This report is part of the Congressional Research Services series that focuses on changes in programs affecting low-income children in light of the upcoming 30-year anniversary of the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA).

Child support can play an important role in helping families achieve greater financial stability. This report reviews how the child support enforcement system has changed since PRWORA and explains its relationship with public assistance programs. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners can use this resource to better understand how child support policies affect the families they serve, strengthen collaboration with child support agencies, and help parents access resources that support their children's well-being while working toward greater economic independence.

Positive father involvement can strengthen families, support child well-being, and improve outcomes for children. This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse webpage highlights its public awareness campaign, which offers videos, messages, and outreach materials that encourage fathers to remain active and engaged in their children's lives. The campaign also features firsthand accounts from fathers with lived experience, providing authentic perspectives on the challenges, successes, and rewards of remaining actively involved in their children's lives. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can use this webpage to support responsible fatherhood initiatives, spark conversations with parents, and reinforce the important role fathers play in family stability. The materials are easy to share through workshops, social media, community events, and participant communications.

The core mission of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is helping families reach self-sufficiency, but that goal is much harder when a parent is trying to go to school, raise children, and hold a job at the same time, all without reliable childcare or transportation. A two-generation (2Gen) approach tries to solve for the whole family at once by supporting parents' education and careers while investing in children's development. This report from Jobs for the Future examines Rising Futures Maine, an initiative that invests in community-based organizations as local 2Gen leaders that connect student parents to education and career pathways. The work spans three counties and includes models focused on cohort-based coaching, barrier removal, industry credentials, and even a father-focused pilot addressing long-standing gaps in engaging noncustodial parents. For TANF practitioners, this resource looks at what it takes, operationally and relationally, to support parents as both caregivers and students. The recommendations the report offers on sustaining funding, protecting income supports, and using data on student parents are directly applicable to how TANF programs are designed and prioritized.

Families involved with both the child welfare and child support systems often face financial pressures that can affect reunification efforts. This Institute for Research on Poverty report examines how child support policies may influence a family's ability to reunify after foster care placement. While focused on system interactions, the findings provide valuable context for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners who support families working toward greater stability and self-sufficiency. Understanding these economic challenges can help TANF staff better coordinate services, identify barriers families may be facing, and connect parents with resources that support successful reunification.

The most effective father-engagement programs listen, adapt, and improve over time. The Fathers and Continuous Learning project explored exactly that, and researched how organizations can build feedback loops so they're learning from fathers' experiences rather than guessing what they need. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs, this is a model worth considering. Asking fathers what is working versus what is not and what they need, and then acting on those answers, is one of the most powerful things a program can do to increase engagement and improve outcomes for the whole family.

Many fathers enter child welfare involvement feeling confused, sidelined, or even afraid. They may not know their rights, aren't sure who to talk to, or don't understand how their involvement, or lack of it, affects their child's case. This Child Welfare Information Gateway resource was written for fathers to help them find their footing. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners can share it as a first step in building trust with a father who is uncertain about his role. When fathers understand the social services (TANF, child welfare, etc.) system, they are better equipped to show up, and when they show up, families have a stronger foundation for lasting stability.

Saying "fathers are welcome" is not the same as actually engaging them. This toolkit from the University of California, Davis offers concrete activities and approaches that help social services organizations make fathers feel like genuine partners, not afterthoughts. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can use it to audit their current practices, spot the gaps, and try new strategies for outreach and involvement. The toolkit is especially useful for TANF teams who want to be more father-inclusive but aren't sure where to start. It turns intentions into practical steps.

Fathers are often the missing piece in family service plans — not because they don't want to be involved, but because systems were not built with them in mind. This Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage addresses that directly, offering strategies for locating fathers, building relationships with them, and keeping them engaged through the ups and downs of child welfare involvement. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, this is a call to examine your own practices: Are fathers being contacted? Are they being welcomed? Are they being offered services that meet their needs? The resources here can help TANF teams start answering those questions.

Before a child can come home, someone must determine that the home is safe and sustainable. This guide from Texas shows what that assessment process looks like; it details what factors are weighed, what strengths are considered, and what gaps need to be addressed. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, it's a behind-the-scenes look at what reunification readiness actually means. That knowledge is powerful, because it helps TANF staff understand why a family might still be in the system despite making progress, and identify specific areas (stable employment, consistent housing, or financial management) where TANF services can make a direct difference.

Consistent visits between parents and children aren't just emotionally meaningful; they are also often a formal requirement in reunification plans. However, getting to visits can be challenging. A parent without reliable transportation, who works irregular hours, or who can't cover travel costs may miss visits through no fault of their own, and those missed visits can affect the reunification timeline. These webpages from the Department of Children, Youth and Families in Washington State can help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners see visitation as a concrete service need, not just a scheduling issue. The webpage serves as a call to proactively connect clients with transportation assistance, flexible work scheduling, and other practical supports that make staying connected to their children possible.