This Annie E. Casey Foundation-recorded webinar, as part of its Leading with Evidence series, assesses the role of culture in providing programs to prevent child welfare involvement. It highlights how the Family First Prevention Services Act created opportunities to expand use of prevention programs that are culturally relevant to parents and children and utilizes an evidence-based approach for engaging Native American families.

This Administration for Children and Families (ACF) blogpost, co-authored by the Associate Commissioner at the Children’s Bureau and the Commissioner of Administration for Native Americans, highlights ACF resources that can assist tribes and Native Americans in strengthening their children and family systems. These highlighted resources include the Children’s Bureau’s Capacity Building Center for tribes, Diligent Recruitment Plans to help tribes create and enhance their Recruitment and Foster Care programs, and competitive grants for innovative, locally-driven program design.

The Office of Family Assistance published a data set on Tribal TANF recipient characteristics for FY 2008 through FY 2015. Data included are number of individuals participating in Tribal TANF work activities, number of adults by work participation status, number of adults by relationship to head of households, type of families receiving TANF assistance, number of TANF families by the number of children, and average age of TANF recipient children.

This report provides a compilation of the success of financial capability integration efforts for tribal communities. The report focuses on two locations in Alaska: the Kenaitze Indian Tribe and the Aleutian Pribilof Island Association (APIA). Household financial living and assessing organizational and community capacity to deliver services are discussed in depth.

This article discusses the third annual Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Capital Access conference. The conference brought together CDFIs from around the country with funders, investors, and other national partners to celebrate the impact CDFIs have had in Native American communities to generate wealth and financial success. The conference also discussed new measurements of financial stability, policy and advocacy opportunities, and new financial capability tools Prosperity Now is creating.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Regions IV through VIII hosted the 2018 OFA Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting on July 17-18, 2018 at the Mystic Lake Center in Prior Lake, Minnesota. The meeting provided Tribal TANF and Native Employment Works (NEW) representatives with an opportunity to discuss promising strategies for serving low-income families, share challenges, and gather with peers. Attendees participated in presentations from program administrators and experts, heard from practitioners who serve low-income populations, and learned about technical assistance opportunities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Regions IX and X held the OFA Regions IX-X Tribal TANF Technical Assistance Meeting at the Suquamish Clearwater Resort in Suquamish, Washington on August 21-23, 2018. The meeting provided Tribal TANF and Native Employment Works (NEW) representatives with the opportunity to learn about promising practices, discuss shared challenges faced by Tribal TANF and NEW programs, and share ideas with peers on how to respond to the needs of tribal families. Attendees listened to presentations from program administrators and experts, heard from practitioners who work with tribes, learned about technical assistance opportunities, and shared lessons from their own programs.

OFA PeerTA coordinated a multi-part training series for Tribal TANF programs seeking to improve case management outcomes. The facilitated online training series was delivered to assist frontline staff, client support specialists, lower-level managers, and others who may provide direct services or have direct engagement with participants. The bootcamp also created a small community of learning for participants.

 Webinar Series Details

Overarching Goals for Tribal TANF Programs:

• Enhance the case management skills of Tribal TANF staff to improve employment outcomes;
• Reduce the number of sanctions while improving work participation;
• Develop applicable products and tools to improve case management performance and employment outcomes; and
• Generate continuous dialogue across Tribal TANF programs resulting in long-term peer support and the sharing of best practices that improve employment outcomes

Webinar Topics/Dates: (Note - all times listed are Eastern Time)

• Improving Participant Engagement, Motivation and Participation – February 8, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
• Using Motivational Interviewing Techniques in Assessment – March 8, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
• Writing Effective, Efficient Case Notes that Support the Plan – May 3, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
• Improving Employment Outcomes – June 7, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

The Office of Family Assistance held a webinar on “Creating Tribal TANF and WIOA Partnerships to Connect Tribal Families to Employment” on July 20, 2016, from 2:00-3:15 p.m. ET. This webinar provided an opportunity to hear about partnerships between Tribal TANF agencies and local Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) providers. Tribal employment and training agencies often face job placement challenges common to many remote and rural areas – namely, a small pool of employers, few job openings, and limited education and training opportunities in high demand labor areas. For these reasons, it is critical that Tribal TANF participants have the skills necessary to compete for jobs that already exist or are growing within the region. Local WIOA providers can help build the skills of Tribal TANF participants by providing job training and adult education services targeted to in-demand jobs in the region. Speakers from four organizations—Department of Labor, California Indian Manpower Consortium, Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association, and Cankdeska Cikana Community College—discussed the innovative partnerships they have formed between Tribal TANF and WIOA to help move families toward self-sufficiency.

Speakers included:

• Athena Brown, Division Chief, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Division of Indian and Native American Programs
• Yvette Yazzie, Pala Site Manager, Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association
• Christina Arzate, CIMC Workforce Development Coordinator III, California Indian Manpower Consortium
• Larry D. Anderson, Job Development Specialist, Cankdeska Cikana Community College

Because American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) families face consistent barriers to employment and repeatedly have the highest unemployment rates in the United States, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation studied subsidized employment programs conducted by Tribal TANF programs. This resulting report found that, overall, subsidized employment programs help participants gain work experience, skills, and training necessary to lower barriers to employment. They also emphasize the variety in regional contexts that can make the transition to unsubsidized employment difficult, particularly in small economies. The eight spotlighted Tribal TANF programs provide examples for practitioners in diverse areas and show how subsidized employment can at the least be a means of temporary income, and can often be a stepping stone toward job experience and economic stability.