85R8620 RMA-D By: Perry S.C.R. No. 19 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION WHEREAS, The Texas Workforce Commission would be better able to serve struggling single-parent families if it were able to use funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to partner with charitable organizations and community colleges to provide child care, education, and job training; and WHEREAS, Buckner Family Pathways, which currently operates in eight Texas cities, presents a worthy model for aiding disadvantaged single-parent families; the program joins with community colleges to help single parents pursue higher education by assisting them with tuition, child care, and housing; the initiative also works to equip parents with a range of valuable tools, including money management, communication skills, and conflict resolution training; and WHEREAS, The proven model of Buckner Family Pathways is one the State of Texas should emulate, and allowing the Texas Workforce Commission greater flexibility with TANF funds would go a long way in pursuing that worthwhile endeavor; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby request that the Texas Workforce Commission seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would allow TWC to have the flexibility to use funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to partner with charitable organizations and community colleges to provide child care, education, and job training; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the chief clerk forward an official copy of this resolution to the director of the Texas Workforce Commission.