Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Category: Community Resources

  • Supports For Working Families

    The majority of adults who leave welfare are often found to be employed in the months after they disconnect from public assistance. Many “welfare leavers” take advantage of popular social programs such as Medicaid, SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) and school breakfast programs. Other programs are not as well utilized or communicated to those attempting to become self-sufficient. The purpose of this article is to focus on a few programs in New Jersey that are not so commonly known.

    Transitional Child Care (TCC) provides a subsidy for the twenty-four months following a TANF case closing. Parents should contact their Case Manager so a referral can be sent to the child care agency in their county. Note: even if a case is closed for reasons other than employment, a parent may be eligible for TCC, if current employed.

    Supplemental Work Support (SWS) provides a $200 per month benefit for up to two years to a family that voluntarily withdraws from TANF. The application for SWS must be made prior to the case closing due to employment earnings. To qualify a household must meet the following conditions: 1) working twenty hours or more per week for the past four months, 2) have been on cash assistance for at least six months, 3) still receiving a partial grant prior to case closing. The $200 a month benefit does not count against the five year time limit. In fact, it “stops the clock.”

    The Career Advancement Voucher Program (CAVP) allows individuals to obtain additional training or education after welfare. Requirements include: maintaining their current employment, have been working for at least the past four months. A person interested in work-related classes may receive a voucher up to $4000. The benefit is only available within the two years after TANF closing date. For a referral, contact a Work First New Jersey Case Manager.

    Additional programs and benefits are available to working families. For information on these and other programs – SNAP, LIHEAP, USF, EITC and the “Get A Job, Get A Ride” program – download the attached documents. The Support for Working Families brochure was published in hard-copy earlier this year by the NJ Division of Family Development. The Post-TANF Support Services That You Need to Know About! flyer was produced in partnership with the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

    This is the second in a series of articles and documents to be issued pertaining to welfare and workforce development.

  • WFNJ Handbook

    Twenty years ago “welfare as we know it” was fundamentally changed with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. New requirements and responsibilities are now a standard rule, along with the availability of a number of supportive services. Yet, after two decades, information is not be readily disseminated so welfare clients can make informed decisions in their efforts to become self-sufficient.

    Every applicant for cash assistance is given a handbook which gives an overview of the program, available support services, as well as information on time limits, income disregards, work activities, deferrals and sanctions.

    The handbook also details the many programs that individuals and families may receive both while receiving assistance and for the two year period following case closing. A number of these programs are under-utilized. They include: Supplemental Work Support (SWS), Career Advancement Voucher Program (CAVP), Transitional Child Care (TCC) and transportation services.

    Available for downloading is the most current edition of the WFNJ Handbook, (revised April, 2016). Also available is a Spanish version.

    This is the first in a series of articles and documents to be issued pertaining to welfare and workforce development.

  • OFA Peer TA Network

    For a number of years both the New Jersey Community Resources website and blog has highlighted a number of resources for social work professionals. The purpose of today’s article is to bring to the attention of social workers and county welfare agency personnel and their partners in community agencies a website operated on behalf of the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the Department of Health and Human Services.

    To quote from the OFA Peer Technical Assistance Network website: “The goal of Peer TA is to establish linkages among TANF agencies and their partners serving TANF and low-income families at the state, county, local, and tribal level. The Peer TA website acts as a dissemination and communications vehicle, supporting the Peer TA Network in the provision of technical assistance, facilitating a dialogue among organizations serving TANF and low-income families, and helping organizations learn about innovative programs and the latest research around effective strategies to successfully support TANF and low-income families on a path to self-sufficiency.”

    Each week OFA Peer TA distributes a newsletter to its subscribers, informing them of new developments, programs, position papers, etc. on a wide variety of subjects. If you wish to subscribe, visit their newsletter sign up page. You will find it useful to stay up-to-date with federal programs and policies or if a social work student doing research.

    Below is a sampling of just a few articles appearing in their newsletter or website within the past few months. They include:

    OFA Peer TA often hosts webinars on a number of topics. Announcements of future webinars and webcasts appear in their email distributions.

    For readers interested in New Jersey welfare statistics, the Division of Family Development still maintains a monthly report titled DFD Current Program Statistics, previously mentioned in a 2010 blog article.

    For further information, please email Michael Swayze at michael.swayze@njcommunityresources.info.