This Administration for Children and Families policy guidance webpage addresses common challenges in how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs count and verify participation hours. For TANF practitioners, this is a practical tool for resolving day-to-day questions that arise in case management, particularly around what qualifies as countable activity and how to document it consistently. It supports more uniform decision-making across TANF staff, reduces ambiguity in case processing, and helps ensure families are treated consistently regardless of which staff member is handling their case.

This Administration for Children and Families webpage provides states with a framework for developing work verification systems that document and validate participation activities. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, this webpage is a foundational operations tool because it can guide how compliance is demonstrated and how staff document client work engagement. It supports TANF practitioners in building clearer internal procedures, improving consistency across offices, and reducing uncertainty about what counts as acceptable verification during case reviews or audits.

Want practical ways to boost your program’s employment outcomes and help advance core purposes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)? The Office of Family Assistance is sponsoring The Family Routes Initiative (FRI) to assist TANF programs in achieving employment, two-parent family formation, and responsible fathering goals, and invites TANF program staff of all levels to join us for a special Office Hours session on July 30th, 2026, from 2:00-3:00 PM ET.

Why Attend? 

The Administration for Children and Families launched the FRI to facilitate the transfer of practical Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) tools to help human services programs improve practical skills of TANF program staff and enhance the experience of families and participants engaged in TANF services. Participation in the initiative is intended to strengthen key skills and program capacities. 

Drawing from proven HMRF research and practices, this interactive, open forum will provide peer-to-peer and expert facilitated training, ideation, and design support focused on improving practical relational and employment-related skills, while linking participating programs with tailored technical assistance for strengthening employment and social outcomes for TANF participants.

Key Takeaways for Your Program:

• Emotional Regulation: Model emotional self-regulation and co-regulation skills with participants to manage daily stressors.
• Healthy Communication: Integrate practical communication skill-building directly into your existing employment and family services to strengthen participant engagement and improve employment outcomes.
• Advance TANF Purposes: Gain actionable strategies to help your program build economically stable and intact families.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs have long supported families in building economic stability. This Dear Colleague Letter by the Office of Family Assistance explores how TANF funds may now be used to support Trump Accounts, which are federally backed, tax-advantaged savings accounts for children, creating new opportunities to help children and families build assets for the future. For TANF practitioners, the guidance shares how these accounts can fit within broader strategies that promote financial well-being and long-term self-sufficiency. TANF programs may use this guidance to consider innovative approaches that help families move beyond immediate needs and build a stronger financial foundation.

Children that require out-of-home care still need stable, permanent home connections. This Administration for Children and Families brief examines how states are using the Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program to support relatives and caregivers who assume legal guardianship of children in foster care. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, this brief offers valuable insight into the needs of kinship caregivers who may also rely on TANF supports to help meet a child's basic needs. TANF practitioners can use this information to better understand permanency options, strengthen partnerships with child welfare agencies, and identify opportunities to connect caregivers with financial assistance, employment services, and other supports that promote long-term family stability.

The Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR) within the Administration for Children and Families will host a webinar on June 22, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. ET to introduce a new opportunity for human services agencies and partners to share innovative solutions that strengthen human services systems before, during, and after disasters. This session will overview two challenge tracks, one focused on supporting foster and kinship families during disasters and the other focused on building coordinated human services responses that can quickly connect families to assistance. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs, this offers an opportunity to explore strategies for strengthening emergency preparedness, building partnerships, and ensuring families can continue accessing critical supports when disasters disrupt communities. Participants will also learn about eligibility requirements, submission timelines, and the challenge application process.

Young people aging out of foster care may face a stark reality. They leave the system at 18 with little financial cushion and few of the family safety nets on which most young adults rely. To address this, federal guidance has been issued by the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of the Treasury enabling state, territorial, and Tribal child welfare agencies to open dedicated savings and investment accounts called “Fostering the Future Accounts” for children and youth in their care. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this is a critical moment to understand how these accounts fit into the broader picture of economic security for families you serve. Youth in or aging out of foster care are a population TANF programs frequently encounter; understanding how to help youth access and benefit from this new financial tool will position your program to be a more informed connector of services.

Many families do not enter the child welfare system all at once; they arrive there after a series of crises that no one stepped in to address early enough. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can be a part of that early intervention, providing income support, employment services, and family stability before situations escalate.

The Administration for Children and Families has now added new evidence-based interventions to the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, a federal list of proven programs states can fund to keep families together and reduce unnecessary foster care entries. For TANF practitioners, this resource signals where federal child welfare investment is heading and opens opportunities to align TANF-funded services with approved prevention strategies. If your agency is already providing parenting support, substance use navigation, or family counseling, these new interventions may mean new pathways to coordinate funding and recognition for that work.

The most effective father-engagement programs listen, adapt, and improve over time. The Fathers and Continuous Learning project explored exactly that, and researched how organizations can build feedback loops so they're learning from fathers' experiences rather than guessing what they need. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs, this is a model worth considering. Asking fathers what is working versus what is not and what they need, and then acting on those answers, is one of the most powerful things a program can do to increase engagement and improve outcomes for the whole family.

The NEW Annual Program Report helps Tribal programs document employment and training activities, participant outcomes, and the services being provided to Native individuals and families. The Office of Family Assistance developed and published this fillable program report form with instructions for NEW grant recipients. For Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and NEW practitioners, this resource provides useful guidance on how to successfully complete the form, as well as track program impact, strengthen reporting practices, and better understand how workforce services are supporting participants on pathways toward employment and economic stability. Programs can also use the report to identify trends, strengthen partnerships, and support planning efforts that reflect the needs and priorities of Tribal communities.