The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) and Emergency Assistance programs wit the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Under TANF, the nature of public assistance changed from an entitlement program to one that requires individuals to work in order to receive time-limited support. This change in the welfare delivery system was accompanied by an increase in State-level flexibility in program design and operation. Welfare reform required no less than a redefinition of the role of decision makers at the Federal, State and local level, including the role played by front line workers when interacting with welfare recipients. In the journey toward reinventing the social safety net, States have met a variety of formidable challenges. Five years after the passage of welfare reform, this report takes stock of the past and current challenges that States have encountered. This report focuses on the policies and services provided to the hardest-to-serve and on the network of collaborations that States have developed to address the needs of these populations.

The ACF West-Central Hub Family Stabilization Workshop, held September 26 and 27, 2001, in Denver, CO, had three primary themes: Responsible Fatherhood, Faith-based and Community Initiatives, and Marriage and Family Stabilization. The Administration for Children and Families West-Central Hub includes Region VI (New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas) and Region VIII (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming). The objectives of the workshop were to introduce participants to successful programs in the three key areas, to encourage networking, and to serve vulnerable children and families by focusing on making lasting connections. Speakers from various programs and perspectives  shared promising practices, challenges, and lessons learned in the area of family stabilization.

The training conference was to deliver training and education to program administrators to conform to Federal regulations, collaborate on faith- and community-based coordination, and to foster strategic plans for carrying out ACF's objectives. The conference sought to increase awareness of the priorities that contribute to the well-being of children and families.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network conducted this workshop in collaboration with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The purpose of the event was to provide and share information on Welfare-to-Work (WTW) transportation and related issues. Furthermore, the workshop provided a forum for discussing the effectiveness of current initiatives, which provide the foundation for solutions to as yet unresolved transportation dilemmas. Specific topics addressed included building upon existing resources; providing affordable, accessible, and reliable transportation to all urban, suburban, and rural areas; coordination between transportation, workforce development, and human service agencies to overcome transportation barriers, and combining resources to achieve these objectives.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated this workshop in conjunction with the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Division. The purpose of this two-day workshop was to assemble a collection of varying levels of expertise from all over the nation among the Individual Development Account (IDA) field to promote information sharing and fact finding. This workshop built on the successes of two previous IDA workshops that were hosted by the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network during this past year. The program for this workshop was similar to the other two workshops with the additional component of focusing on the flexibility available in using Welfare to Work funds for IDA programs.

The Welfare Peer TA Network sponsored this statewide Roundtable event that took place in Baton Rouge, LA, from October 25-26, 2004. Attended by over 80 Federal, State, and local representatives, this Roundtable was designed to impart the tools and knowledge to implement a statewide Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) awareness and outreach campaign.

On March 26-27, 2002, the Welfare Peer TA held a technical assistance meeting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in order to compare and contrast Louisiana’s joint interagency substance abuse initiative to that of the State of North Carolina. As part of this comparison, staff members from North Carolina’s Division of Social Services and its Division of Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities/Substance Abuse Services were onsite to participate in the meeting. Their role in this technical assistance meeting was to provide information about their initiative and informal observations and recommendations to Louisiana about their interagency substance abuse initiative. The overall goal of the meeting was to examine what “works” and what “doesn’t work” from the perspective of the North Carolina staff. The meeting included a visit to a pilot site for the State’s substance abuse initiative, which afforded the North Carolina staff an opportunity to gain an in-depth observation and understanding of Louisiana’s program.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, supported a 2-day conference held by Office of Family Assistance, Region VI, examining the issues of domestic violence and substance abuse as barriers to self-sufficiency for the Native American Population. The focus of the conference was to help TANF case workers better understand the impact of domestic violence and substance abuse in Native American populations, and identify barriers unique to Native American Communities. The conference also focused on developing strategies for collaboration with Native American organizations and governments. See Appendix A for the complete Agenda. TANF workers from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas were invited to attend.

In order to foster progress in stabilizing and strengthening healthy marriages, the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network held a workshop entitled Developing a Marriage Initiative for Your State in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 17 and 18, 2002. Workshop participants included individuals primarily representing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child support staffs from nine States. The purpose of this 2-day workshop was to create an interactive dialogue with States around appropriate efforts to develop and implement statewide healthy marriage initiatives.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance (TA) Network sponsored a multi-State TA event on July 15-16, 2003, in Oklahoma City, OK. This event was co-coordinated with Public Strategies, the public relations firm that manages the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. The Administration for Children and Families' region VI, VII, and IX offices provided additional supports, ensuring this event met State informational needs. The following short summary reports on this Workshop.