When several branches of a large social services organization are involved in providing a continuum of services, it can be challenging to optimize clients’ care. Communication between branches may be minimal, and individual services may have distinct eligibility criteria. People who are served initially may not be guaranteed access to future services, which can further complicate care coordination. This MDRC resource describes how Central City Concern (Portland, Oregon) confronted challenges in service integration.

The Office of Family Assistance published this Information Memorandum to transmit the Fiscal Year 2023 state work participation rates. All states were required to report work participation information for the months of October 2022 through September 2023.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation infographic discusses how various potential downsides to increasing earnings play out in the likelihood that recipients of TANF would accept a higher-paying job. The infographic touches on benefit loss and benefit cliffs, job stability, and the burden of reapplying for benefits.

This Office of Family Assistance resource answers these questions: May a state use TANF funds to provide a payment to an expectant parent before the birth of a child to cover costs associated with the preparing for a new child? Could the state have a similar allowance but after the child is born? If allowable, must the family meet a financial eligibility standard to qualify for such a payment?

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) will host a national webinar for state TANF programs and partners entitled Building Strategic Partnerships and Maximizing TANF Flexibilities to Reduce Housing Stability on January 15, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. ET to roll out its newly released Dear Colleague Letter on Housing Stability. OFA will provide an overview of current and relevant research for TANF programs and will offer peer perspectives from two TANF programs investing in housing stability activities.   

The webinar also will help increase knowledge about approaches for addressing housing instability for families, facilitate the introduction of new partnerships, and share options for maximizing TANF flexibilities to reduce housing instability for families and children and achieve TANF purposes.

The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation released this brief, which summarizes an expert convening focused on the child support program’s current ability and future potential to help address child poverty. The convening focused on the current state of child support services, how child support services intersect with other programs and institutions, and innovations in service design and provision.

Self-regulation skills are the skills needed to finish tasks, stay organized, and control emotions, and they are critical in finding and maintaining employment. Poverty and other chronic stressors can hinder the development and use of these skills, but coaching can promote self-regulation skills and help adults with low incomes become economically secure. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report presents findings from a study of four employment coaching programs conducted as part of the Evaluation of Employment Coaching for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Related Populations. The report presents estimates of impacts of coaching on participants’ self-regulation skills, employment, earnings, self-sufficiency, and other measures of personal and family well-being throughout the 21 months after enrollment.

The Office of Family Assistance’s TANF Outcomes Technical Assistance and Logistics (TOTAL) team hosted a webinar in November 2024 to introduce the TANF Work and Education Outcomes Reporting requirements for states and territories required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The webinar was open to the public to include all states and their representatives: TOTAL FRA Work and Education Outcomes Reporting Introductory Webinar

The Office for Family Assistance partnered with Children’s Bureau to develop the Families Are Stronger Together Learning Community (FAST-LC), which focused on preventing family involvement in the child welfare system through developing, implementing, and enhancing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-Child Welfare partnerships and innovations. FAST-LC was a one-year initiative that involved eight state and two tribal TANF-Child Welfare partnerships. The FAST-LC launched in September 2023 and concluded in September 2024. OFA published the webpage that highlights various resources, including a journey recap for each participating site and research briefs.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) information brief aims to demystify research terms for fatherhood practitioners. In the brief, NRFC provides a comprehensive description of the different types of program data and their purpose, offers practical guidance for collecting and using data, and underscores the importance of routinely evaluating program services and outcomes to enhance programming and disseminate program impacts. Additionally, this brief emphasizes the value of using program data in a meaningful way and offers recommendations on how to leverage this data to improve program effectiveness and better support program participants.