OFA PeerTA for TANF

The PeerTA team is available to take your technical assistance requests! As a reminder, PeerTA sustains and broadens a peer-based network that builds upon promising employment, economic security, and family well-being strategies administered by TANF programs and partners. We support TANF programs in adopting innovative approaches that strengthen service delivery and improve outcomes for TANF families. We provide services to any local, state, county, and Tribal TANF social service agencies that operate a TANF program or provide services to TANF families. We're here to help in a variety of ways. Some of our offerings include: • Peer-to-peer roundtables • Site visits • Moderated teleconferences • Workshops We're open to lots of different requests that will ultimately help improve your agency's processes, programs, and capabilities to serve the families who come in for assistance. Here are some examples of requests we've received in the past: • Developing and implementing a family centered training program for TANF staff and supervisors • Developing an evaluative toolkit for agencies looking to become more trauma-informed • Holding discussions to learn about challenges that an agency faces • Facilitating a site visit to learn from the experiences of another state who overcame similar challenges If you're interested in requesting technical assistance from the PeerTA team, please submit a form at this link: https://buff.ly/3QhA4PF. We're looking forward to hearing from you and your team!

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, commemorating those who have lost loved ones to suicide and acknowledging the millions who struggle with mental health issues. In April, the Biden-Harris Administration released the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. Accompanied by the first-ever Federal Action Plan to address suicide prevention, the National Strategy details over 200 actions and recommendations for addressing and meeting the needs of at-risk populations. Read more about the National Strategy and learn about the critical role of local, state, and national partnerships in providing visibility to suicide prevention initiatives: https://buff.ly/3MncIqg #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #SuicidePrevention #MentalHealth #Support #Visibility #Strategy #Action

Webinar alert! The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will host a webinar on Wednesday, September 25th, at 1 PM CDT titled "Roadmap to Success: Building a Workforce with Returning Citizens." During this webinar, participants will learn how to build a resilient and dedicated workforce by hiring and upskilling returning citizens. Register here (https://buff.ly/4e2tOpf) to discover the benefits, challenges, incentives, and strategies for creating a supportive workplace culture that will help any business become an employer of choice. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #BehavioralScience #Workforce #Resilient #Employment #Education #Justice #IncarceratedIndividuals

To be prepared for college and careers, it is vital that students have access to various forms of technology and are comfortable and knowledgeable using technology. Despite the growing use of technology in schools across the country, children who live in marginalized communities often are not provided the opportunity to engage with technology in meaningful ways. This gap in educational technology is known as the digital divide. Read this issue brief (https://buff.ly/3YXfjhZ) to learn more about resources that states can use to work toward closing the digital divide and strengthen educational technology to increase college and career readiness. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #College #Workforce #Employment #Careers #Education #Technology #DigitalDivide #EdTech

Over the last three years, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has increased program investments in support of Public Law 102-477 (477) as part of their commitment to uplift Indigenous communities, foster self-sufficiency, and honor tribal sovereignty. In fiscal year 2023, almost 300 Tribes integrated nearly 85% of available ACF grant awards into numerous programs, including the Child Care and Development Fund, Community Services Block Grant, Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Native Employment Works programs. Read more about these examples here: https://buff.ly/3Yu3dNe. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #Equity #TribalTANF #Indigenous #Sovereignty #SelfSufficiency #Visibility

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides a safety net for millions of young adults with significant disabilities. Survey reports suggest that 45 percent of SSI participants have work-related goals or expectations, as working can provide access to higher income and quality of life, yet only a small percentage work enough to be able to forgo SSI benefits. Policy analysts speculate that efforts to help these individuals firmly establish themselves in the labor force before they apply for SSI might succeed. However, providing vocational services to people before they apply for SSI is challenging because it requires identifying in advance those who are likely to apply for SSI later. Read this report (https://buff.ly/3SzTpgQ) to learn about ways to improve outreach and intake screening processes and support young adults who are potential SSI participants. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #SSI #Improvement #YoungAdult #Participation #Disability #Support

In Monroe County, New York, the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency-Next Generation (BIAS-NG) project aims to make human services programs work better for the people receiving services by reshaping program processes using lessons from behavioral science, an interdisciplinary field that incorporates psychology, economics, and other social sciences to provide insight into how people process information, make decisions, and take action. The BIAS-NG team designed and tested two interventions aimed at increasing recipient attendance at required activities for the TANF program and the New York State Safety Net program. Read this report (https://buff.ly/46RlPJn) to learn more about pre-intervention participant experiences, the steps of developing interventions informed by behavioral science, and the implementation and evaluation of those interventions. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #BehavioralScience #NewYork #CashAssistance #Economic #SelfSufficiency

Trauma is an emotional and physiological response to being exposed to physical, emotional, and/or life-threatening harm. Human services practitioners are often at the forefront of addressing trauma, playing a critical role in supporting the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of the people they serve. While it is widely recognized that trauma is a reality for many individuals seeking support, the well-being of the very staff who provide that support must not be forgotten. Read this report (https://buff.ly/3AatZ33) to learn more about trauma-informed approaches to human services and the implications for the workforce. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #TraumaInformed #Wellness #MentalHealth #EmotionalWellbeing #Workforce

An estimated 377,000 children are living in foster care. This staggering number is a measure of how we as a nation are faring in our responsibility to ensure that every child in every community has the opportunity to grow up in their own family connected to the people, places, and cultures that will help them thrive. This Casey Family report (https://buff.ly/45V6kj2) shares examples of how communities are actively partnering with families to build the foundations of a better approach, how they are using new tools and approaches to better address the needs of families and children, and how they are investing effectively to ensure thriving families, safer children, and supportive communities. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #Families #Community #Equity #Culture #Outcomes #Investment #FosterCare

The Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project and the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) seek to apply a career pathways framework to evaluate varied training programs for nontraditional student populations. This Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation report (https://buff.ly/4cpt395) presents the plan for evaluating the impacts of the PACE project and the first round of HPOG on key outcomes nine years after random assignment into the program. The purpose of this resource is to document the study approach and publicly commit to specified outcomes in hypothesis testing and an estimation approach prior to inspecting treatment-control differences on newly collected data. #PeerTA #TANF #TA #TechnicalAssistance #OFA #ACF #HumanServices #SocialServices #Families #Healthcare #Equity #Employment #Outcomes #Earnings