This is the second video in a three-part series that aims to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs incorporate communication skill-building techniques from Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs that can promote the maintenance of two-parent families and improve job readiness, skills-building, and employment outcomes among TANF participants.

This video highlights one simple strategy—called relationship agreements—that TANF, program service staff could use with families, and families can use together to turn tension into teamwork.

This is the first video in a three-part series that aims to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs incorporate communication skill-building techniques from Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs that can promote the maintenance of two-parent families and improve job readiness, skills-building, and employment outcomes among TANF participants.

This video explores how one intentional strategy, active listening, can transform conversations between TANF program participants and their case managers, their families, and their employers or prospective employers—leading to better participant and program outcomes.

On September 30, 2025, the Administration for Children and Families announced over $100 million in Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grants to 109 organizations across 38 states nationwide. This investment represents the Trump Administration’s commitment to fostering healthy marriages, stabilizing family structures, and helping fathers build better relationships and be more engaged parents — ultimately creating stronger families nationwide. 

HMRF grantees strengthen families nationwide through initiatives that promote responsible fatherhood, healthy marriages and relationships, and economic stability:

• FORGE Fatherhood (Family, Opportunity, Resilience, Grit, Engagement) grants provide comprehensive services that strengthen fathers’ parenting skills, foster positive father-child engagement, support healthy relationships, and improve economic stability—addressing the full spectrum of challenges fathers face.
• HEART (Helping Every Area of Relationships Thrive) grants support healthy marriage and relationship education, creating stronger foundations for children and families to thrive.
• READY4Life (Relationships, Education, Advancement, Development for Youth for Life) grants prepare young people ages 14-24—including expectant and parenting youth—with relationship skills, parenting knowledge, and financial education that lay the foundation for lifelong family stability and successful adulthood.

The Office of Family Assistance partnered with the Children’s Bureau to develop the Families Are Stronger Together Learning Community (FAST-LC), which focused on preventing family involvement in the child welfare system through developing, implementing, and enhancing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)–Child Welfare (CW) partnerships and innovations. FAST-LC was a one-year initiative that involved 10 Tribal and state TANF and CW agencies. 

This tip sheet accompanies a video on Securing Support: Getting Input to Sustain Buy-in for Prevention Partnerships, which highlights lessons from the FAST-LC. These resources feature TANF and CW representatives from Arizona and Iowa who discuss how they secured buy-in from program staff, agency leadership, community partners, and families to enhance services that help keep families together.

The Office of Family Assistance partnered with the Children’s Bureau to develop the Families Are Stronger Together Learning Community (FAST-LC), which focused on preventing family involvement in the child welfare system through developing, implementing, and enhancing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)–Child Welfare (CW) partnerships and innovations. FAST-LC was a one-year initiative that involved 10 Tribal and state TANF and CW agencies. 

This tip sheet accompanies a video on Focusing Efforts: Using Shared Data to Define and Advance Prevention Goals, which highlights lessons from the FAST-LC. These resources feature TANF and CW representatives from Oregon and Michigan who discuss how they use shared data to identify families’ needs and enhance their programs to help keep families together.

The Office of Family Assistance partnered with the Children’s Bureau to develop the Families Are Stronger Together Learning Community (FAST-LC), which focused on preventing family involvement in the child welfare system through developing, implementing, and enhancing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)–Child Welfare (CW) partnerships and innovations. FAST-LC was a one-year initiative that involved 10 Tribal and state TANF and CW agencies. 

This video accompanies a reflection guide and tip sheet on Securing Support: Getting Input to Sustain Buy-in for Prevention Partnerships, which highlights lessons from the FAST-LC. The video features TANF and CW representatives from Arizona and Iowa who discuss how they secured buy-in from program staff, agency leadership, community partners, and families to enhance services that help keep families together.

The Office of Family Assistance partnered with the Children’s Bureau to develop the Families Are Stronger Together Learning Community (FAST-LC), which focused on preventing family involvement in the child welfare system through developing, implementing, and enhancing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)–Child Welfare (CW) partnerships and innovations. FAST-LC was a one-year initiative that involved 10 Tribal and state TANF and CW agencies. 

This video accompanies a reflection guide and tip sheet on Focusing Efforts: Using Shared Data to Define and Advance Prevention Goals, which highlights lessons from the FAST-LC. The video features TANF and CW representatives from Oregon and Michigan who discuss how they use shared data to identify families’ needs and enhance their programs to help keep families together.

While an effective intake assessment helps build an initial impression of each father’s individual situation and needs, fatherhood program staff also know ongoing one-on-one and group interaction is needed to fully understand him and see who he might become. Even then, it can be hard to accurately follow his progress through the program and ensure his needs are met in the best way possible. This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse brief presents an overview of customer journey mapping, an evidence-based tool that helps program administrators and staff members reflect on a father’s journey through a program and make service adjustments based on the father’s perspective as he progresses through that program.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse publication serves as a resource for program operators seeking information on available curricula designed for working with fathers. While not a comprehensive list, it provides an overview of curricula used by programs funded by the Office of Family Assistance within the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Administration for Children and Families announced the launch of “A Home for Every Child,” a national initiative aimed at right-sizing the ratio of foster homes to the number of kids in the foster care system. The initiative will focus on both sides of the equation — increasing the availability of safe homes through diligent recruitment, prioritizing kin, and improving retention of existing caregivers while reducing entries into foster care through effective prevention and faster pathways to permanency. ACF plans to leverage all $11.4 billion of its annual federal funding for foster care and child welfare to advance this mission and will come alongside state agencies to give broad latitude, flexibility, and technical support to reimagine community-specific interventions. ACF will eliminate outdated bureaucratic barriers that discourage families from stepping forward, including streamlining foster family licensing, supporting kinship caregivers, and encouraging faith-based partnerships to expand the network of caring families.