TANF at 30
Landmark Dates for TANF
From the Director of the Office of Family Assistance:
- Thirty Years Later, Welfare Reform Needs Its Own Reform
- TANF and Work: The Gap Between Perception and Reality
- TANF and Work: The Caseload Reduction Credit and How States Exploit It
- The Prevalence of TANF Child-Only Cases Involving Immigration-Status-Ineligible Parents
- Safeguarding TANF Assistance: State Options for EBT Location and Purchase Restrictions
Families are Stronger Together
This Administration for Children and Families announcement highlights $6 million in funding for 10 jurisdictions to advance the use of predictive risk modeling in child welfare. These jurisdictions will pilot technology aimed at using data to…
In July 2026, the Administration for Children and Families released notice of funding opportunities for two highly anticipated competitive kinship navigator funding opportunities. Applications are due August 7, 2026.…
In August 2026, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Department of the Treasury jointly released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to help states, territories, and Tribes establish and administer…
This Administration for Children and Families’ webpage serves as a timely outreach tool for explaining child support in a way families can use. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, it offers ready-made materials 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…
Steady employment benefits both parents and children. This National Conference of State Legislatures resource highlights how child support agencies are partnering with workforce programs to connect parents with employment services that can…
Work Innovations
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input on the modernization of CareerOneStop and O*NET, two key workforce information resources used by job seekers, workforce professionals, and…
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs often work alongside workforce systems to help families prepare for and find employment, but navigating those systems can be challenging when programs operate separately. This Jobs for the…
In August 2026, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Department of the Treasury jointly released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to help states, territories, and Tribes establish and administer…
Access to education and training does not automatically translate into a good job. People also need help figuring out which opportunities make sense for their goals, how to pay for training, what credentials employers value, and what steps can…
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…
Steady employment benefits both parents and children. This National Conference of State Legislatures resource highlights how child support agencies are partnering with workforce programs to connect parents with employment services that can…
Promoting Healthy Marriages and Two-Parent Families
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…
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…
The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) will host the National Fatherhood Summit from August 3 to August 5, 2026, providing a forum for stakeholders interested in sharing and discovering ways to support and promote responsible fatherhood. OFA…
The Urban Institute’s Affordability Tracker shows how affordability varies across regions and over time, highlighting pressure points in household budgets. It provides context for understanding why families may struggle even when working by…
The National Center for Children in Poverty’s Basic Needs Budget Calculator breaks down what it actually costs to meet essential needs like housing, food, childcare, and transportation. It highlights gaps between wages, benefits, and real…
The Family Resource Simulator shows how earnings, benefits, and expenses interact as circumstances change. It makes “what if” scenarios visible in a way that is difficult to capture through conversation alone. In Temporary Assistance for Needy…