(a)

(1) There is created the Community Investment Initiative.

(2) The Department of Workforce Services shall develop the initiative.

(b) The department shall contract with private or community organizations, including faith-based organizations, to offer services and support to parents, children, and youth in their communities.

(c) The initiative may fund programs for the following purposes:

(1) Improving outcomes for youth, including, but not limited to:

(A) Academic achievement;

(B) Job skills;

(C) Civic participation and community involvement; and

(D) Reducing risky behaviors such as sexual activities, drug use, and criminal behavior;

(2) Improving parenting and family functioning through services and support to parents, children, and to families;

(3) Improving marriage and relationship skills among youth and engaged and married couples;

(4) Improving the financial and emotional connections of noncustodial parents to their children through fatherhood programs;

(5) Improving the employment skills and family connections of parents who leave state jails and prisons;

(6) Providing supportive services to child-only cases in the Transitional Employment Assistance Program; and

(7) Other purposes allowable under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

(d)

(1) The department shall authorize contracts with state agencies or community organizations to provide training and capacity building services to organizations eligible to apply for initiative funds.

(2) Contracts may be let for the following purposes:

(A) Assisting in the development of proposals to be funded through the initiative;

(B) Preparing organizations for the fiscal responsibilities involved in receiving and spending state and federal funds; and

(C) Improving the provision of services by contractors receiving funds from the initiative.

(e) Use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program funds shall be subject to appropriations by the General Assembly for the Community Investment Initiative.

(f) Contracts shall include performance-based payments keyed to participation in services and specified outcomes.

(g) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program funds may be combined with other state, federal, and other funds in ways consistent with federal laws and rules.