The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on Wednesday, February 26 entitled Improving Employment Outcomes for TANF Recipients with Substance Use Disorders. The webinar outlined employment-focused strategies that can contribute to, rather than inhibit, substance use treatment and featured experts with backgrounds in research and practice on working with TANF recipients who have substance use disorders. Speakers discussed national trends in substance use disorders and strategies to move those with substance use disorders towards treatment, employment, and economic stability.

Speakers included:

• Dennis Romero, Regional Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Dr. Christine Cauffield, Chief Executive Officer, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Managing Entity, Lutheran Services Florida

• Kim Griswold Releford, University of Kentucky, Opioid Use Disorder Project, Targeted Assessment Program

This research brief from the Office of Child Support Enforcement identifies findings from a five-site Parenting Time Opportunities for Children (PTOC) grant. The grant, awarded to child support agencies in California, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Oregon, was intended to demonstrate how child support agencies can include parenting time orders in child support enforcement actions. The brief describes how increases in noncustodial parenting time, with safeguards in place for child welfare, led to improved relationships and increased compliance with child support payment orders.

This Prosperity Now report provides lessons learned for enhancing credit building activities for youth leaving foster care. Beyond explaining the need for financial independence and credit’s role among this population, the report highlights five organizations that successfully integrate programs for youth and asset building: the Children’s Home Society of Florida, DePelchin Children’s Center, First Place for Youth, the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, and the RightWay Foundation.

This MDRC research-to-practice brief profiles the PACE Center for Girls, a Florida-based nonprofit organization serving school-aged girls at risk of involvement with the justice system. This brief identifies the uniqueness of PACE’s gender-responsive approaches that are tailored to meet the specific challenges of middle and high school-aged girls at risk. The PACE evaluation suggests ways that researchers can collaborate with practitioners in producing actionable social-sector evidence and translating evidence into practice to improve interventions.

This webinar, convened by the Florida Housing Coalition on January 9, 2019, will provide guidance to nonprofit board members and executive leadership on building capacity and professional development for organizational self-assessment. The webinar is a pre-requisite training for nonprofit organizations planning to attend a later workshop on adding or expanding affordable housing to their set of programs.

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.