Supporting families and individuals means understanding that their needs are complex, interrelated, and affected by the opportunities available in their communities. Integrated service approaches to prevent homelessness or involvement in systems like child welfare may be best positioned to succeed when they recognize these holistic needs and identities and when they coordinate access to resources and services. This Mathematica brief highlights the efforts made by programs to coordinate services and supports for participants by focusing on their holistic needs, including how programs identified their participants’ strengths and needs and how the sites integrated services to be responsive to those needs. The findings are based on interviews with staff and partners from nine case studies sites across the country and with people who have been served by these programs.

The Child Welfare Community Collaborations (CWCC) initiative is designed to mobilize communities to develop and evaluate multi-system collaboratives that address local barriers and provide a continuum of services to prevent child abuse and neglect. In 2018 and 2019, the Children’s Bureau awarded 5-year cooperative agreements to a total of 13 states, non-profit organizations, and Native American tribal organizations. This Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation brief provides a high-level description of each of the 13 CWCC projects and is one of a series of products the evaluation team will produce as part of the cross-site process evaluation. This brief contains a one-page description of each project, including its geographic catchment area, population of focus, key partners, prior experience with community-level collaboration, timeline, and local evaluation.

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families has awarded $9 million to 32 Native American Tribes and Native organizations to help improve the social and economic well-being in their communities. Every year, ANA supports Native-led, community-based projects across the United States, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Funds will be awarded across three Notice of Funding Opportunities: Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS), Social and Economic Development Strategies Alaska (SEDS-AK), and Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Grant Awards (ERE). This ACF press release announces the new FY 2023 SEDS, SEDS-AK, and ERE community partners and highlights three tribal projects that will be supported with this funding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on the livelihoods, finances, and well-being of millions of individuals in Indian Country. Compounding the burden of job losses are widespread school shutdowns and the lack of affordable child care, which simultaneously hinder TANF-participating parents, particularly mothers, from gaining meaningful employment while imposing additional costs on already tight family resources. These trends present urgent and essential demands on Tribal TANF programs. To respond to these challenges, the Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on October 27, 2021, which provided insights on Federal and State resources that can assist parents in transitioning into employment, as well as innovative practices from Tribal TANF, child care, and community organizations to support low-income families. The webinar also identified strategies for coordinating Tribal TANF and Child Care offices.

These 2020 National Indian and Native American Employment and Training Conference Western Regional Peer-to-Peer Training Conference presentations cover several areas which are relevant to tribal workforce development programs and operations. Topics included: DOL ETA 9130 Reports; Enhancing Participant Outcome under WIOA Performance Indicators; Stackable Credentials; SMART Training; Tribal Workforce Development, Self-Determination, Innovation, Policy Recommendations; and Your Money, Your Goals: New Financial Empowerment Tools for Workforce Development. The presentations also include profiles of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Indian and Native American Programs and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council.

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.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Regions IX and X hosted the Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting on July 25‐27, 2016 at the Isleta Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The meeting brought together Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) stakeholders to discuss innovative strategies and collaborations to promote economic and social well‐being for individuals, families, and tribal communities. During the meeting, tribal representatives engaged in listening sessions, shared best practices, and participated in workshops in order to more successfully serve the program participants in their communities.

This webinar from the Ascend Network at the Aspen Institute highlighted the context and demographics of tribal communities, provided information about 2Gen practice efforts underway in Alaska Native and Native American communities, and offered insights about ways to incorporate family voices and traditions into programs. It highlighted the work of Cook Inlet Tribal Council, which serves Anchorage, Alaska and a large swath of the Alaskan interior, including some remote villages.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Regions IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII hosted the Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting on May 3‐5, 2016 at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Mall of America Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The meeting brought together Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Native Employment Works (NEW) stakeholders to discuss innovative strategies and collaborations to promote economic and social well‐being for individuals, families, and tribal communities. During the meeting, tribal representatives engaged in talking circles and listening sessions, shared best practices, and participated in workshops and action planning in order to more successfully serve the program participants in their communities.