The Office of Family Assistance published data tables which show TANF and Separate State Programs-Maintenance of Effort (SSP-MOE) caseloads separately and combined by state and at the national level from October 2019 through June 2020. The tables are cross-tabbed to include total recipients, total families, total children, one-parent families, two-parent families, no parent families, adults, and monthly caseload data.

This issue brief illustrates the administrative burdens that people encounter when attempting to access safety net programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief outlines learning costs (the time spent to figure out what programs are available and the steps on how to apply), compliance costs (the need for documentation and time/expertise needed to file for benefits), and psychological costs (stress or loss of autonomy). The brief notes how these administrative burdens can be consequential to those seeking assistance by reducing participation or complicating service delivery. To address and reduce these burdens, the brief offers strategies such as technology, automation for enrollment processing, and personal assistance at time of application.

This issue brief profiles the design and implementation of the 2Gen approach undertaken by the District of Columbia TANF program. The brief covers how staff were trained in 2Gen approaches, and the reorganization of TANF intake and eligibility processes. The report also features the District’s redesign of the TANF Employment and Education program, integration of 2Gen approaches for homeless families, and institution of a “whole family” model in universal pre-K and early childhood programs.

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on October 28, 2020. A subject matter expert and a TANF program practitioner shared insights and recommendations for leveraging TANF to provide support to intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors during COVID-19 and beyond. In this webinar, speakers highlighted a variety of IPV topics, including the four types of behavior associated with IPV. Speakers answered audience questions to assist other state and tribal programs in developing and improving their own TANF responses to COVID-19 and IPV.

(See also Resources on "domestic violence" in the Resource Library)

The economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing and stay-at-home orders have dramatically reshaped the approach social service programs are taking to support employment for low-income populations. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) will sponsor a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET featuring leaders from three employment and training programs (Climb Wyoming, Rhode Island Works, and Community Action Organization of Scioto County). The speakers will describe their approaches to continuing training programs and other employment services during the pandemic. These programs participated in OPRE’s State TANF Case Studies project to explore different approaches to providing employment-related and supportive services to TANF recipients and other low-income populations. The panelists will discuss the operational implications of the pandemic for their programs; how participants of their services are balancing participation in employment services with competing life demands and suspension of supportive services, such as child care; and the implications of shifting labor market conditions.

Third Sector and the American Public Human Services Association will host this webinar on October 15, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET. Representatives from the Kentucky Department of Family Support and the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (MA DTA) will discuss how they are working to better meet the needs of young parent families through TANF-funded programs. Kentucky Works Program representatives will share how they are working to establish participant and frontline staff “feedback loops” to better understand the needs of young parents and to identify more enhanced, targeted TANF-funded services that promote economic stability. In addition, MA DTA will share its new approach to using TANF funding in flexible and effective ways to support young parents through the Young Parents Program. Examples will include place-based adjustments, cross-agency coordination, and gathering ongoing feedback from participants to inform program improvements.

Trauma can have significant short and long-term effects on individual functioning and family well-being. Many human services agencies have begun to recognize the profound implications this issue has on how agency staff interact with their customers, and how staff themselves are impacted. The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on September 30, 2020 to help TANF sites interested in moving from trauma awareness to practice transformation using evidence-informed strategies.

Webinar speakers reviewed the trauma-informed paradigm’s foundations in the TANF context, and discussed key considerations in moving TANF programs from trauma-informed awareness to evidence-informed practice transformation. Participants heard from the Vermont Department for Children and Families on their experiences developing a Trauma-Informed Evaluative Toolkit for TANF with OFA PeerTA support and their implementation plans.

This brief from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation presents graphics to illustrate variations among state TANF policies that are identified in the Welfare Rules Database. Visual depictions include comparisons on initial eligibility, benefit amounts, work and activity requirements, and ongoing eligibility and time limits for TANF recipients.

This compendium introduces Executive Function (EF) skills and provides resources for additional understanding about these skills and how poverty and stress impact their development. The resources include videos, a guide to Goal, Plan, Do, Review and Revise (an approach used by human service professionals to build EF skills among their clients), applying behavioral science to address chronic scarcity, and links to podcasts.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report assesses and compares the impact of two models offering cash assistance to Michigan’s TANF recipients to find and keep employment: the Michigan Goal Progress Success (MI-GPS) program (enhancement to Michigan’s TANF program) and the two-step program, the Application Eligibility Period (AEP) followed by the “Partnership. Accountability. Training. Hope.” (PATH) program (Michigan’s existing TANF program). The MI-GPS provides goal-oriented coaching as an enhancement, and AEP/PATH focuses on participation in required work activities. The report reviews the two programs’ implementation as well as the differences in the types of services and assistance delivered, and in employment and earnings outcomes.