Background | Platform | Staff | Board and Advisors | Members | Profiles Platform Specific Recommendations for Improvements in TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) Preserve Options for TANF Investments in Skills Development Maintain current TANF funding to states: At a minimum, maintain current funding levels of state block grants, reauthorize supplemental grants available to states with very low federal funding "per poor child", and improve provisions for economic downturns so states will have sufficient funds to meet any increased demand for support/services. Continue flexible use of TANF funds for low-wage worker advancement: Maintain current regulatory flexibility in who can access TANF-funded services outside of income support (e.g., low-income workers). Track and report on how states are using federal TANF and state Maintenance of Effort funds (after income support) to support education and training programs that lead to client entry or advancement in the skilled labor market. Expand Access to Training for TANF Recipients and Other Low-Income Workers Relax "work first" pressures felt by states: The clear perception on the part of states is that "work first" is expected to be a primary component of local TANF programming, despite some stated flexibility in the law. Encourage states to take advantage of that flexibility. Allow more TANF recipients to train for good jobs: Eliminate the 30 percent cap on the number of recipients whose education and training activities can count toward a state's work participation rate. Allow long-term and/or post-secondary training for skilled occupations: Eliminate the 12-month limit on vocational education as a countable "work activity", and allow a range of education and training activities-including post-secondary education that is part of an employment plan-to count as work activities. Ease TANF recipients' use of other workforce programs: Make it easier for TANF clients to access workforce development resources under other federal programs (e.g., WIA, HEA). Measure Success through Self-Sufficiency Include skills development in client plans: Encourage states to develop "individual responsibility plans" for TANF clients that include skills development and the achievement of improved employment outcomes. Require state plans to include employment/advancement goals: Require that state TANF plans specify strategies to help clients enter and advance within their local labor markets. Encourage coordination with similar strategies developed for low-income adults under WIA Reward states that help TANF clients advance: Include TANF's current "High-Performance Bonus" criteria (job entry rates, job retention rates, and earnings gains) as a portion of the baseline performance data reported by all states. Encourage states to develop systems that coordinate these objectives with similar performance measures under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Promote and Reward Local Innovation Expand options for TANF-WIA integration: Ease states'/localities' coordination of WIA and TANF services, including greater allowances for the development of unified plans, and permission to coordinate tracking and reporting on WIA and TANF expenditures and employment outcomes. Invest in strategies that help TANF clients advance in the labor market: Provide additional funds for innovative local strategies aimed at improving the skills and enhancing employment prospects for low-wage and entry-level workers.