This table outlines actions taken by state human service agencies to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic through greater flexibility in program administration. These actions include temporarily suspending work and job search requirements, extending emergency cash assistance, suspending time limits, streamlining applications and eligibility reviews, extending redetermination periods, providing alternatives for home visits, and suspending debt collections.

This tip sheet identifies five tips that support program staff members’ effectiveness while offering high-quality services to participants in a virtual environment. The tips also provide guidance on protecting participant confidentiality, which is a principal challenge in remote communications. These tips cover how practitioners can create a plan for remote service delivery, connect with participants, set up staff members for success at home, maximize participant engagement, and adjust plans to support staff members as needed.

The Office of Family Assistance published data tables which cover TANF and maintenance-of-effort separate caseloads and combined (TANF and SSP-MOE) by state and at the national level from October 2018 through September 2019. The tables are cross-tabbed to include total recipients, total families, total children, one-parent families, two-parent families, no parent families, adults, and monthly caseload data.

The National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics is hosting a series of virtual workshops that address research on topics of interest to human service professionals throughout the summer. Future workshops will cover Machine Learning in Human Services Contexts, Cross-System Collaboration to Serve Justice-Involved Clients, and the Family First Prevention Services Act. Recordings of previously held workshops on TANF Responses to COVID-19 and Domestic Violence during COVID-19 are available.

The National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics (NAWRS) held the first session of the NAWRS 2020 Virtual Workshop Series on April 29, 2020. This session brought together four state TANF representatives from Alabama, Colorado, Vermont, and Washington State to discuss TANF programs and the persons they serve. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the panelists discussed changes in caseloads and policy changes, the transition to a virtual environment for operations and service delivery, and the key challenges that TANF clients now face. A YouTube recording of the webinar is available for viewing.

As a part of continued support to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs and their endeavors to serve individuals and families virtually during the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Family Assistance recorded a PeerTA webinar on June 24, 2020. TANF staff and those they serve had to retool quickly to adapt to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Staff who conduct in-person case management and coaching are looking for ways to continue these needed services virtually in order to protect the health and safety of individuals and families, ensure the health and safety of their own families, and maintain confidentiality by using virtual services that are secure. Luckily, remote case management services are not new concepts, as they are increasingly being used across TANF and other client/student serving organizations to provide efficient and effective support to those they would normally see face-to-face.

This panel webinar discussed virtual TANF case management and coaching strategies considering the risks associated with COVID-19. Information was delivered in a panel format with question and answer dialogue with panelists. Through the panel webinar registration process, registrants had the opportunity to pose questions for the panelists and the field to consider as they make critical decisions about their ongoing operations, including use of virtual tools and processes to conduct coaching/case management sessions.

Speakers included:

• Annette Waters, Ph.D., Social Science Analyst, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
• DaiJuan Wade, Supervisor -- Special Projects, Operations and Training, District of Columbia Department of Human Services
• Suzie Miller, Workforce Programs Manager, Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Center 
• Mary Roberto, PeerTA Project Director, Manhattan Strategy Group (Panel Moderator)

This toolkit offers steps and guidance on how to use virtual communications for client engagement and internal staff management. Information is provided for voice and conference calls using Google Voice, FreeConferenceCall.com, and Google Hangouts; video conferencing using Zoom and WebEx; creating and sharing documents with Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365; and internal messaging using Slack and Google Hangouts Chat.