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TANF Section, WIOA Combined Plan Modifications 2026

22 provided to their participants. The workshops create an experience of safety, allowing participants to address unproductive attitudes and behaviors, and heal unresolved trauma and grief that may be driving current dysfunctional circumstances and compromised sustainable employment opportunities in our various communities and neighborhoods throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. This program fulfills Purpose 4, as the community organizations the recipients work for deliver services which assist in forming and maintaining two parent families by promoting social and emotional learning and improves or builds on the core competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building, and responsible decision-making skills in participants.

Fostering Futures; Connections Count 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 authorized a program under which DCF contracted with local organizations to provide services, such as employing trusted community members who function as “community connectors” to connect vulnerable families with pre-school-aged children (0-5) with formal and informal community resources. 2017 Wisconsin Act 59 continued this funding and authorized an additional $200,000 in TANF funding to develop and implement a trauma-informed training curriculum that is more specific to Wisconsin's needs. 2019 Wisconsin Act 9 and 2021 Wisconsin Act 58 continued to fund this program. Wis. Stat. § 49.175(1)(n). This program fulfills Purpose 4, as the connections made assist in maintaining two parent families

Adult Literacy Grants and GED Services DCF is authorized to award grants to qualified applicants to provide literacy services and to provide General Education Development testing and preparation services to assist TANF- eligible individuals (needy parents or pregnant women) to obtain General Equivalency Degrees (GEDs). Grant recipients are required to coordinate with W-2 agencies to ensure adequate adult literacy services are available to W-2 participants. DCF has contracted with Wisconsin Literacy, Inc. through June 30, 2025. In the 2017-19 biennium, DCF combined the GED services funding with the Adult Literacy grant to Wisconsin Literacy, Inc., as the services are closely related. As part of the combined contract, this current TANF use is anticipated through June 30, 2025, with a potential two- year renewal. Wis. Stat. §49.175(1)(v). These programs fall under Purpose 2. Literacy and the lack of a high school diploma can affect an individual’s ability to gain and maintain employment. Providing services to improve literacy and make GED testing and preparation more accessible arguably fits the purpose of promoting job preparation and work by equipping participants with the literacy and GED skills needed to gain and maintain employment.

Grants for Civil Legal Services Current legislation provides funding for grants to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc. (WisTAF), a non-profit organization established by the Wisconsin Court System. The grants may not be used for litigation against the state and may only be used to support specific civil legal services (related to domestic abuse, sexual abuse, or restraining orders for certain at-risk elderly and disabled individuals) for otherwise TANF-eligible individuals with incomes under 200 percent FPL. This funding is also contingent on DCF review and approval of a plan to be developed by WisTAF for the use of the funds.