Economic assistance programs help provide low-income individuals and families with income stability, with benefits accruing not just to the families receiving assistance but to the economy as a whole. This paper reviews how cash assistance…

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation compendium provides detailed summaries of each family self-sufficiency research project that was active or newly funded during FY 2021, along with brief overviews of past projects, and highlights…

This brief explores changes in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) caseloads during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines changes to the national and state caseloads by calculating percent changes since before the…

In 2020, for every 100 families in poverty, just 21 families received TANF cash assistance — down from 68 families when TANF was first enacted in 1996. The “TANF-to-poverty ratio” (TPR) is at the lowest point in TANF’s history. This interactive…

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Partnership Center exists to engage and communicate with faith communities and grassroots organizations, ensuring that local institutions, which hold community trust, have up-to-date information…

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) PeerTA hosted a “TANF Next Practices: Lessons from COVID-19 Informing Innovation and Modernization” webinar on March 23, 2022. This webinar provided a discussion platform for TANF programs just starting to…

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Mathematica, and The Adjacent Possible will jointly host a webinar on March 14, 2022 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET to highlight innovative strategies used by state and local TANF programs during…

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other human services programs faced unprecedented challenges managing the COVID-19 global pandemic. They were tasked with serving America’s most vulnerable families as they navigated difficult…

The Assessing Models of Coordinated Services (AMCS) project aimed to improve understanding of approaches to coordinating early care and education services at the state or local level. This brief focuses on findings from telephone interviews with…

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted the Using the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund webinar on March 8 and 9, 2022. Separate sessions were held for states, tribes, and territories that administer PEAF funds. Established by the American…