Question / Response(s)

Question from PeerTA

Question Text
On behalf of a representative from OFA's Region I-IV, PeerTA would like to know if States have implemented drug/alcohol testing as a condition of eligibility. Have they found it to be useful or effective in getting clients the services they need?

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Date
November 2014
Source
OFA Peer TA
Agency/Organization
ICF
Topics/Subtopics
TANF Program Administration
TANF Regulatory Codes
Question / Response(s)

Question from PeerTA

Question Text
On behalf of a representative from OFA's Region I-IV, PeerTA would like to know how States that accept online applications for TANF handle the "explanation of rights and responsibilities and other program rules" piece with clients? In regards to the assessment needed for the work program, is that conducted over the phone or is face-to-face interview/assessment required?

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Date
November 2014
Source
OFA Peer TA
Agency/Organization
ICF
Topics/Subtopics
TANF Program Administration
TANF Regulatory Codes

Maine Office for Family Independence TA Request: TANF Work Participation and Data Management Site Exchange

Record Description
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office for Family Independence (OFI) and the New Hampshire Division of Family Assistance convened a peer-to-peer site exchange funded by the Welfare Peer TA Network in Concord, New Hampshire to (1) provide cross-site networking between the two States; (2) foster dialogue on strategies for improving work participation among TANF participants; (3) discuss strategies for data collection methodologies that improve the calculation of work participation rates; and (4) share dialogue on strategies for integrating education and training opportunities into TANF programming. The site visit included discussions with program, data, and administration staff and a series of site visits to the New Heights Data Management Center and the Combined Services/Community Action Program. During this peer-to-peer exchange, Maine learned about the collection, analysis, and reporting methodologies New Hampshire uses to achieve its work participation rate and to improve the overall data-driven philosophy of their local TANF program.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2012-06-12T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2012-06-13
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Attachment Size
Site Visit Summary 245.82 KB

Summary of Outreach to States on TANF Caseloads and Case Management Services: Jefferson County, Colorado Department of Human Services

Record Description
In December 2011, representatives from the Jefferson County Department of Human Services, Career and Family Support Services, Colorado Works and Child Care Assistance Program contacted the Welfare Peer TA (WPTA) Network for assistance in determining the optimal number of cases each TANF caseworker should maintain, so that an appropriate amount of time and attention can be paid to all participants to assist them in achieving higher levels of economic self-sufficiency. In response to Jefferson County’s TA Request, the WPTA team conducted information gathering outreach to 10 of the largest cities in the country (New York, New York; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Houston, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; Dallas, Texas; and San Jose, California). This data provided Colorado and other States a greater understanding of optimal caseload sizes for TANF offices, and of caseload sizes per TANF eligibility workers versus case managers. The Technical Assistance Summary associated with this effort provides a high-level overview of TANF caseload sizes among the 10 highlighted metropolitan areas. It also provides insight into staffing structure, caseload size designation, characteristics of staff and participants, caseload manageability, caseload assignments, caseload demographic information, workload and responsibilities of staff, curricula and training, as well as barriers and challenges faced by the TANF programs.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2012-12-31T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2013-01-01
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Attachment Size
Summary Report 1.12 MB

OFA Brown Bag: Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City

Record Description
On June 11, 2014, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a brown bag “Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City.” This brown bag featured Kathryn Edin from John’s Hopkins University. Ms. Edin discussed their research on unwed fathers, fatherhood, and relationship formation. Their presentation featured personal accounts from fathers and their experiences and relationships with their own children and discussed future strategies on how to improve father involvement in a child’s life and promote healthy relationship formation.
Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2014-06-11T10:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2014-06-11
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Attachment Size
PowerPoint Presentation 1.53 MB
Transcript 90.2 KB
Webinar Recording 6.71 MB

Webinar: Strategies To Assist Noncustodial Parents In Improving Economic Well-Being

Record Description

The Administration for Children and Families' Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted the "Strategies to Assist Noncustodial Parents in Improving Economic Well-Being" webinar. This webinar showcased several programs making headway in this area. TANF programs and their safety-net partners increasingly understand the importance of engaging noncustodial parents while also holding them accountable for the economic and social growth of their children. Barriers such as unemployment, underemployment, or incarceration can hinder noncustodial parents from providing for their children even when many want to do so. The Webinar featured three programs.

