Hhs Selected 10 C0Mmunities For Urban Partnership Initiative
Ten major metropolitan areas have been selected by the Department of Health and Human Services to participate in HHS’ Urban Partnership Initiative — a new effort designed to help communities that continue to have relatively high concentrations of welfare recipients.
The communities selected are: Baltimore, Md.; Miami, Fla.; Atlanta, Ga.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Detroit, Mich.; Grand Prairie, Texas (Arlington, Dallas, and Ft. Worth, applying jointly); St. Louis, Mo.; Omaha, Neb.; Oakland, Calif. and Seattle, Wash.
Through the initiative, HHS’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, and HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation will work closely with the cities and counties involved to develop strategies to support and sustain families as they become economically independent.
The Urban Partnerships Initiative consists of two components. The first is a two-day “Academy for Urban Welfare Partnerships” which will convene in Dallas in February 2003. The participating communities will share information about their experiences and learn of promising self-sufficiency strategies.
Additionally, individualized plans will be developed to help participants move their welfare reform agenda forward. HHS will provide funding for the academy and the cost of participation for three team members.
The second component is 10 months of in-depth individualized technical assistance designed to help the communities carry out the strategies developed at the academy. The technical assistance can be in the form of HHS-funded consultant or facilitation services designed to build and better manage TANF programs.
Currently, the largest 47 urban counties in the U.S. serve over 70 percent of the families in their states that receive TANF. Urban areas that included a city with a population of 300,000 or more were eligible to apply. HHS received applications from 34 of the 58 urban areas that were eligible. Sites were selected based on both their potential to benefit from and contribute to the initiative.
“Urban areas are now working with an even larger proportion of the TANF caseload, and while these cities and counties have done well, they face considerable managerial challenges in helping large numbers of families who have severe and often multiple life problems,” said Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for children and families. “Our intent is to help them build stronger networks and even more effective TANF programs.”
