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Iowa’s TANF State Plan

17 connecting them to education and training opportunities that build career-related skills and healthy habits.  Creating responsive relationships that are safe and supportive. Family Development Specialists cultivate partnerships with families by building trust, holding parents accountable, and practicing unconditional positive regard. Family Development Specialists collaborate with community partners to address the needs and interests of families. They support healthy parent-child relationships that promote child wellness and development.

FaDSS intensive in-home services include the following core components:

 Structured home visits that include all family members, when appropriate.  Assessments and screenings that support healthy self-exploration and address the wellbeing and development of each family member in the home. (Examples of assessments are Relationship Assessment Tool, Ecomap, Measure of Family Well- Being, AC-OK Screen for Co-Occurring Disorders, ASQ-3, ASQ-SE3 and Casey Life Skills.)  Goal setting to assist the family with developing short and long-term goals centered on self-sufficiency and family stability needs. Goals developed are whole family, parent, and child- focused.  Referrals to help families access community resources to overcome barriers and access opportunities within their communities. Referrals are made for all family members based on the needs of the individual.  A framework and process for skill development to support families to develop the skills needed to attain their goals.

Other critical components of the program include:  Support, which is ongoing, strength-based and focused on solutions. The Family Development Specialist builds a trusting and respectful relationship with the entire family which enables the program to work alongside the family to assist them in meeting their goals.  Advocacy, to help families develop self-advocacy skills through modeling and empowerment to ensure services are equitable, inclusive, and responsive to the whole family.  Group activities to break isolation, encourage networking and help families reconnect to their community. Group can be family, parent or child focused. (Groups are optional)  Provides funds (as available) for supportive services to address a family’s particular needs when other resources are not available. These funds can be for the whole family, parent or child needs. Third party funds are paid to the vendor on behalf of the family. These funds are only used for short term needs and only if the family cannot secure other resources within the community.

FaDSS services are customized to meet the unique needs of each family and provided to all family members as necessary and appropriate.

Certain aspects of this program meet all four purposes of the TANF program.