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

Integrating financial security services into workforce development programs can achieve greater impact without requiring significant cost and time. Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) and The Financial Clinic (the Clinic) have partnered to analyze the effects of financial security services on workforce development programs, with results released in four issue briefs. The briefs can be retrieved individually, or in their entirety. Issue Brief #1 is Why Should We Integrate? and discusses how workforce development organizations have made the case for integrating financial security practices. Issue Brief #2 is entitled How Can You Do It? and addresses how organizations integrate financial security practices. Issue Brief #3 is What About Roadblocks? and looks at how organizations have overcome integration challenges. Issue Brief #4 is called Is the Impact Worth It? and illustrates how organizations have justified the investment given the rewards.