Policy and Practice | December 2022

aphsa insights By Mary Nelson

Partnering for Families: Reflections on TANF and Child Support

O ver the past few years, the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) has invested in a member-driven Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) modern ization effort to establish a set of core principles and legislative framework 1 making it clear that to help families achieve economic mobility, TANF must shift focus from work compli ance and verification to what families need to thrive. When aligning the TANF program with other key building blocks, we can achieve the outcomes we desire for the future. And yet, this paradigm shift is not unique to TANF within human services. During outreach to child support directors about the frame work, APHSA found a similar, complementary shift in child support agencies from an enforcement focus to a model of support and family services. Recognizing the incredible potential of partnerships and collaboration between child support and TANF, APHSA, the National Council of Child Support Directors (NCCSD), and the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) are capitalizing on this momentum. Through a newly established partnership, we will bring together TANF administrators, child support directors, and other key stake holders to advance critical discussions on the interplay between child support and other economic supports in a whole-family approach. As a launching pad for these conver sations, APHSA and NCCSD separately hosted conference sessions this summer that highlighted existing perspectives

Providing a practical example, Karen Hebert, Director of the Division of Economic and Housing Stability at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, shared that non-custodial parents are assessed to determine if they are receiving or are otherwise eligible for Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and TANF. Not only does this ensure non-custodial parents have access to essential supports that promote their own stability and parental success, but it also could qualify parents for the state’s Work Now program, which provides employment services and funding for education tuition, travel, and child care. During the same session, discussing the impact of Colorado’s child support pass-through policy, Larry Desbien,

on, and efforts to, collaborating and coordinating between TANF and child support agencies. Discussions centered on removing barriers to services and supporting child and family develop ment. These sessions display a strong commitment amongst state leaders to develop and strengthen the ties across programs and agencies in the interest of supporting the whole family. Kicking off the conference season with Spilling the Tea on TANF: An Honest Conversation on Partnerships and Families , at NCCSD’s 2022 Annual Meeting, panelists elaborated on opportunities and challenges to coor dinating policy and practice across programs. They also highlighted the mutual goals of supporting parents as caregivers, promoting economic mobility, access to employment and training services for all parents, and elevating child and family well-being.

See Partnering for Families on page 33

Illustration by Chris Campbell/Shutterstock

5

December 2022 Policy&Practice