Service coordination can help people achieve and maintain housing stability, wellness, and independence by identifying and connecting the services and supports they want and need. A strategy to increase access to this service coordination is “braiding”, which laces together funds from multiple sources - each funding unique activities - to support a common goal while maintaining the specific program identity of each individual funding source. The Housing and Services Resource Center, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will host a webinar on January 31, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, which will feature two models for braiding funding streams across sectors to maximize the use of existing resources and broaden access to service coordination. Presenters will discuss program structure, funding and braiding process, partnerships, and outcomes, and participants will learn ideas for adapting these models to extend access to service coordination.

LifeSet is an intensive case management program that prepares young people in foster care for the transition to adulthood. LifeSet specialists meet weekly with youth to provide individualized, intensive services as youth work towards self-defined goals in areas such as housing, employment, education, and money management. This Chapin Hall report presents findings from the Phase II evaluation of LifeSet’s implementation by three child services providers in Illinois. Phase II evaluation activities included focus groups with LifeSet specialists; interviews with LifeSet supervisors, licensed program experts, and young people who participated in LifeSet; and an analysis of both Department of Children and Family Services administrative data and GuideTree program data from Youth Villages.

Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Accounts are tax-advantaged savings accounts that are available to eligible individuals with disabilities. ABLE account funds can be used for "qualified disability-related expenses" (QDE). A QDE is any expense the beneficiary incurs because of the disability. These may include expenses related to education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, or other expenses that help improve health, independence and/or quality of life. This Social Security Administration blogpost explains who is eligible for an ABLE account, what the funds are used for, and the effect it has on Social Security disability benefits.

Employment coaching involves trained staff working collaboratively with participants to help them set individualized goals related to employment and providing motivation, support, and feedback as participants work toward those goals. Recently, there has been growing interest among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in using employment coaching to assist Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes become economically mobile. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report highlights the evaluation that was designed to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the four programs participating in the Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations study. The report answers the following research questions: In what contexts were programs implemented? How did the designs of the programs vary and differ? How was coaching implemented across programs? The programs highlighted in this evaluation are: • Family Development and Self-Sufficiency, which serves TANF recipients and their family members in Iowa. • Goal4 It!TM, which provides employment coaching to TANF recipients in Jefferson County, Colorado in lieu of traditional case management. • LIFT, which is a voluntary coaching program operated in four U.S. cities. • MyGoals for Employment Success, which serves recipients of housing assistance in Baltimore, Maryland, and Houston, Texas.

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This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) provides information on four programs operated by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) whose funding may be used to provide post-disaster housing assistance following a natural disaster: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). Funds can be used for temporary housing such as motels or hotels, minor home repairs, cooling centers during the day, or short-term rental or mortgage assistance.  A summary chart outlines the benefits, availability of assistance, eligibility, the form of benefits, and contact for more information for the TANF, CSBG, LIHEAP, and SSBG programs. 

The child support program serves parents in the context of their community. Child support agencies work with community-based organizations to help meet parent needs,and enhance the success of families in child support programs. This compendium reflects the diversity of child support partnerships across the country; it includes resources and fact sheets on employment, reentry, family violence, responsible fatherhood, homelessness, parental education, and preventing the need for child support services by addressing the importance of being emotionally and financially prepared to support a child.

In support of the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) mission and strategic plan, ACF has developed a set of materials intended to provide guidance to hard-to-reach populations to increase their awareness and understanding of the array of resources that may be able to assist them. These resources are explicitly designed to be user-friendly and easy to digest. The materials include resources for transition-age youth exiting foster care, families with children ages 0-12, prospective Head Start participants, survivors of domestic violence looking to find and keep housing, fathers looking for benefits programs or parenting tips, and providers supporting those seeking post-disaster housing.

The New Jersey Keeping Families Together (KFT) program is a supportive housing program that combines subsidized housing with voluntary supportive services for child welfare-involved families at risk of homelessness. Urban Institute conducted an evaluation of New Jersey’s KFT program, including the interviews of staff members representing all eight service providers as well as local departments involved in the development and implementation of the program to examine the program model. This report explores the findings of their evaluation, which can be helpful at both the policy and programmatic levels in developing program changes to most effectively ensure consistent and standard models of practice across KFT service providers.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) held the 2022 Regions V-VIII State TANF Virtual Meeting on July 19-21, 2022. This virtual event brought together TANF program representatives from OFA Regions V-VIII and focused on how programs can best address the needs of families beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting included sessions on TANF fundamentals and updates, how the shift to the virtual world has impacted TANF customers and agencies, and changes programs can make to improve their support of customers throughout their TANF journey.

Also, participants chose from concurrent peer-to-peer sessions to attend based on their role within their state (case management, data personnel, or administrative/leadership) to discuss topics including eligibility and work requirements, TANF essentials, the new normal, and refocusing the customer.

The authors of this blog provide data and commentary that highlight three key economic concerns for the summer of 2022: women leaving the labor force, economic contraction erasing job gains by Black workers, and the heightened risk of food insecurity. To mitigate these potential pitfalls, the authors suggest robust fiscal policies such as stronger unemployment insurance and a renewed monthly Child Tax Credit as well as a collaborative effort from the federal government, states, philanthropy, and local community-based organizations to support families vulnerable to food insecurity and homelessness in the coming months.