Question from Connecticut Department of Social Services

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a Webinar titled When TANF Intersects with Pregnant Teen and Young Parent Services on May 11th, 2016 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT. Pregnant teens and young parents have been a focus of national attention and intervention over the past two decades. While teen pregnancy rates have declined nationally, rates are still high for minority and low-income teens, and teen parents continue to be at great risk for living in poverty. Many teen parents struggle to find work opportunities, which increases the likelihood that their children will face similar struggles later in life. In this webinar, presenters provided information about innovative ways that programs are serving low-income pregnant teens and young parents. Presenters for the Webinar included: Sabrina Chapple, MPH, Public Health Advisor with the Office of Adolescent Health; Deborah Schlick from the Minnesota Department of Human Services; Ray Fleming Dinneen, Executive Director of CLIMB Wyoming; and Kristi Bruwer, Young Parents Demonstration Coordinator at Training Resources of America.

The Office of Family Assistance and its Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy hosted a webinar on Assessing Family History, Needs, and Well-Being to Improve TANF Services to Families on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 EDT. Many Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, and other programs serving low-income individuals and families, are seeking ways to better measure and assess how family histories and current family functioning affect service planning and delivery. With the increased focus on intergenerational approaches across human service systems, many are seeking new and improved ways to improve overall family well-being. This webinar was designed to help Systems to Family Stability National Policy Academy, TANF, and other human service system stakeholders understand how assessing family functioning, history, and experience can improve outcomes for TANF and other human service system participants. Speakers discussed how family assessment tools are administered and used by TANF, child welfare, and other stakeholder programs. They also addressed how these tools can be used to measure improvements in family well-being and create opportunities to use data to improve service planning. Presenters included: Lisa Washington-Thomas from the Office of Family Assistance; Jill Tichenor from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services; Debbie Davis from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services; and Karla Aguirre and Marion Eckersley, both from the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

As states near the final stages of WIOA planning, many in the field are asking what final steps they can take to impact their state plans. National Skills Coalition’s (NSC) partners at Chicago Jobs Council (CJC) are organizing activities that provide examples for other policy advocates and service providers.