The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) will host the National Fatherhood Summit from August 3 to August 5, 2026, providing a forum for stakeholders interested in sharing and discovering ways to support and promote responsible fatherhood. OFA encourages stakeholders from a variety of vocations and walks of life to help shape the Summit agenda by submitting workshop proposals that align with the Summit theme, “The Fatherhood Mandate: Building Families, Building America,” and one of their five concurrent Summit learning tracks:

1. Strengthening Marriage and Family Stability in the Context of Fatherhood
2. Fathers, Child Welfare, and the Path Beyond Foster Care
3. Workforce Readiness and Economic Mobility for Fathers
4. Fathers as Leaders in Faith-Based and Civic Institutions in Their Communities
5. Data-Driven Fatherhood Programming

If you are interested in presenting, OFA is welcoming submissions until April 24, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET. 

For more information on participating as an attendee, please check out The 2026 National Fatherhood Summit webpage. 

This guide from the Child Welfare Information Gateway provides a protective factors framework along with practical strategies for strengthening families. TANF programs can use this resource to design prevention-focused services that build on family strengths while coordinating with child welfare and behavioral health partners. By integrating protective factors into program design, TANF agencies can support resilience, reduce risk, and promote long-term family stability.

This Child Welfare Information Gateway podcast highlights how TANF can play a critical role in preventing child welfare involvement by addressing economic hardship and reducing stressors on families. It reinforces the connection between economic supports and family stability, an area where TANF programs are uniquely positioned to make an impact.

TANF programs can use this resource to strengthen coordination with child welfare partners and better align services that support families before challenges escalate. By taking a more connected, cross-system approach, programs can help stabilize caregiving environments and support safe, nurturing conditions for children.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Family Assistance released Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 state work participation rate data, providing updated insight into how states are engaging Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients in work and work-related activities. These data reflect state performance in meeting federal participation requirements and highlight variation in engagement across states and family types.

Work participation rates remain a key accountability measure for TANF programs, capturing the extent to which work-eligible individuals are involved in activities such as employment, job search, education, and training. The FY2024 data builds on prior years’ trends and continues to underscore the role of caseload reduction credits and program design choices in shaping state outcomes.

This video shares information to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs connect with father-focused programs—Responsible Fatherhood, Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education, and Home Visiting— in their communities.

This video is the final part in a three-part series designed to describe how Fatherhood Engagement programming and services can enhance TANF cash assistance programs to support the formation and stability of two-parent families and foster responsible parenting. The corresponding resource list allows viewers to access any links mentioned in this series.

This video provides an overview of three types of father-focused programs—Responsible Fatherhood, Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education, and Home Visiting— and their services. The video explains these programs so that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can identify opportunities for coordination and partnership to support TANF participants in forming and maintaining strong and stable families.

This video is the second in a three-part series designed to describe how Fatherhood Engagement programming and services can enhance TANF cash assistance programs to support the formation and stability of two-parent families and foster responsible parenting. The corresponding resource list allows viewers to access any links mentioned in this series.

This video explains the benefits of fatherhood engagement and how programs that serve fathers can support Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants in forming and maintaining strong and stable families.

This video is the first in a three-part series designed to describe how Fatherhood Engagement programming and services can enhance TANF cash assistance programs to support the formation and stability of two-parent families and foster responsible parenting. The corresponding resource list allows viewers to access any links mentioned in this series.

The Administration for Children and Families published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on April 6, 2026, outlining changes to TANF work participation rate calculations, including recalibration of the caseload reduction credit and updates to how certain benefit payments are counted. These proposed updates may significantly affect how states measure performance and structure work activities. During the public comment period, stakeholders should review the proposed rule to understand potential impacts on program operations, reporting, and participant engagement, and are encouraged to submit feedback by May 6, 2026, to help inform the final rulemaking.