This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network guide helps ground your work in the importance of keeping children connected to family, culture, and community, an approach that closely aligns with the goals of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The guide explains how policies like the Indian Child Welfare Act support relative caregiving and why that matters for long-term stability. For Tribal TANF programs or TANF programs working with Tribal families, this guide also provides understanding on how to better support kinship caregivers who may not fit neatly into traditional program models. It offers context you can use to design more responsive services, strengthen family-centered approaches, and ensure that benefits and supports reflect the realities of the families you serve.

This Institute for Family Studies resource looks at how job stability for men and flexible work arrangements for mothers influence decisions around forming and sustaining families. It brings attention to how work conditions shape family life in practical ways, not just financial ones. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, it can help frame policy and service discussions around employment supports that recognize caregiving responsibilities while also strengthening pathways to economic stability.

This Institute for Family Studies resource examines how consistent, quality employment for men is connected to stronger family stability and engagement. The report highlights employment not only as an economic factor, but as something closely tied to relationship stability and family formation. Within Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, it can be used to better align workforce development efforts with family well-being goals, particularly in supporting fathers’ economic participation and long-term family contributions.

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 Family Structure Index helps clarify why family composition is often connected to long-term opportunity and stability. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, it can inform broader conversations about prevention and support strategies that aim to strengthen home environments and emphasize the importance of families.

Families caring for relatives’ children often rely on multiple supports, including nutrition assistance. The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network will host a webinar on May 19, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. to explain how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fits into that broader system and how kinship families can access it. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this webinar will clarify how to coordinate benefits and reduce gaps in support for grandfamilies. It is particularly valuable for helping staff guide families through multiple programs without duplication or confusion, improving overall service delivery.

Many Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants are balancing care for both children and aging relatives, creating unique financial and emotional pressures. This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network tipsheet brings attention to that “sandwich generation” and the strain they experience. It helps TANF practitioners recognize a group that may otherwise be overlooked in program design. By understanding these competing responsibilities, staff can better tailor work requirements, referrals, and supportive services, making programs more realistic and responsive to participants’ daily lives.

Kinship care, which is when relatives step in to raise children, often occurs in families served by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. It can be difficult for these families to navigate available supports. This Generations United video breaks down how Kinship Navigator programs connect caregivers to resources like financial assistance, legal help, and social services such as TANF. For TANF practitioners, it addresses the gap between identifying kin caregivers and supporting them. It can be used as a quick learning tool for staff or even shared directly with clients to help them understand where to turn for support.

This resource, released by Casey Family Programs, examines how child protection agencies can work alongside faith-based and community-based organizations to better meet the needs of families involved in or at risk of involvement with the child welfare system. It highlights how these partnerships can expand the reach of trusted, community-rooted supports that families often turn to first—such as mentoring, material assistance, emotional support, and informal navigation help.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can be part of this broader support ecosystem where child welfare agencies and community partners are already engaging families. TANF-funded services—such as cash assistance, work supports, child care assistance, and case management—can connect more intentionally with faith-based and community organizations that are addressing immediate, practical needs like food security, housing stability, and family support. This alignment helps ensure families are not moving between disconnected services, but instead receiving complementary supports that reinforce stability and self-sufficiency goals. Strengthening these connections can reduce fragmentation across systems and improve continuity of care for families navigating multiple challenges at once.

This resource by Chapin Hall takes a closer look at how adoption systems can better support children and the families who step in to care for them. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs—which often work with relative caregivers and families connected to the child welfare system—this resource offers useful perspective on where families tend to encounter barriers and what more effective support can look like. It highlights opportunities to improve coordination and reduce confusion during what is often a complex and emotional process. TANF practitioners can use this information to better guide caregivers, strengthen collaboration with child welfare partners, and ensure families have access to both financial assistance and the broader supports that help foster placements remain stable over time.

This initiative highlights the importance of coordinated, community-based approaches to supporting families and preventing child welfare involvement. TANF programs can use this model to strengthen cross-system partnerships and align services across child welfare, community organizations, and other supports. By leveraging collaborative approaches, TANF agencies can expand access to prevention-focused services that promote stability, safety, and family well-being.