On August 1, 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted the first Webinar in a series of Webinars for the Promising Pathways Initiative. The Promising Pathways Initiative provided technical assistance to State, Tribal, and local TANF programs and nonprofit organizations to promote successful outcomes for low-income families, and seeks to address the knowledge needs of the TANF field through an evidence-informed practice approach. The Initiative is grounded in the research on evidence-based practices. The Promising Pathways Initiative supported ten selected sites from the ten OFA Regions by building capacity of the sites to identify practice and program components; develop and document evidence; and articulate the resulting "story" about the effectiveness of the program or practice. Titled "Using Data to Improve and Show Program Performance," this Webinar introduced participants to a system for identifying, collecting, and assessing information to demonstrate measurable program impacts beyond funder requirements. Participants learned about developing effective measures and creating performance plans to make data actionable. The Webinar featured an overview of LINCWorks, a program in Kansas City, Missouri which participated in the Promising Pathways Initiative performance tracking tools.

Substance abuse is recognized as one of the most common barriers facing hard-to-employ TANF recipients. Due to the stringent work requirements and time limits under Federal welfare policy, substance abuse treatment and counseling services are becoming a necessity for any public assistance program attempting to move recipients from welfare to work. Under the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Welfare Reform Technical Assistance Project, Caliber Associates produced this document as a reference tool on two specific Federal funding sources - Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Welfare to Work (WtW) funds - which can be targeted at supporting substance abuse treatment services for the welfare population.

The Welfare Peer TA completed an analysis of Delaware's strategies for identifying substance abuse among A Better Chance Families. This provides the Executive Summary as well as a set of appendices that include promising practices from other States; a list of resource organizations; and a list of articles related to the topic of substance abuse among TANF families.

This report details the presentations given and questions, answers, and concerns articulated by members of the ACF Region V States at the June State Human Services Officials Meeting.

Professionals from Cass County solicited specific technical assistance from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network in response to this developing problem of drug screening. Their technical assistance request broadly covered substance abuse screening in general, but also included specific aspects of methamphetamine use and identification among TANF clients. The TA request from North Dakota touched on multiple aspects of substance abuse. The technical assistance request from North Dakota solicited help in addressing substance abuse among TANF families and devising strategies to assist substance abusing families find and maintain employment. 

This short report describes the Roundtable entitled Developing Strategies to Address the Child-Only Caseload that was held April 8-9, 2003 in Colorado Springs (El Paso County). The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network conducted discussion with State TANF administrators around the country to assess their current policies and programs designed to meet the needs of the child-only caseload, and to gauge their level of interest in participating a Roundtable on this topic. The full report fully describes the meeting, attended by California, Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, and includes important highlights and lessons learned.