was to assist the community in developing collaboratives to improve the well-being of children and families in Davidson County, improve relationships with key strategic partners, improve family stability, improve services to struggling families and improve employment and self-sufficiency outcomes.

The Pacific Hub State TANF Directors Meeting took place in Seattle, WA on July 25-26, 2001. States heard presentations on the following: national perspective on welfare reform, a learning disability program, case manager training and retention, and caseload dynamics and time limits.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance (TA) Network sponsored a multi-State TA event on July 15-16, 2003, in Oklahoma City, OK. This event was co-coordinated with Public Strategies, the public relations firm that manages the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. The Administration for Children and Families' region VI, VII, and IX offices provided additional supports, ensuring this event met State informational needs. The following short summary reports on this Workshop.

This Welfare Peer TA event was a one-day workshop that highlighted best practices and model programs that encourage the development and sustaining of healthy marriages. The event was a collaborative effort between the Bay Area Social Services Consortium (BASSC) and Region IX Administration for Children and Families (ACF) office staff.

The U.S. Administration for Children and Families (ACF), with support from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, sponsored the Uniting Incarcerated Parents and their Families workshop on May 21-22, 2002, in Orlando, FL . Participants included representatives from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), corrections staff, and child care staff from the following States: Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. The purpose of this 2-day seminar was two fold: to provide participants with an opportunity to understand how TANF agencies and corrections staff can work together to better serve incarcerated parents and to showcase the Kairos Horizon’s faith-based program around parenting, anger management, conflict resolution, basic skills, and job readiness.

The Welfare Peer TA Network sponsored this statewide Roundtable event that took place in Baltimore, MD from September 14-16, 2005. Attended by over 80 individuals, this Roundtable focused on developing partnerships to address the challenges associated with universal engagement for TANF clients. Partners were given the opportunity to learn strategies for developing meaningful partnerships with substance abuse treatment providers and the Department of Corrections to engage substance users and ex-offenders into work experience to better the lives of children and families.

This two-day workshop was coordinated by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Region IX and Region X offices, with the support of the ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network. The purpose of this event was to provide a forum for the sharing of the latest research, perspectives, and promising practices regarding job retention and post-employment services for TANF clients. The workshop combined presentations from key Federal, State and corporate experts. Information related to post-placement services was provided by Region X state representatives.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, supported two 1-day workshops. The Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human services jointly presented a Region III workshop examining job retention strategies, marketing to potential employers of welfare-to-work clients, and marketing services to those clients.

The ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated this workshop on behalf of the ACF Region II office, the Administration for Socioeconomic Development, Department of the Family, Santurce, Puerto Rico, and the Department of Human Services of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The purpose of this two day technical assistance event was to present promising strategies and lessons learned from other states and local agencies regarding pre and post employment support for TANF participants, and to identify possible areas where they could be applied within Puerto Rico’s system.