Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 208 - Department of Workforce Services › Rule 208.00.14-002 - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program - Amending State Plan for Title IV-A

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
Summary of Change
This amendment is being made for Federal compliance with Sections
			 402,
			 408(a), and
			 409 of the Social Security Act.
			 The amendment adds a section regarding Statutory Rape Prevention and Education
			 to the TANF State Plan (Section
			 8.3 ) as requested by Federal
			 Government.
8.3
Plan to Reduce
		  Unwed Births and Teenage Pregnancy
Introduction
Unmarried birth prevention should be viewed
as
a
			 process, not a program, involving multiple strategies and multiple agencies in
			 a sustained effort. The rise in unwed births is an urgent social problem that
			 resists easy solutions. Arkansas' approach is multifaceted with four major
			 components:
* Abstinence programs using funding in the welfare reform
			 act
* Improve access to family planning services statewide
* Community-based efforts in targeted counties
* Two state level steering committees to coordinate the
			 efforts
Abstinence Programs
Arkansas Act 1705 required the establishment of the Community
			 Investment Initiative to provide services to children, adults, families, and
			 parents.
The TANF-funded Community Investment Initiative includes a
			 component designed to improve outcomes for youth. These outcomes include
			 reducing risky behaviors such as sexual activities, drug use, and criminal
			 behavior.
Partnerships are formalized with community and faith-based
			 organizations through the award of TANF-funded contracts on an annual
			 basis.
These community partnerships recognize the reduction of
			 out-of-wedlock births as a priority and have developed programs that include
			 strategies to enhance educational attainment, reduce teenage pregnancies, and
			 reduce the incidence of criminal behaviors by participating youth.
Services offered by providers meet TANF Goal 3, to prevent and
			 reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies by providing prevention and
			 intervention programs for students who live in poor communities and/or show
			 evidence of academic underperformance, dropping out, or engaging in negative
			 behaviors that can lead to dependency, out-of-wedlock births, or
			 imprisonment.
Improved Access to Familv Planning
			 Services
Arkansas Act 1705 required the establishment of the Community
			 Investment Initiative to provide services to children, adults, families, and
			 parents. The TANF-funded Community Investment Initiative is includes components
			 designed to improve parenting and family functioning through services and
			 support to parents, children, and to families. Additionally, this initiative
			 addresses improving marriage and relationship skills among youth and engaged
			 and married couples.
Partnerships are formalized with community and faith-based
			 organizations through the award of TANF-funded contracts on an annual
			 basis.
Services offered by providers meet TANF Goal 4, to encourage the
			 formation and maintenance of two-parent families.
These community partnerships recognize the importance of both
			 family planning as well as enhanced family functioning.
Education and Training on Rape
			 Prevention
The Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape, and Domestic
			 Violence (ACCARDV) of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
			 and the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) is authorized to allocate and
			 administer funds for Sexual Violence Prevention and Education through a
			 cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
			 (CDC).
These funds strengthen sexual violence prevention and education
			 efforts through the provision of grants to community-based organizations to
			 provide comprehensive sexual violence primary prevention aimed at preventing
			 the initial occurrence of sexual violence.
Currently, there are eight (8) programs funded across the state.
			 These contracts solicit the assistance of community organizations to provide
			 sexual violence prevention and education to youth, at-risk youth, and adults.
			 These programs are designed to change attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that
			 allow sexual violence to occur.
Educational programs are available to specific populations,
			 including males, Hispanics, African Americans, and persons with
			 disabilities.
Statutory Rape Prevention and
			 Education
In Arkansas, a person commits rape if he or she engages in Sexual
			 Intercourse or Deviate Sexual activity with another person:
1. By forcible compulsion; or
2. Who is incapable of consent because he or
		  she is physically helpless, mentally defective, or mentally incapacitated;
		  or
3. Who is less than 14 years of
		  age; or actor is more than 3 years older than victim
4. Who is less than 18 years of age, and the
		  actor is
a. The victim's guardian
b. Uncle, aunt, grandparent,
		  step-grandparent, grandparent by adoption
c. Brother, sister or the whole or half-blood
		  or by adoption
d. Nephew, niece or
		  first cousin
The Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape, and Domestic
			 Violence serves as the lead entity in administering an educational and training
			 effort to increase the awareness sexual abuse, including statutory rape.
In 2007, the Arkansas Sexual Violence Primary Prevention
			 Comprehensive Planning Team was formed by the Arkansas Commission on Child
			 Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence and the Arkansas Department of Health through
			 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Injury Prevention's Rape Prevention
			 and Education (RPE) Cooperative Agreement. The planning team conducted a
			 comprehensive assessment of sexual violence prevention efforts in the state to
			 articulate a vision and broad goals for Rape Prevention in Arkansas.
Additionally, each year the Centers for Disease Control provides
			 funds to the state for Rape Prevention Activities through which the Commission
			 awards contracts to local entities across the state to provide sexual violence,
			 including statutory rape, training.
The Department of Human Services and Arkansas State Police
			 maintain a contractual agreement that jointly maintains the Family Protection
			 Unit, now known as the Crimes Against Children Division (CACD). The CACD is
			 composed of two sections:
1) the Child
		  Abuse Hotline, and
2)
		  specially-trained civilian and law enforcement officials who assess child
		  maltreatment reports. Again, these child maltreatment assessments include
		  sexual abuse (statutory rape) reports. The CADC maintains an around-the-clock
		  statewide intake process (Child Abuse Hotline) for accepting reports of alleged
		  child maltreatment.
Finally, the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and
			 Training requires all law enforcement officers to complete a minimum of twenty
			 (20) hours of training concerning sexual assaults as a part of the basic police
			 training course curriculum.
State Steering
			 Committees
Separate Steering Committees are currently in place to provide
			 input and direct the State's Abstinence and Unwed Birth Prevention
			 initiatives.
The Governor's Abstinence Education Steering Committee, composed
			 of ten members appointed by the Governor, was established by Executive Order of
			 the Governor. This committee provides input regarding abstinence education
			 programs on a statewide basis.
The Unwed Birth Prevention Steering Committee is a legislatively
			 appointed committee of twenty members. This committee provides oversight and
			 makes recommendations regarding the Unwed Birth Prevention Program.