TANF agencies across the country are preparing to or beginning to reinstate participation requirements that had been waived during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office of Family Assistance’s Project IMPROVE team moderated a panel of TANF leaders across the country on this topic on July 21, 2022. In this evolving service context, this webinar provided space for TANF leaders and staff across the country to share experiences, challenges, and lessons around participant engagement in TANF work activities. Panelists shared their plans for supporting staff and program participants through the transition to engaging all individuals and families. They responded to questions around challenges, best practices, and lessons learned.

As the TANF program nears its 30th year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to reinforcing the program’s core values of personal responsibility and work as a pathway to reduced dependency and family self-sufficiency. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) authorized a new opportunity for states to pilot program performance and accountability measures in TANF. Pub. L. No. 118-5, § 302. The pilot can play a pivotal role in the design of modern approaches to moving work-eligible individuals into the labor force, while providing critical insights on ways to operationalize personal responsibility. To align with Trump Administration priorities, ACF is issuing a new request for pilot proposals and encourages all states and territories, including members of the prior cohort of applicants, to submit a proposal. The up to five pilot states will focus on moving TANF recipients from dependency to independence by promoting work, personal responsibility, and strong, stable families as the foundations of self-sufficiency. This draft request for proposals is available for public comment. Email any comments on the proposed collection of information to infocollection@acf.hhs.gov for consideration by ACF.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published a Federal Register Notice seeking public comment by June 20, 2025, on a proposed information collection for the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) TANF Pilot Program. This reissued request reflects a shift in federal priorities toward promoting work and reducing dependency. Up to five states will be selected for a six-year pilot that replaces traditional Work Participation Rate (WPR) requirements with work and family stability outcome-based performance measures. During the 30-day comment period, stakeholders should review the Draft Request for Proposals to understand and comment on the pilot’s goals, eligibility, and accountability framework. Alternatively, a copy can be obtained by sending an email to infocollection@acf.hhs.gov; all requests should be identified by the title of the information collection.

Based on input from state TANF programs during the 2023 National TANF Directors’ Meeting, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) developed five virtual Learning Collaboratives (LCs) on topics best addressed through a cohort-based, peer learning format. These LCs were designed to be a progressive series of interactive meetings that facilitated reflection, peer sharing, connection with experts, and human-centered design and planning activities to deeply explore facets of the collaborative topic. Sessions were held monthly from March to August 2024 for 60-90 minutes.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) has prompted states to think about how they track employment and other TANF program outcomes. The Creating Outcomes-based TANF Programs LC was designed to guide states through a collaborative learning journey focused on reporting on employment and other outcomes in light of the new FRA requirements. Participants worked to better understand what it means to focus on outcomes, and what successful outcomes look like for the families they serve. Participating states and territories included New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota, Louisiana, New Mexico, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah.

This OFA resource highlights the Creating Outcomes-based TANF Programs LC, including key takeaways and resources from each session as well as overall themes and future considerations for follow-up.

Based on input from state TANF programs during the 2023 National TANF Directors’ Meeting, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) developed five virtual Learning Collaboratives (LCs) on topics best addressed through a cohort-based, peer learning format. These LCs were designed to be a progressive series of interactive meetings that facilitated reflection, peer sharing, connection with experts, and human-centered design and planning activities to deeply explore facets of the collaborative topic. Sessions were held monthly from March to August 2024 for 60-90 minutes.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 has prompted states to think about how they track employment and other outcomes of the TANF program. States have been interested in learning best practices in capturing and using data, and in hearing from other states about their data practices. The purpose of the Strengthening TANF Data and Reporting LC was to help participating states build knowledge, skills, and motivation to help their TANF programs strategically use their data to make evidence-driven decision that can support improved outcomes. Participating states included Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia.

This OFA resource highlights the Strengthening TANF Data & Reporting LC, including key takeaways and resources from each session as well as overall themes and future considerations for follow-up.

Based on input from state TANF programs during the 2023 National TANF Directors’ Meeting, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) developed five virtual Learning Collaboratives (LCs) on topics best addressed through a cohort-based, peer learning format. These LCs were designed to be a progressive series of interactive meetings that facilitated reflection, peer sharing, connection with experts, and human-centered design and planning activities to deeply explore facets of the collaborative topic. Sessions were held monthly from March to August 2024 for 60-90 minutes.

The Overcoming Barriers to TANF Participation LC gathered TANF program leaders motivated by the many families facing barriers to accessing TANF or needed financial support despite their eligibility. The LC provided the opportunity for states to connect with each other while learning new strategies that may increase TANF participation for greater family well-being. It was designed to encourage participants to take steps to identify a priority barrier to participation in their TANF program. Participating states and territories included New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virgin Islands, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Minnesota, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Wyoming.

This OFA resource highlights the Strengthening Overcoming Barriers to TANF Participation LC, including key takeaways and resources from each session as well as overall themes and future considerations for follow-up.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) recently published two important documents related to the implementation of the Temporary Assistance Needy Families (TANF) provisions in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023.

The first, published on July 18, 2024, is updated guidance and application submission information for the TANF pilots. As noted by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in his letter, ACF welcomes all state and territory TANF agencies to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to innovate by submitting a proposal by the deadline of September 3, 2024.

The second, published on July 19, 2024, is a Program Instruction and technical resource guide designed to support state and territory agencies in successfully understanding, preparing, and submitting the new reporting of work outcomes, as required by Section 304 of the FRA and described in the Interim Final Rule on TANF Work Outcomes Measures.

On July 24, 2024, OFA hosted a webinar to review the new measures and provided technical guidance for preparing and submitting the new reports for the measures. The materials and recording are now available to review.

All updates can be found on OFA’s FRA Implementation site.

This Chapin Hall brief describes results from a series of longitudinal analyses using federal TANF administrative data from 28 states. The brief examines patterns and trends in TANF participation, focusing on caseload dynamics, household characteristics, and state-level differences. These analyses are preliminary and were conducted to demonstrate how federal TANF data can be used for longitudinal research that offers important insights into TANF participation over time. This study sheds light on important trends in TANF participation, emphasizing the importance of longitudinal data and the need for ongoing research to better support families in need.

Section 304 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 requires all states to report the data necessary to produce outcome measures for work-eligible individuals who leave Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The interim final rule on TANF Work Outcomes Measures was published on June 28, 2024. The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a webinar on July 24, 2024, where OFA presenters reviewed the new measures and provided technical guidance for preparing and submitting three new reports for the measures: Work Outcomes of TANF Exiters Report (quarterly), the required Secondary School Diploma or its Recognized Equivalent Attainment Rate (annually), and the Supplemental Work Outcomes Report (annually).

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) has posted the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) financial data tables, national and state pie charts.

• In FY 2022, combined federal TANF and state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures and transfers totaled $31.3 billion. Across the United States in FY 2022:
  •  23.0 percent of TANF and MOE funds was used for basic assistance,
  • 8.1 percent was used for work, education, and training activities; and
  • 15.5 percent was used for child care (including funds transferred to the Child Care Development Fund).
• 30 states used less than half of their TANF and MOE funds on the combination of basic assistance; work, education, and training activities; and child care.
  • 34 states spent less than 20 percent of their TANF and MOE funds on basic assistance.
  • 42 states and the District of Columbia spent less than 15 percent of their TANF and MOE funds on work, education, and training activities.
• From FY 2021 to FY 2022, the amount of funds used for basic assistance increased by $366 million and child care decreased by $58 million. The amount of funds used for work, education, and training activities increased by $211 million.

View the financial data tables, national and state pie charts for more information on how TANF and MOE funds were used in FY 2022. 

State pie charts will be published in the coming weeks.