1. North Dakota PRIDE is a partnership between North Dakota's Department of Human Services, Job Service North Dakota, the Child Support Enforcement Division, and eight judicial district courts throughout the state. The program refers parents with unpaid child support obligations to Job Service North Dakota for employment support.

2. Kansas Child Support Savings Initiative is a partnership between Kansas Child Support Services and the state Treasurer's Office to empower noncustodial parents to save money for their children's education. Noncustodial parents open 529 savings accounts for their children and for every dollar they put into the account, the State reduces their child support arrears by two dollars.

3. Couples Advancing Together is a program of the Center for Urban Families in Baltimore, Maryland that provides employment development, case management services, and healthy relationship skills training to couples with children who currently receive public benefits through the Maryland Department of Social Services. Completion of the Couples Advancing Together program qualifies participants for a 10% reduction in any child support arrears they owe to the State of Maryland, which is helpful to those who are noncustodial parents to children outside their primary family unit.

Record Type
Posting Date
Combined Date
2014-10-15T10:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2014-10-15
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Attachment Size
Webinar Audio 37.47 MB
Webinar Slides 1.87 MB
Webinar Transcript 203.27 KB

Summary Report of Technical Assistance Tanana Chiefs Conference

Record Description
The focus of this technical assistance (TA) request was to take the overall concepts and ideas the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) developed through the Promising Pathways Initiative and expand them to other Client Development Division programs, so TCC can better integrate the way they describe the logic/theory of their programs; identify practice implementation activities; strengthen service delivery; and collect, analyze, and share program results with various stakeholders. The TA request included assisting TCC in thinking globally about a division-wide theory of change that would include an examination of underlying assumptions, values, and traditional wisdom that contribute to program design throughout Client Development. Additionally, TCC was interested in continuing to explore an overarching practice framework that could inform service delivery across programs, as well as the development of outcome measures for the Client Development Division as a whole.
Record Type
Combined Date
2014-10-02T09:40:03
Source
Region
City/County
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Attachment Size
Summary Report 4.31 MB

Tribal TANF

Record Description
This section is devoted to providing assistance to tribal welfare programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families offers welfare information that is specific to Tribal programs.
Record Type
Combined Date
2014-07-21T07:55:02
Source
Region
City/County

Rural Communities Initiative

Record Description
Given the continued scale of poverty and limited job opportunities in rural areas, the Office of Family Assistance implemented the Rural Communities Initiative in early 2008. The Initiative provided States, Tribes, and local TANF agencies the opportunity to share information and innovative strategies on critical rural issues and barriers to employment such as education, job skills, transportation, and child care. This page provides information on the Initiative, and various reports, technical assistance events, Web casts, teleconferences, environmental scans, fact sheets, and Academy reports.
Record Type
Combined Date
2014-07-17T10:40:49
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County

Urban Partnerships Initiative

Record Description
The Urban Partnerships Initiative was a project designed by the Office of Family Assistance to improve outcomes for low-income families by facilitating peer exchange among TANF stakeholders in urban centers. This project sought to identify the issues faced by urban communities in moving families from welfare to work, to establish community-level collaborative, and to match technical assistance to community needs. The key purposes of the project were to convene Academies with key stakeholders from urban areas with high TANF caseloads and provide intensive technical assistance to these urban communities to help them develop relationships between systems, to identify and remove barriers to collaboration between systems, and to develop strategic plans addressing the needs identified by the communities during the panel meeting.
Record Type
Combined Date
2014-07-17T10:35:38
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County