This brief explores strategies to help young adults successfully connect to education and employment pathways. Effective career pathway models emphasize coordinated services, work-based learning, and strong partnerships across systems. For TANF programs, these approaches reinforce the importance of aligning employment services with education and training opportunities, especially for young parents and youth transitioning to independence, to support long-term economic mobility.

The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse offers a comprehensive compendium of fatherhood curricula designed to support responsible parenting, healthy relationships, and economic stability. These evidence-informed and promising program models can help TANF agencies and partners strengthen father engagement strategies, offer parenting and relationship education, and better support noncustodial parents in contributing to family well-being.

The National Council for Adoption will host a training on April 2, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. ET to enhance understanding of attachment strategies and how caregivers and professionals can help children develop secure, supportive relationships following foster care or adoption. The session will offer practical insights that can benefit professionals working with families navigating child welfare involvement or reunification.

Generations United will host a webinar on March 26, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. ET to highlight lessons from communities that have developed shared intergenerational sites where programs serving children and older adults operate together. The session will explore how these models strengthen community connections, support caregivers, and create meaningful engagement opportunities across generations.

The National Youth Employment Coalition will host a webinar on March 19, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. ET to explore how opportunity navigation and social capital strategies can help young people connect to education, training, and career pathways. TANF programs supporting youth and young parents may find these approaches valuable for strengthening workforce partnerships and improving employment outcomes.

This Annie E. Casey Foundation resource highlights the positive outcomes associated with extended foster care for young people transitioning to adulthood. The evidence shows that allowing youth to remain in care past age 18 can improve educational attainment, employment outcomes, and housing stability. For TANF programs serving youth transitioning from foster care, this resource offers insights into how extended supports and cross-system coordination can help promote long-term economic mobility and stability.

Professionals supporting children and families involved in child welfare can benefit from the services and tools offered by AdoptUSKids. This resource highlights how agencies and community partners can use their training, recruitment strategies, and technical assistance to strengthen permanency efforts for children and youth. TANF programs working alongside child welfare partners may find these services helpful for understanding how family recruitment, adoption support, and permanency planning intersect with broader family stability and economic support goals.

Coordinating services across multiple public benefit programs can significantly improve how families access supports and navigate human services systems. This toolkit, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, was designed to help state and local agencies better align programs and services to support whole families.

The resource provides practical tools and structured guidance for identifying coordination challenges, developing shared goals across agencies, implementing cross-program strategies, and tracking progress over time. By helping agencies move away from siloed service delivery and toward integrated approaches, the toolkit aims to reduce administrative barriers, improve the experiences families have when seeking multiple benefits, and strengthen outcomes for children and parents. For TANF programs, these strategies can support stronger coordination with programs such as workforce services, SNAP, childcare, and child welfare — helping families access the full range of supports needed to achieve long-term stability and economic mobility.

Separation between parents can create significant challenges for children, fathers, and families, especially when factors such as incarceration, employment demands, or child welfare involvement disrupt family relationships. The Institute for Research on Poverty will host a webinar on March 11, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. ET to explore research and practical strategies for helping fathers maintain or rebuild connections with their children during and after periods of separation. For TANF programs, the discussion may highlight opportunities to strengthen father engagement, support healthy co-parenting relationships, and connect noncustodial parents with services that promote family stability and child well-being.

A new brief from Child Trends examines how workforce and career programs can better support young people with foster care experience as they transition to employment and adulthood. Its roadmap format highlights flexible, individualized approaches to career services and the importance of supportive relationships and targeted workforce supports – insights that may help TANF programs strengthen partnerships serving young parents and youth transitioning from foster care.