A debilitating back injury moved Arthusa Iron from helping Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients overcome barriers to employment to needing the services for herself and her two sons.
Iron worked for the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission as a workforce specialist when she became incapacitated. The divorced mother turned toward the support of her tribe, the Osage Nation TANF program.
"In order to make ends meet and to take care of my family, I relied on TANF services," said Iron, of Pawhuska. "I received food stamps, commodities, SoonerCare. I also had help paying for my vehicle registration, car payment and gas money. They even provided a chair that offered back support."
Iron met her work participation requirement by serving as a referral specialist in the Osage Nation TANF office. Then Iron accepted the position of case manager for the program. She manages a caseload of 65 within the Osage reservation.
"I'm very proud to work at this job to serve my tribe," said Iron, who's worked as a case manager for more than a year. "I'm thankful for the help they've given me. I'm glad to be able to help others like I was helped."
For children lacking support because of a parent's death, incapacity, absence or unemployment, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families may provide cash assistance to the family on a time-limited basis. The purpose of this federal program is to provide temporary support in meeting basic needs, training leading to employment, employment services and child care assistance for qualified families with children. While receiving cash assistance, the adult recipients are required to work or participate in activities geared toward work and achieving self-sufficiency.
Over the last six fiscal years, OKDHS has implemented several successful TANF initiatives to help families lead more independent, productive lives.
The Department has contracted with other organizations to provide training services for people with learning disabilities; assessment and accessibility to substance abuse services; on-the-job training, permanent employment placements and job retention services; literacy instruction; legal services to assist TANF recipients with the disability application process; after-school programs for children and teens that target abstinence-only pregnancy prevention; marriage education services that promote healthy marriage and relationship education for low-income and TANF families; transportation for TANF applicants and recipients and their children while participating in certain work activities; mentoring programs for children living in low-income areas to increase literacy skills, teach life skills and improve decisions making regarding peer pressure, drug usage, and sexual activity, encourage healthy choices to prevent truancy, suicide, crime, school-dropout and pregnancy and to learn to handle emotional and family issues.
On March 10, 1999, the OKDHS and the Osage Nation entered into the first cooperative agreement for the administration of a portion of the TANF program. The Osage Nation administers the TANF program for all American Indian families residing in Osage County, Okla.
The Osage TANF Program assists TANF clients with breaking the cycle of welfare dependency through gainful employment, personal responsibility and cultural (welfare dependency) change.
- TANF recipients successfully completed 17,500 work activities during fiscal year 2005. These included work, training and skill building
- 23,212 TANF cases opened during fiscal year 2005
- 24,299 TANF cases closed during fiscal year 2005