This Native Center webinar is a part of a series that examines the history of disability within Native communities, present-day challenges, and the possible solutions to creating a more equitable and accessible future for Native people with disabilities. Participants come away from the series with a greater understanding of the unique intersectionality of disability and Native populations as well as culturally-based strategies and approaches that can help improve the quality of life for Native people with disabilities. The Native Center will be hosting the November webinar on November 16, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. MDT, which will highlight available resources and programs for Native veterans.

As of 2021, up to 17.5% of working age American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians reported they have a disability. However, only 2.2% of Division of Indian and Native American Programs grantee participants reported they have a disability. Low reporting may indicate that participants do not know that they can receive accommodations to help them be more successful during a training program and at their workplace if they disclose that they have a disability. Also, workforce development staff may not realize that they can leverage partners to provide more comprehensive services for participants with disabilities to ensure their success and/or may not know how to broach the topic with customers.

The National Center on Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities hosted part-two of a two-part series on December 10, 2021 where attendees learned best practices and strategies in building partnerships and leveraging resources across federal, state, and local systems.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration hosted a virtual event on April 20, 2023 where the Division of Indian and Native American Programs invited Jim Warne, subject matter expert in the field of disabilities among Native populations, to share his presentation “Helping Native People with Disabilities Succeed Through Family and Community Engagement.” This presentation included information on the value of community-driven solutions, cultivating a deeper understanding of community practices, and the varying types of traumas affecting native people with disabilities. The presentation ended with an open dialogue, where Warne answered questions about practices employed to assist people with disabilities, potential partnerships with Section 166 programs, and smaller tribal vocational rehabilitation programs.

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families has awarded $9 million to 32 Native American Tribes and Native organizations to help improve the social and economic well-being in their communities. Every year, ANA supports Native-led, community-based projects across the United States, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Funds will be awarded across three Notice of Funding Opportunities: Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS), Social and Economic Development Strategies Alaska (SEDS-AK), and Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Grant Awards (ERE). This ACF press release announces the new FY 2023 SEDS, SEDS-AK, and ERE community partners and highlights three tribal projects that will be supported with this funding.

The Office of Family Assistance and Children’s Bureau have announced the 10 sites selected to participate in the FAST-LC. The FAST-LC is a 12-month initiative operating from September 2023 through September 2024. The Learning Community will focus on promoting innovative prevention strategies to mitigate and reduce families’ involvement with the child welfare system through partnerships between TANF and Child Welfare programs. Site teams will benefit from a robust suite of individualized training, technical assistance, and coaching support, as well as regular opportunities for collaborative learning and sharing across site teams.

The states and tribes participating in the FAST-LC are:
• Arizona Department of Child Safety and Department of Economic Security;
• Arkansas Department of Human Services;
• California Department of Social Services;
• Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boys Reservation (Montana),
• Iowa Department of Health and Human Services;
• Kentucky Department for Community Based Services;
• Michigan Department of Health and Human Services;
• Oregon Department of Human Services;
• Pascua Yaqui Tribe (Arizona); and
• West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to improve the effectiveness and integrity of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) regulations. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) would help families experiencing the greatest economic hardships benefit from the services that Congress intended for the TANF program to provide.

Specifically, the proposed rule puts forward for public comment seven changes to the current regulations that would increase program integrity, clarify allowable uses of TANF, and reduce obstacles for individuals trying to access support. These are:

• Establish a ceiling on the term "needy";
• Clarify when an expenditure is "reasonably calculated to accomplish a TANF purpose";
• Exclude as an allowable TANF maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures cash donations from non-governmental third parties and the value of third-party in-kind contributions;
• Ensure that excused holidays match the number of federal holidays, following the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday;
• Develop new criteria to allow states to use alternative Income and Eligibility Verification Systems (IEVS) measures;
• Clarify the "significant progress" criteria following a work participation rate corrective compliance plan; and
• Clarify the existing regulatory text about the allowability of costs associated with the disseminating program information.

Comments on these proposed rules from all TANF partners and affected parties are due to HHS by December 1, 2023 and can be submitted via this form. 

In October 2023, the Office of Child Care (OCC) invited public comment on the rules and regulations of the Tribally administered Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program as part of the Administration for Children and Families' commitment to creating partnerships with Tribal Nations to identify and implement solutions that transcend traditional program boundaries. This Request for Information (RFI) specifically sought public comment on the following topics of the Tribal childcare program: CCDF Funding Policies for Tribes, CCDF Administration, Improving Families' Access to Child Care, and Increasing Child Care Supply in Tribal Communities—but input on any aspect of the Tribally administered CCDF program was encouraged. The OCC hosted a virtual listening session on October 25, 2023 to gather feedback from families and providers on the RFI topics. A copy of the RFI and related resources are available on their website.

Registration for this event is closed.

The Office of Family Assistance initiative, “Leveraging America’s Social and Economic Resilience TANF Learning Community” (LASER TLC), supported ten TANF Programs across the country as they worked to address the challenges of human service delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and focused on improving and delivering more responsive services to their TANF families. This document shares the Scotts Valley Tribal TANF Program’s journey during their participation in the 18-month learning community. The site journey conveys how their LASER TLC site team, along with support from their dedicated coaching team and application of the LI2 framework, contributed to developing their action plan and strategizing the implementation of their change agenda to benefit TANF families.

The Office of Family Assistance initiative, “Leveraging America’s Social and Economic Resilience TANF Learning Community” (LASER TLC), supported ten TANF Programs across the country as they worked to address the challenges of human service delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and focused on improving and delivering more responsive services to their TANF families. This document shares the Yurok Tribal TANF Program’s journey during their participation in the 18-month learning community. The site journey conveys how their LASER TLC site team, along with support from their dedicated coaching team and application of the LI2 framework, contributed to developing their action plan and strategizing the implementation of their change agenda to benefit TANF families.

Disasters do not differentiate between urban, suburban, and rural communities, but response efforts do. Rural and Native communities can get left out of all stages of preparing for disasters and recovering from them. Rural communities, particularly communities of color and those facing persistent poverty, are ill equipped for disasters and suffer through longer recovery processes. The Urban Institute hosted a webinar on April 19, 2022 to discuss how to improve support for rural and Native communities facing disasters. The conversation showcased examples of successful planning, response, and recovery initiatives and highlighted policy and program changes that can help rural communities.