The New York State Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget appropriated $55 million in TANF funds to support the 2024 New York State Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). The SYEP is an important platform to introduce youth into the workforce and help them acquire skills that can be used to improve school performance and become responsible adults. Since many low-income youths face the prospect of a challenging transition to work, constructive workforce experiences can provide great benefits. This Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance resource highlights allocation information and program guidance, including participant eligibility and allowable activities and services such as work subsidies for youth; supportive services such as transportation; case management; incentive payments; and education and training.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program plays a key role in promoting strength and stability for families experiencing poverty. By helping families to meet their basic needs, obtain employment, and nurture healthy family relationships, TANF programs can foster long-term family wellbeing and economic independence. States have significant flexibility to use TANF funds to address unique family needs and accomplish any of the four purposes of TANF.

The Office of Family Assistance released a series of briefs that highlight innovative and strategic ways that states are leveraging TANF funds to strengthen families and communities by building capacity for self-sufficiency and economic independence. This brief highlights kinship navigator programs (KNP) and how they respond to purpose one of TANF. The brief looks at the work of Louisiana’s KNP, including their goals, services, and funding.

This National Responsible Fatherhood video highlights the dedicated efforts taking place within West Virginia's Family Support Centers (FSCs), which are essential community hubs that provide a wide range of services to families with children up to age 18 and pregnant families. Topics covered in this video include:

• Innovative service models implemented at FSCs, designed to meet the unique needs of each community;
• Diverse range of services offered, including parent education classes, child development activities, after-school programs, GED and literacy instruction, health information, and more;
• Staffing, training, and recruitment practices that ensure effective and compassionate service delivery;
• Continuous quality improvement measures in place to maintain the effectiveness and sustainability of these programs; and
• Renewed efforts to support and empower fathers, enhancing their role in family dynamics.

This National Responsible Fatherhood video highlights the often-overlooked struggles of fathers, who face significant barriers in receiving the support and resources they need to be present and effective caregivers. Topics covered in this video include:

• The pervasive economic struggles that impact countless families across the state;
• The devastating effects of drug addiction, particularly opioids, on individuals and their loved ones; and
• The alarming number of children entering the foster care system due to familial instability and substance abuse.

This fact sheet by the Trump-Vance administration outlines their actions to prevent illegal aliens from obtaining social security benefits, including:

1. Ending benefit for illegal aliens;
2. Protecting taxpayer dollars; and
3. Making it clear that the border is closed. 

This Executive Order by the Trump-Vance administration ensures that all federally funded programs align with the requirements of applicable Federal law, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), to prevent taxpayer benefits from going to unqualified aliens.

This Heritage Foundation report analyzes data on important trends related to marriage, childbearing, divorce, cohabitation, and abortion, and offers insights on these trends. The report includes five key findings about family life in America today:

1. Americans are getting married less and later;
2. Fewer children are being born, but more are born outside marriage;
3. More couples are cohabiting;
4. Marriage and family are no longer priorities; and
5. American singles are faced with a “connection conundrum.”

This Institute for Family Studies report shows how closely the fortunes of Ohio families are tied to the educational success, poverty, and emotional well-being of children across the state, how strong families are tied to safer streets, how closely connected economic mobility for poor children is to the state of the unions in their communities across the state, and how falling fertility imperils the demographic future of the state. Given the importance of the family for children, adults, and the state, this report also identifies a series of public policies and civic measures the legislature, businesses, churches, and families can advance to renew the foundations of marriage and family across Ohio.

Given young adults’ high desire for marriage, understanding the truth of how loving and lasting marriages are formed can help the rising generation have confidence in their own ability to pursue this path in their own lives. Helping young people achieve their life goals of marriage is deeply important because a happy marriage is one of the best predictors of life satisfaction for men and women. This Institute for Family Studies report explores top attitudes and behaviors that were predictive of a high-quality and stable marriage from a recent survey of married men and women.

This Family and Youth Services tool helps Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention programs reflect on strategies for identifying and engaging community partners and supporting and sustaining these partnerships over time. Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention grantees can use this tool to discover effective methods for identifying suitable community partners; explore strategies for engaging and maintaining strong, productive relationships with these partners; explore best practices for providing ongoing support to community partners and recognize their contributions; learn how to address challenges in partnerships and sustain long-term collaboration; and use feedback from community partners to continuously improve program implementation.