Rebuilding American Families
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is designed to help families achieve stability and move toward long-term self-sufficiency. TANF purposes emphasize strengthening family formation, supporting healthy relationships, and promoting long-term economic security for parents and children.
This webpage provides resources to help state TANF agency staff translate these priorities into practice. The materials are organized around key areas of focus, including marriage and family formation supports, household stability skills, community and faith-based partnerships, family growth and economic planning, maternal and family wellness, youth preparation for family life, and emerging approaches. Each section highlights ways TANF programs can expand beyond basic assistance to offer tools that help practitioners engage families more broadly, address underlying barriers, and support stronger, more stable households. Together, these topics reflect a broader effort to not only meet immediate needs, but to equip families with the foundation for strong relationships and stable homes.
Marriage and Family Formation Supports
This toolkit contains a collection of four one-page resources designed to facilitate strong, collaborative relationships with families. The toolkit includes flyers that can navigate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners…
In June 2026, the Office of Family Assistance launched the Programming to Build Strong Families and Promote Economic Independence series, designed to provide flexible, practice-informed…
In June 2026, the Office of Family Assistance launched a series to guide TANF programs in building strong families and promoting economic independence in Tribal communities. This series was designed to provide flexible, practice-informed…
In June 2026, the Office of Family Assistance launched the Programming to Build Strong Families and Promote Economic Independence series, designed to provide flexible, practice-informed…
This Heritage Foundation event examined how guaranteed income programs for new mothers may shape fathers’ involvement and recognition within families. Speakers discussed whether programs centered on mothers and children adequately account for…
This webpage offers a comprehensive approach to empowering parents and serves as an example of how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can think more intentionally about family formation as part of their services. It shows how…
Household Stability Skills
This resource by Study.com provides practical family conflict resolution activities that help people recognize what is driving disagreement, see situations from different perspectives, and work through problems in a more structured way. For…
Community and Faith-Based Partnerships
Families thrive when their communities are strong and connected. Yet too often, families face barriers to resources that support well-being, like lack of affordable childcare, safe housing, mental health supports, or job opportunities—barriers…
This report from the Sutherland Institute explores how religious involvement and faith communities can support family stability by fostering commitment, shared values, and social support networks. It reviews evidence suggesting that participation…
Families that receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance are often in a state of crisis. They face immediate material needs, and these unmet basic needs put families at an increased risk for investigations in the child…
Family Growth and Economic Planning
The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates the income families need to cover basic expenses based on where they live and family size. It helps clarify a common disconnect in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work—employment alone does…
This Congressional Research Service report explains how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) interacts with pregnancy centers and the role these organizations can play in providing services to pregnant women and families. It provides…
Research from SmartAsset explores what it takes financially for one parent to stay home and the other to support the household. It adds context to the tradeoffs families face when making caregiving and work decisions. Within Temporary Assistance…
This Executive Order by the Trump-Vance administration announces that they will dedicate Federal support, technology, and strategic partnerships to provide young Americans in or transitioning out of the foster care system with the tools they need…
Maternal and Family Wellness Supports
Youth Preparation for Family Life
This brief summarizes a recent report about the PREP program, entitled “The Personal Responsibility Education Program: Launching a Nationwide Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Effort.” The report documented key decisions made by state grantees about…
The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) was authorized by Congress to reduce teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and associated risk behaviors. Grantees across the country had flexibility in how they would implement…
Emerging Approaches
This report by the Institute for Family Studies explores how different family structures are associated with child well-being outcomes, highlighting patterns that link stability in the home with stronger developmental outcomes for children. The…
Men play a vital role in helping children and families thrive, yet they are often overlooked in conversations about foster and kinship care. This Creating a Family podcast episode explores the unique contributions of fathers, grandfathers, uncles…
Understanding the child support system can help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners better support the families they serve. This National Conference of State Legislatures tutorial provides an overview of how child support…
From the Wheatley Institute at BYU, this report examines how economic shifts, education gaps, and digital engagement patterns are influencing men’s participation in work, relationships, and family life. The resource connects broader structural…
Families are experts in their own experiences, and their perspectives can help improve programs. This Office for Planning, Research and Evaluation toolkit provides practical strategies, tools, and resources for gathering and using family feedback…
This Institute for Family Studies resource looks at how job stability for men and flexible work arrangements for mothers influence decisions around forming and sustaining families. It brings attention to how work conditions shape family life in…