This report details associated transportation barriers experienced by TANF participants in New Jersey. Based on focus groups and interviews conducted with caseworkers and TANF participants, it provides a first-hand look at how transportation barriers limit participants’ employment opportunities. Findings include that approximately one in three participants report losing a job opportunity due to transportation challenges. Lacking adequate public transportation, as well as the ability to afford a car, impedes individuals’ abilities to both find and retain employment. Several suggestions are proposed to help reduce these barriers – including more reliable bus routes, and decreasing the costs of car ownership. This resource also reviews several “best practice” state programs that support low-income families in obtaining vehicles and subsidized public transport.

During Phase 3 of the project (2009-2010), in close partnership with the OFA Federal Project Officer, the project team conducted two-day site visits with each leading organization, which included faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, and intermediary partners. The case studies were drafted to isolate key insights about local collaboration and help identify strategic on-the-ground practices for FBCO leaders or TANF practitioners.

In the foreground of reauthorization the Administration for Children and Families Regions I, II, III, and IV convened the first ever 2010 East Coast TANF Directors’ Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 19-21, 2010. The conference brought together 24 State TANF directors and program staff to strategize on ways to move low-income and working families closer to economic self-sufficiency while providing important input on the development of new TANF legislation. Specific topics included subsidized employment, strengthening safety-net partnerships, improving assessments and service delivery for domestic violence victims, and asset development strategies to improve long-term economic development. The conference brought together federal, state, and local partners and stakeholders to develop a new vision for a new decade and to enhance the program options available to low-income families and TANF participants.

ACF Regions II and III held a Maximizing ARRA Funding in the TANF Program Meeting in New York City, New York on February 4-5, 2010. This meeting explored how States in these two ACF Regions were utilizing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which included the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund—which appropriated $5 billion for the provision of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for creating/enhancing subsidized employment programs, providing basic assistance (cash grants to low-income families), and providing non-recurrent short-term payments (e.g. four months of rental assistance for homeless families, security deposit and first month’s rent, utility assistance). In order to assist States in implementing innovative initiatives to respond to rising caseloads and/or rising expenditures, ACF Regions II and III coordinated this strategy forum for States to share experiences and work together to determine next steps.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and the United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA) hosted a technical assistance teleconference for Newark, New Jersey’s Workforce Investment Administration. As an outgrowth of the OFA-sponsored Collaboration Initiative, Newark requested additional technical assistance on an innovative non-custodial parent initiative being integrated into the child support enforcement and workforce administrations in San Antonio, Texas.

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.

This study was completed through the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, and explores how local management of TANF programs has adapted practices to address changing needs of the TANF population in the local areas. This study was conducted in five sites across the country, including Phoenix, Arizona; Macon, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; Newark, New Jersey and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Findings conclude that the implementation of TANF varies across the sites, and that programs will have upcoming changes in response to the Deficit Reduction Act.

This Final Report describes a workshop that took place on September 16, 2003, in New York City, sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

This report summarizes a national conference that took place in Arlington, VA, on March 20-21, 2003. The conference was jointly sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This conference brought together substance abuse treatment agency directors and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) administrators from forty States, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. The conference provided a forum for these policymakers and administrators to share information about their experience and concerns, and their promising strategies used in strengthening the collaboration and partnership of TANF and substance abuse treatment directors.

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.