Tribal Programs

About Tribal Programs

OFA administers three tribal grant programs:  

• Tribal Temporary Assistance for Native Families (TTANF) 
• Native Employment Works (NEW) 
• Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Grant Program 

Additionally, OFA coordinates with the Department of Interior on the transfer and administration of Tribal TANF and NEW programs that tribes have included in the Public Law 102-477  Visit disclaimer pageprogram Visit disclaimer page.

Tribal TANF

Tribal TANF gives federally recognized Indian tribes and consortia of tribes flexibility in the design of welfare programs that promote work and responsibility and strengthen families. Similar to states, tribes and consortia of tribes receive block grants to design and operate TANF programs that accomplish one of the four purposes of TANF.

Native Employment Works (NEW) Program

The Native Employment Works (NEW) program provides annual funding to 78 grantees for a variety of work-related activities to support job readiness, job placement, and job retention for Native Americans. NEW funding enables grantees to serve their designated service populations through these work activities and supportive services.

Tribal TANF — Child Welfare (TTCW)

TTCW Grantees demonstrate models of effective coordination by tribal governments or tribal consortia of Tribal TANF and child welfare services provided to tribal families at risk of child abuse or neglect. Each grant is for five years.  The grantees have undertaken diverse means of coordinating the two programs in order to achieve one or more of the following purposes:

• Improve case management for families eligible for assistance from a Tribal TANF program
• Provide supportive services and assistance to tribal children in out-of-home placements and the tribal families caring for such children, including families who adopt the children
• Provide For prevention services and assistance to tribal families at risk of child abuse and neglect

477 Program

Public Law 102-477 allows tribes to coordinate their employment, training, and related services programs from various federal departments. Commonly referred to as the 477 program, this law is administered by the Department of Interior (DOI) but tribes may include programs from other federal departments.  Tribal TANF and NEW are two OFA programs eligible for inclusion under 477 programs.  OFA works with tribal grantees and DOI on incorporating OFA programs into a 477 plan and reviewing plan renewals. 

Tribal Data and Reports

OFA also complies data and produces reports on the Tribal TANF work participation rate, caseload data, and program participant characteristics data.  This page also features Tribal TANF — Child Welfare research and evaluation reports from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE).