For tribes, this opportunity provides both challenges and opportunities to help needy families. Funding levels for Tribal TANF are primarily determined by the number of tribes applying to operate their own programs. Nine Tribal TANF plans have been approved, two plans are under review and one plan is currently on hold. We expect FY 1999 funding to increase as new tribal TANF programs are approved. These are the only Federal programs serving all Native Americans, regardless of where they live or their tribal or group affiliation, and designed to promote self-sufficiency for American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and Native American organizations.
Financial assistance is provided through grants, contracts and interagency agreements.
These funds support tribal and community-designed projects based on the philosophy that each community is responsible for determining its own needs, planning and implementing its own programs, and building an economic base from its own natural, physical, and human resources. In FY 1999, funds will support activities that cover a wide range of efforts, including the expansion and creation of businesses and jobs in areas such as tourism, specialty agriculture, arts and crafts, cultural centers, light manufacturing, health care systems, housing, day care, and fish and wildlife resources. Native language grants will bring together elders and youth to preserve and enhance tribal languages, and joint initiatives with Head Start will continue and expand teaching Native languages to pre-school aged children. The Fund has been successful in promoting economic development activities for Native Hawaiians. The primary goals are to prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their families, improve the quality of care and services to children and their families, and ensure permanency for children by reuniting them with their parents, by adoption or by another permanent living arrangement.