The Hoopa Valley Positive Indian Family Network in California requested technical assistance (TA) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance to help improve Hoopa Valley’s Positive Indian Family Network and their collaboration with other Hoopa Valley human service agencies, particularly Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The Network operates through a Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination Grant. An event was held on July 8-9, 2008, that focused on wraparound case management practices and the Systems of Care framework from the perspective of the Medicine Moon Initiative through the Native American Training Institute.

Welfare Peer Technical Assistance (TA) staff attended the 2008 National Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Institute that took place July 21-24, 2008. Sponsored by the University of California, Center for Human Services, U.C. Davis Extension, the Institute consisted of a three day training course designed to promote the development of culturally sensitive case management practices and delivery of services to Tribal TANF participants in a culturally appropriate way. The Institute was designed to offer solutions to Tribal TANF programs and to offer skill building and networking opportunities for participants.

This report was written for the U.S. Department of Labor, Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and Employment and Training Administration. The Reclamando Nuestro Futuro (Reclaiming our Future or RNF) program is run by the Latino Coalition for Faith and Community Initiatives of Bakersfield, California to assist at-risk and adjudicated Latino youths to obtain needed education or training, to find employment, and to avoid involvement with the juvenile justice system. This final report resulted from an evaluation of the program which includes outcomes experienced by participating youth in the program.

In California, as in much of the country, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)/California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) welfare-to-work program has been highly successful in reducing welfare caseloads. California has reduced its welfare caseload by 50 percent since 1996 and has shown marked success in implementing employment services and supports that help TANF participants overcome barriers to work and become more self supporting. However, many California counties are currently facing greater challenges moving their remaining CalWORKs participants into the workforce and meeting the new federally mandated work participation requirements. The state of California and its county partners are looking for new and effective programs and tools to aid them in reengaging sanctioned individuals; developing new opportunities for participants in the labor market; and linking these individuals to the skills training they need to become “work ready.” Faced with this challenge, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) partnered with the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Family Assistance (OFA), to develop the California Counties Technical Assistance (TA) Academy as a way to focus on solutions and strategies to enhance California’s work participation rate. This Academy was a facilitated two and a half day event designed to introduce staff from 18 California counties to new programs, strategies, and ideas in order to strengthen their capacity to achieve higher levels of work participation rates.

From the Population Research Bureau, this outlines recent data on the cost of child poverty by State. Specifically, children that grow up in poverty have negative health, social, and economic consequences, which can have large costs for States. California, with an estimated 1.7 million poor children in 2006, had the highest cost of child poverty at $63.9 billion, followed by Texas at $57.5 billion and New York at $33.4 billion.

This publication is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance under contract with ICF International. Through the Urban Partnerships Initiative, this resource shows the outstanding efforts of ten cities to meet the needs of families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The innovative practices highlighted in this piece can be applied in other urban areas throughout the Nation to enable other cities to write their own success story during the next decade of welfare reform.

This discussion paper, from the Urban Institute, summarizes how States are serving clients with multiple barriers on their TANF caseloads and provides information on recent changes in States’ approaches to serving this population. Authors interviewed TANF program officials in the States of California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Through MDRC’s Employment Retention and Advancement project, this report presents findings after two years of a program in Riverside County, California. The program’s objective was to promote job retention and advancement among employed individuals who recently left the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It was found that participants in the program had increased employment rates of four percent above the control group, and increased earnings of 11 percent.

This paper summarizes findings from MAXIMUS studies about the awareness and use of the EITC among welfare recipients, leavers, and applicants. The findings are based on surveys conducted in five states: California, Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

This bulletin reviews a microenterprise development organization in California. This company provides tax preparation in an effort to build assets for the low-income population through the Earned Income Tax Credit.