Under federal law, families receiving TANF must cooperate with child support establishment and enforcement efforts. In addition, TANF recipients must assign their rights to child support payments to the state. When a state collects child support on behalf of a TANF recipient, the state is permitted to keep the money to reimburse itself and the federal government for TANF assistance. States, however, have the option of allowing some of the child support payment to be passed through to the parent and child and disregarded when determining TANF assistance, meaning the amount would not be considered income for purposes of determining TANF eligibility. This brief includes a chart of 52 states and territories and whether they have a pass-through and disregard policy, the amount of the pass-through and the statutory or code citation.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and its federal agency partners invite stakeholders to participate in the "Our Future Matters: Informing the Federal Interagency Strategy" national online dialogue. This important virtual conversation aims to enhance policies and practices to facilitate a smooth transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities.

Through the dialogue, federal staff will seek input on ways to enhance services for youth and young adults with disabilities in the following areas:

• Education
• Employment
• Health and Human Services
• Social Security

Please join this important conversation by visiting the dialogue now through August 14, 2023. Simply log on, register, submit ideas, or comment and vote on ideas submitted by others.

The Strengthening the Implementation of Responsible Fatherhood Programs (SIRF) project used an iterative learning approach, or learning cycles, to build evidence on promising practices for increasing participation in fatherhood programs. Fatherhood programs participating in the SIRF study implemented promising approaches to increase fathers’ participation, worked with the study team to assess how the approaches could be strengthened, and applied what they learned from those assessments to the next cycle. Each program tested one of three broad approaches to improving fathers’ enrollment, engagement, and retention in services. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation reflection includes six videos featuring program staff members and mentors describing the SIRF approaches tested and how the participants responded to those approaches.

Family economic well-being — including financial, material, and related socio-emotional resources — can support a family’s long-term stability, a positive home environment, and children’s healthy development. Yet, 1 in 10 families with children live below the poverty line. Early childhood home visiting (ECHV) has the potential to support families’ economic well-being. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration initiated the Supporting Family Economic Well-Being through Home Visiting project to better understand how to define and measure family economic well-being and to learn how ECHV agencies have supported or could support it. This report summarizes the findings from targeted reviews of literature and practice documents from ECHV and related fields, such as social work, child welfare, and employment- and income-focused supports.

This alert is to ensure that NO family served by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) loses their medical coverage because of a lack of knowledge about the renewal process. Resources to support agencies as they help individuals renew coverage are provided below.

The key information that families need to receive:

• UPDATE contact information with the State Medicaid agency.
• RESPOND to the Medicaid renewal form when it comes in the mail. If they don't, they may lose their coverage even if they are still eligible.
• PARENTS should respond even if they are not eligible or enrolled in other coverage. Their children could still be eligible for coverage.
• CHECK OTHER OPTIONS: If no longer eligible for Medicaid, they should check if they can get coverage through their employer or through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace at www.healthcare.gov.
• To receive state-specific Medicaid renewal templates to help get the word out about the above information, contact a local Medicaid official.

For individual outreach, please consider these resources for office posting and distribution:

• State-specific Unwinding Flyers (in English and Spanish)
• State-specific information to help families update their contact information.

The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services has developed a Communications Toolkit to help people with Medicaid or CHIP take steps to renew their health coverage or find other coverage options. This Toolkit includes important messages and sample materials (drop-in articles, social media messages, and flyers).

Looking for something that can give specific actions to different community partners? This Call to Action lets different groups (e.g., states, unions, employers, the health care community) know what they can do to spread the word and get people's heath care renewed.

Safe, reliable childcare has been inaccessible and unaffordable for too many Americans. Disparities between who can and cannot afford childcare reflect structural inequities in the United States. Shift workers, single parents, student parents, and families of color are especially affected by the failings of the childcare system. Inadequacies of the childcare system hinder family economic mobility and perpetuate generational wealth gaps. The 2023 Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS Count® Data Book describes how the country’s lack of affordable and accessible childcare negatively affects children, families, and U.S. businesses. The report presents national and state data across four domains — economic well-being, education, health, and family and community — and ranks states in overall child well-being.

On June 3, 2023, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 was signed into law, a legislative package previously agreed upon by the White House and House Speaker to suspend the national debt ceiling limit through January 1, 2025 in exchange for a package of spending cuts and policy changes, including changes to work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and TANF. The American Public Human Services Association has developed a summary of relevant human services provisions and the corresponding effective dates.