In December 2025, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted a conversation for the Human Services Policy Advisors network and Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Assistant Secretary Dr. Alex Adams to spotlight new administration priorities. This NGA discussion summary highlights ACF’s efforts to ensure every child has a safe, stable home by emphasizing prevention, family preservation, and kinship care. A recording is available but please contact the NGA Children & Families team for the password at info@nga.com. 

For TANF programs, this focus on keeping families together before deeper system involvement resonates with prevention-oriented work and cross-system collaboration. TANF staff can use insights from these efforts to strengthen connections with local child welfare and kinship support networks, helping families maintain stability and access supports that reduce economic hardship and crisis.

This resource from the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network explains how Family First Prevention Services Act reimbursement can be used for services that help Native children and families before deeper child welfare involvement occurs. It offers practical guidance on eligible programs and supports that honor traditions and community strengths. For TANF programs serving Native families, this can inform cross-system coordination and funding alignment — helping connect participants to culturally grounded supports that reinforce family wellbeing alongside TANF’s economic goals.

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 in faith communities is linked with stronger family cohesion and resilience. While focusing on religion’s role, the examples can help TANF programs think about the broader social supports and community connections that contribute to family well-being and how partnerships with community organizations might enhance supports for participants.

This Institute for Family Studies resource outlines seven policy approaches states can use to support marriage, family stability, and economic wellbeing — including relationship education, shared parenting supports, income policies, and community-based initiatives. For TANF programs, this resource offers concrete ideas that can inform program design, partnerships, and policy alignment, such as integrating relationship skills into employment services, coordinating with child support and parenting programs, and considering how benefits and work policies affect family stability. TANF leaders can use this perspective to identify opportunities where family-strengthening strategies and economic supports reinforce one another to improve outcomes for parents and children.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) is excited to offer the opportunity to receive technical assistance on strengthening employment and relational outcomes for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants by integrating new and effective approaches for meeting the economic and social needs of families. State and Tribal TANF programs and their partner organizations that support TANF purposes are welcome to express interest in receiving technical assistance to strengthen employment and relational outcomes of customers.

The Family Routes Initiative supports the integration of evidence-based Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) practices, approaches that help build and sustain healthy marriages, strengthen positive father-child interactions, and build skills employers seek (e.g., soft skills, goal setting, self-regulation, accountability, and personal responsibility).

What Does the Family Routes Initiative Offer?

Selected participants may receive:

• Tailored assistance aligned to program goals and context
• Support adapting evidence-based HMRF practices for local needs
• Practical tools and resources to strengthen family outcomes

To express interest, please contact: familyroutes@deloitte.com.

This report outlines trends in declining marriage and fertility, critiques existing policies considered to discourage family formation, and proposes policy changes, including eliminating “marriage penalties” in welfare and tax programs and offering new tax credits to support married couples with children, to encourage stable, two parent families. The report frames these ideas as long term strategies for reversing demographic and cultural shifts and fostering economic and social resilience.

This California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation guide provides practical tips for couples on managing money together. It covers how to communicate about finances, set shared goals, create a budget, and decide whether to combine or separate accounts. TANF programs can share this resource with participants to help strengthen financial communication, planning, and teamwork in households to support family stability and long-term economic security.

These episodes from the Made for Love podcast explore how faith and financial decision‑making intersect: from personal money management to how couples and families navigate budgeting, communication, and shared goals through a spiritual lens. Part 1 focuses on the role of faith in financial perspectives and habits, while Part 2 connects that conversation to family life and long‑term planning.

For TANF programs partnering with faith‑ and community‑based organizations, these discussions can be great conversation starters or supplemental content for financial coaching, workshops, or support groups. Sharing them with participants who value faith‑based insights can deepen engagement around budgeting, planning, and family goal‑setting in ways that resonate with their values and community supports.