Rebuilding American Families
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is designed to help families achieve stability and move toward long-term self-sufficiency. TANF purposes emphasize strengthening family formation, supporting healthy relationships, and promoting long-term economic security for parents and children.
This webpage provides resources to help state TANF agency staff translate these priorities into practice. The materials are organized around key areas of focus, including marriage and family formation supports, household stability skills, community and faith-based partnerships, family growth and economic planning, maternal and family wellness, youth preparation for family life, and emerging approaches. Each section highlights ways TANF programs can expand beyond basic assistance to offer tools that help practitioners engage families more broadly, address underlying barriers, and support stronger, more stable households. Together, these topics reflect a broader effort to not only meet immediate needs, but to equip families with the foundation for strong relationships and stable homes.
Marriage and Family Formation Supports
The Alabama Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Initiative (AHMREI) offers free relationship education classes and online resources for adults, couples, and youth across Alabama. Its materials cover practical skills such as communication…
This report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation examines how Texas administers its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, focusing on coordination across state agencies, support for two-parent families, and the need to…
Reliable childcare can be an important factor in a family’s ability to work, train, or pursue education. This Child Trends brief examines the experiences of 107 Maryland families who received Child Care Scholarships in 2025. Before receiving a…
Family engagement can be challenging at every stage of home visiting from initial outreach and enrollment to continued participation. This brief from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation identifies seven evidence-informed factors that…
This I Am Dad podcast examines a practical question for fatherhood programs: what helps fathers participate consistently enough to benefit from services? The conversation explores the difference between incentives and supports, the barriers that…
Want practical ways to boost your program’s employment outcomes and help advance core purposes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)? The Office of Family Assistance is sponsoring The Family Routes Initiative (FRI) to assist…
Household Stability Skills
The National Youth Employment Coalition will host a webinar on May 14, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. to assist workforce development professionals with better understanding and responding to the emotional experiences of young people. For Temporary Assistance…
Self Esteem Boston Educational Institute offers practical tools that help individuals communicate more clearly, listen with intent, and express their needs in a respectful, confident way. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)…
For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, this Institute for Family Studies resource offers a relatable way to introduce communication and relationship skills without relying on technical language. It centers on a practical…
Using Active Listening to Build Stronger Two-Parent Households and Improve TANF Participant Outcomes
This is the first video in a three-part series that aims to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs incorporate communication skill-building techniques from Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs that can…
This is the second video in a three-part series that aims to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs incorporate communication skill-building techniques from Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs that…
This is the final video in a three-part series that aims to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs incorporate communication skill-building techniques from Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs that can…
Community and Faith-Based Partnerships
Families thrive when their communities are strong and connected. Yet too often, families face barriers to resources that support well-being, like lack of affordable childcare, safe housing, mental health supports, or job opportunities—barriers…
This report from the Sutherland Institute explores how religious involvement and faith communities can support family stability by fostering commitment, shared values, and social support networks. It reviews evidence suggesting that participation…
Families that receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance are often in a state of crisis. They face immediate material needs, and these unmet basic needs put families at an increased risk for investigations in the child…
Family Growth and Economic Planning
The Urban Institute’s Marriage Calculator shows how marriage can change a household’s income, taxes, and benefit eligibility. It helps surface the often complex financial consequences of family structure decisions. For Temporary Assistance for…
The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates the income families need to cover basic expenses based on where they live and family size. It helps clarify a common disconnect in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work—employment alone does…
This Congressional Research Service report explains how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) interacts with pregnancy centers and the role these organizations can play in providing services to pregnant women and families. It provides…
Research from SmartAsset explores what it takes financially for one parent to stay home and the other to support the household. It adds context to the tradeoffs families face when making caregiving and work decisions. Within Temporary Assistance…
This Executive Order by the Trump-Vance administration announces that they will dedicate Federal support, technology, and strategic partnerships to provide young Americans in or transitioning out of the foster care system with the tools they need…
Maternal and Family Wellness Supports
This Child Care Aware of America webpage provides clear, national data on what families are actually paying for childcare and how those costs affect the ability to work and stay employed. The resource offers resources to help pay and budget for…
FACTS About Fertility provides education on fertility awareness and reproductive health, helping individuals better understand how fertility works and how it can be tracked over time. It helps address gaps in reproductive health knowledge that…
This evidence-based home visiting model pairs first-time parents with registered nurses who provide ongoing support during pregnancy and children’s early years. The Nurse-Family Partnership addresses a critical gap in early family support—…
Drawing on women's experiences with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), this National Library of Medicine-hosted article explores how program policies and interactions with staff can affect participants' well-being and experiences…
This resource outlines financial assistance options that help reduce the cost of fertility medications and related care. The EMD Serono resource speaks to a need that is often overlooked in safety-net systems: access to reproductive health…
Youth Preparation for Family Life
Tailored for Success: How Two Programs in Los Angeles Customize Employment Services for Young People
This MDRC report explores how two workforce programs in Los Angeles adapted employment services to better meet the needs of young people. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners serving youth and young parents, this…
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs often serve young people who are expected to move toward independence while still developing basic skills needed for adulthood, such as managing money, maintaining housing, or making…
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs frequently serve youth who are moving into adulthood without stable family support; basic planning around housing, money, and daily decision-making can determine whether they stabilize or…
This Pittsburgh-area workforce development program focuses on helping young people move from instability into real career direction. For youth exiting foster care, that transition can be especially abrupt—suddenly they are expected to manage work…
This curriculum by Making a Difference focuses on helping young people build decision-making skills, understand consequences, and reduce behaviors that increase risk of unintended pregnancy. The resource addresses a key prevention gap by reaching…
This One Key Question® tool introduces a simple but structured way for individuals to reflect on whether they want to become parents and when. The resource creates space for intentional decision-making at moments when family planning…
Emerging Approaches
The Heritage Foundation will host a webinar on April 30, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. ET to explore how family stability connects to broader economic and social outcomes. This presentation will help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs to…
This report by the Institute for Family Studies explores how different family structures are associated with child well-being outcomes, highlighting patterns that link stability in the home with stronger developmental outcomes for children. The…
Men play a vital role in helping children and families thrive, yet they are often overlooked in conversations about foster and kinship care. This Creating a Family podcast episode explores the unique contributions of fathers, grandfathers, uncles…
Understanding the child support system can help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners better support the families they serve. This National Conference of State Legislatures tutorial provides an overview of how child support…
From the Wheatley Institute at BYU, this report examines how economic shifts, education gaps, and digital engagement patterns are influencing men’s participation in work, relationships, and family life. The resource connects broader structural…
Families are experts in their own experiences, and their perspectives can help improve programs. This Office for Planning, Research and Evaluation toolkit provides practical strategies, tools, and resources for gathering and using family feedback…