This panel presentation will focus on the self-sufficiency strategies and client outcomes in the Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, presenting findings from the forthcoming (Summer 2013) ACF-funded descriptive study of Tribal TANF programs. Designed to provide an in-depth, systematic description of program implementation, operations, outputs, and outcomes in selected sites, the study included site visits to Tanana Chiefs Conference (Alaska); Navajo Nation (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah), South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (Washington); and Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin. The site visits included semi-structured interviews with Tribal TANF administrators and staff, administrators and staff of related programs, and focus groups with Tribal TANF participants. The study also analyzed data from HHS, Census, and other data sources.

 The presentation will describe the core goals and philosophy of each of the selected Tribal TANF programs and the programs’ general strategies for helping clients engaged in education and/or work or work-related activities to become self-sufficient.  For example, we will describe whether tribes emphasize employment, education, income gains, or other self-sufficiency strategies for their clients. We also will provide an overview of implementation of the Tribal TANF programs, such activity and hours requirements, the allowable activities, the most common activities, and collaboration with and referrals to other services. Finally, the presentation will describe the outcomes of the Tribal TANF program for clients and the larger communities, both in terms of the work participation rate as well as perspectives of Tribal TANF clients and staff on whether and how the program has benefitted clients, and how their communities would be different without the Tribal TANF program. Throughout the presentation, we will include specific examples of how the Tribal TANF programs reflect tribal cultures.

 This study provides an important opportunity to learn much about Tribal TANF programs, given the differences between tribal TANF and non-tribal TANF participation requirements, the differing cultural traditions of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples and other populations in the United States, the different economic conditions on Indian reservations, and the special relationship between tribes and the federal government. This study examines how the tribal context influences TANF implementation, the relationship between that context and the outputs and outcomes, how both administrators and recipients experience the implementation of Tribal TANF, and insights about emerging areas of interest for future research.