Welfare Reform for Addiction Professionals

Welfare Reform and TANF Websites

The following Websites provide authoritative information regarding welfare reform and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, as well as a wealth of practical information about your State's responses to welfare reform.

Administration for Children and Families. The Office of Family Assistance (OFA), under the direction of the Administration for Children and Families, is the Federal agency that administers the TANF program. The OFA Website has extensive information on the program, along with a list of State human services administrators and hyperlinks to State and tribal TANF agencies. Other links connect to sites on related topics, such as immigration, welfare reform, civil rights, children's health insurance, and literacy. Importantly, you can locate and print out a series of charts that summarize State TANF characteristics for general provisions, a State contact person, work-related provisions, additional key provisions, time limits, and homelessness provisions.

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. The Treatment Improvement Exchange Website, a service of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), has a section called Special Topics, under which is a subsection called Children's Health Insurance Program. Within this subsection are publications from the CSAT and other Federal Government agencies, a variety of State Children's Insurance Program resources, and several Internet links to key agencies and institutions.

Department of Labor. The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration Website has a section devoted to welfare-to-work that contains electronic publications dealing with that program; policy documents ranging from questions and answers to factsheets; information on both formula and competitive grants; a listserv list that provides recipients with the latest news on the welfare-to-work program, and links to a dozen online resources that assist a wide range of people, including employers, disabled individuals, and Native Americans.

Welfare Information Network. The Welfare Information Network hosts a Website that includes summaries of Federal welfare legislation, a calendar of welfare-related events, and links to more than 9,000 organizations and publication pages containing program information, policy analysis, legislative information, and best practices. The site also provides links to State agency sites and electronic versions of State TANF plans. A Hot Topics page highlights recent publications, planned research, and evaluation activities, as well as discussions of emerging issues.