As part of Phase 1 of the project (2007-2008), the TANF FBCO team collected information on 139 promising partnerships between Federal, State, or local governments and FBCOs that provide employment and self-sufficiency services to TANF participants and other low-income populations. This Compendium documents the core competencies and organizational components of each local organization. Site profiles identify each organization’s demographics, characteristics of the population served, services and outcomes, and information on their partnership. From this information search, 23 programs were selected for further study.

This innovative program highlight is from the Center on Law and Social Policy, and provides information on Kentucky’s Ready-to-Work program. A collaboration between the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), this program helps TANF participants pursue postsecondary degrees at Kentucky community and technical colleges.

On Wednesday, March 24, 2010, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance- Regions V and VII and the United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration- Region V hosted an interactive videoconference on the uses of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to improve summer employment for youth and low-income Americans. In addition, representatives from Los Angeles County presented on the successful use of ARRA funds, their strong TANF-WIA partnership, providing real life examples of how TANF and WIA agencies can work together to serve low-income youth and families with ARRA funds. HHS and DOL officials were on hand to answer questions and facilitate peer to peer dialogue.

The Economic Mobility Project authored this report on ways that students can increase their long-term earnings and the role of community colleges. Twenty-six percent of community college students come from low-income families, compared to 15 percent of four-year college students. Research shows that by receiving a community college degree, students can increase their earnings by an average of $7,900 annually, which is an earnings increase of 29 percent over those with a high school diploma.

This report is from the Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation. Religion and spirituality play a significant role in the lives of Americans, and this report is focused on how religiosity and spirituality affect outcomes for low-income families. Researchers provide an overview of the role of religiosity for low-income families in the areas of marriage and relationships, parenting, youth outcomes, mental and physical health, substance abuse, and crime and violence, homelessness, and employment.

Due to the economic climate, many workers have faced the unstable labor market with declining wages and job insecurity, and the effects take a larger toll on disadvantaged workers. Organizations that are currently serving disadvantaged workers are also facing challenges to matching their clients to employment opportunities, and organizations have been finding innovative approaches to employment through sectoral employment strategies, career pathways and transitional jobs. This resource, from Public/Private Ventures, provides an overview of alternative staffing strategies currently being utilized across the country to support job seekers and disadvantaged workers.

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.

The Children’s Future Initiative was designed to prepare young children for achieving successful outcomes in school in Trenton, New Jersey. From Public/Private Ventures, this report offers key strategies employed from the Initiative, and offers information on program implementation, participant recruitment, and collaborations among Trenton’s agencies. Early findings include that this effort has started making changes in the institutional level to help agencies better serve children from birth to age three.

Designed to serve as a guide for policymakers and practitioners, from Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), this piece outlines key strategies for replicating social programs. P/PV has had 30 years of experience designing, testing and replicating social programs, and this report outlines key structures that should be in place before replication is considered.

Authored by Anne Sparks at Ohio University, this National Poverty Center Working Paper outlines the implementation of the ‘Within My Reach’ Curriculum in Oklahoma. The program is included in a week of orientation activities for new TANF participants at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. This paper provides results from interviews with TANF participants who participated in the program and findings suggest that this program has been successful in promoting relationship skills among this population.