The Administration for Children and Families' Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Division of Tribal TANF Management hosted a Webinar, "Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Webinar." This Webinar was the first of a two-part series, and provided a basic overview of the Tribal TANF program, including factors for a Tribe to consider when deciding if it wants to operate a TANF program and the process of implementing a Tribal TANF program. This Webinar was targeted at Tribes or Tribal staff new to the Tribal TANF program and Tribes interested in pursuing and administering a Tribal TANF program. The information was presented jointly by OFA Central and Regional Office staff, and included a question and answer session.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar, "Leveraging TANF Funds and Strategic Partnerships to Improve Housing Stability and Economic Outcomes for Low-Income Families." The webinar provided an overview of Federal regulations relating to the use of TANF and Maintenance of Effort funds, highlighted promising State and local program models for individuals at-risk, provided examples of allowable uses of TANF funds for homeless stability and employment services, and discussed strategies for choosing and implementing various program models and partnerships.

On September 27, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, the Office of Family Assistance hosted the first Webinar in a series highlighting promising practices for building sustainable subsidized employment programs. This Webinar provided an overview of different types of subsidized employment programs that can work in different settings and with different types of employers; discussed the varied funding streams utilized and strategies for matching subsidized employment opportunities to local labor markets and employer needs; and outlined practical strategies used by peer agencies for creating targeted subsidized employment programs. Presenters for this webinar included representatives from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, the Oregon Department of Human Services, the city and county of San Francisco Human Services Agency, and MDRC.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted the "Broadening the Scope of Work Activities: Using Cultural Activities in Tribal Communities" Webinar to provide an opportunity for participants to hear from Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs that count cultural activities as work activities to meet their work participation rates. Information on program models, designs, and implementation, along with populations served, partnerships, and challenges to service delivery were shared. A representative from OFA's Division of Tribal TANF Management provided an overview of allowable work activities and the unique provisions of Tribal TANF programs.

In March of 2012, the WPTA Network collaborated with Arkansas's Career Pathways Initiative - a partnership between Arkansas's Department of Higher Education and Department of Workforce Services - to learn more about their program's growth and the successes with workforce-ready adults.

This podcast highlights the Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative (CPI), which provides a comprehensive set of academic and support services designed to enable low-income, low-skilled individuals to acquire the degrees and/or credentials required to obtain and hold jobs in high-demand, high-wage industries. Staff from the Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative explained the complexity of the collaborations necessary to provide services that enable low-income job seekers to receive educational services, as well as how to help participants understand the importance of education in addition to work activities and employment.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted the "Leveraging Private/Public Partnerships and Funding to Improve Summer Youth Employment Opportunities" Webinar on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST. This Webinar provided background information on funding strategies for summer youth employment activities and discussed methods for leveraging both public and private funding streams. The Webinar featured speakers from the LA Conservation Corps, the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, ABCD Inc., and the Philadelphia Youth Network. The speakers encouraged those implementing a summer youth employment programs to collaborate with TANF agencies, the business community, community action agencies and other CSBG-funded programs, workforce investment programs, and private foundations in an effort to better serve youth, reach TANF participants, and engage key stakeholders.

On November 28, 2012, the Office of Family Assistance hosted the second Webinar in a series highlighting promising practices for building sustainable subsidized employment programs. This Webinar provided an overview of the available funding streams for subsidized employment programs; discussed the varied funding sources' requirements and restrictions and how they can be combined and leveraged; and outlined practical strategies used by peer agencies to create/expand subsidized employment programs for TANF participants and low-income workers. Presenters for this Webinar included representatives from MDRC, the Connecticut Department of Labor, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in Connecticut, and the Ohio Human Relations Council.

The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Region VI hosted a hands-on and interactive training for TANF programs on September 11-13, 2012. The 2012 Fiscal and Data Management Workshop in Dallas, Texas covered topics from caseload reduction credits and maintenance of effort (MOE) to cost allocation, audits, and penalties and provided TANF program representatives with the most comprehensive and hands-on training on managing TANF programs available. The workshop brought together State TANF directors and fiscal staff to strategize on ways to manage TANF dollars, collect, analyze, and report TANF participant and program data. Attendees learned strategies for maximizing TANF dollars and local partnerships and worked with peers to understand promising strategies for improving program performance and participant outcomes.

This presentation from Kathy Deserly of the National Resource Center for Tribes was given at the Region X Tribal TANF Conference in September of 2011. The presentation focuses on the different types of kinship care, how it is used in the child welfare and TANF systems, and advantages and challenges of kinship care. Ms. Deserly highlights characteristics of child-only cases within the TANF caseload and makes suggestions for addressing the specific and unique needs of this population.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted the "The ABC's of Creating Summer Youth Programs and Partnerships" Webinar on October 17, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EDT. The Webinar featured speakers Mathematica Policy Research, the Southeast Tennessee Development District--Local Workforce Investment Area Five, the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services, and Corporate Voices for Working Families who provided an overview of strategies for developing summer youth employment programs that can work in a variety of contexts with different types of employers. Speakers also discussed the strategic partnerships, funding streams, and recruitment and placement strategies that can be utilized to increase summer youth employment opportunities.