Building on previous work developing a roadmap for system-level change to better support young families, the American Public Human Services Association established the System Alignment for Young Families Learning Academy (SAYF) to support cross-systems teams from state and local human services agencies in establishing a System Alignment Plan to support young families. This blogpost notes how the SAYF Learning Academy was launched in March 2022 with six cross-sectional teams that included parent leadership representing Maryland, Maricopa County (Arizona), Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wake County (North Carolina). Through the development of targeted practice tools, peer-to-peer learning, and individualized planning, the teams worked to advance system alignment, so that young families experience seamless service delivery that meets their individual needs. An infographic in the blogpost spotlights each team’s vision statement.

For young parents juggling work, school, and child care, supporting their families while transitioning into adulthood can be challenging. Parents with low incomes and those who have been involved with the foster care or criminal legal systems face even greater barriers to achieving stability. To explore how organizations can improve young parents’ employment and educational opportunities, this blogpost reflects findings from interviews with representatives of three partners involved in the Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative. (LEAP™ is a multi­million dollar initiative to increase employment and educational opportunities for young people, ages 14 to 25, who are in foster care, homeless, or exiting the juvenile justice system.) Interviews were held with staff members at two LEAP cohort members—the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and The Door in New York City—as well as with Hennepin Healthcare, a Minnesota organization that collaborates with Project for Pride in Living, another LEAP cohort member. The answers they shared highlight the importance of convening cross-sector partners to work toward common goals, connecting with other organizations to meet parents’ basic needs, and navigating public systems to remove barriers and help young people achieve their goals.

This Annie E. Casey Foundation brief shares six pivotal strategies for coordinating and funding community efforts to support families at risk of entering the child welfare system: invest in infrastructure at the state and local levels, create funding structures that maximize prevention funds, support community-led planning and design, align programs at the state level to better serve families, invest in evaluation, and leverage private and local dedicated funding streams. Strategies presented in this brief include practices from Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Washington State, and the District of Columbia.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is awarding $2.2 million to modernize child welfare licensing infrastructure. The funding will support efforts to improve the systems states use to license and monitor foster care providers, with the goal of strengthening the processes that help ensure children and families receive safe, effective care.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this announcement offers a look at how improvements to child welfare systems can support stronger coordination across programs serving families. Modernized licensing systems can make it easier for child welfare agencies to maintain provider information, streamline processes, and strengthen connections with other family-serving systems. TANF programs can use this as an opportunity to consider how they coordinate with child welfare partners, particularly when serving families involved with or at risk of involvement with the child welfare system.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is investing $7.3 million in 10 states to strengthen the systems and services that help families address challenges before they lead to foster care entry. The Prevention Accelerator Grants will support activities such as improving referral pathways, training staff in Motivational Interviewing, strengthening data and claiming systems, and expanding evidence-based family supports.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this ACF announcement offers a useful look at how states are building stronger prevention systems around families. The announcement outlines the 10 jurisdictions’ plans to improve their services, including better referrals, shared data, and sustainable funding structures that can help families connect with the right support earlier. TANF programs can draw lessons from these approaches when considering partnerships with child welfare, community providers, and other family-serving programs.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) non-assistance funds flow through workforce boards, employment program providers, and community partners—but data about service delivery often lives in separate systems. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified this as a core program integrity challenge: without cross-agency data infrastructure, TANF agencies struggle to assess provider performance, identify service gaps, and connect spending to participant outcomes.

As a result, the Office of Family Assistance’s State and Tribal Technical Assistance and Resources (STAR) team developed the TANF Program Integrity Office Hours as a series of topical peer learning sessions where TANF agencies can share what's working, explore real challenges, and walk away with practical strategies they can use to address the challenge identified by GAO.

This recording includes key takeaways from the July session, highlights from peer discussions, and an overview of how to use and navigate the companion resource, which can help TANF programs assess and strengthen their own provider contracts and accountability structures.

This Administration for Children and Families announcement highlights $6 million in funding for 10 jurisdictions to advance the use of predictive risk modeling in child welfare. These jurisdictions will pilot technology aimed at using data to help child welfare agencies identify patterns and potentially recognize situations where families may benefit from earlier or more targeted support.

This announcement is useful for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) leaders and staff who are thinking about how to strengthen coordination across systems and improve early intervention efforts. The announcement may encourage practitioners to consider how data can support human judgment, relationship-building, and direct engagement with families. Ultimately, it offers a window into how child welfare systems are evolving and what that may mean for the broader network of services that support family stability.

This Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work verification plan from Nebraska illustrates another approach to implementing federal verification requirements at the state level. The plan is useful for TANF programs looking to understand different administrative models and documentation standards. Programs can use the plan to see how other states structure oversight and reporting, which can support internal conversations about simplifying verification processes or improving training for staff responsible for documenting work participation.

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 for Needy Families (TANF) services, it can support more realistic financial planning discussions and help families think through how income choices affect stability, caregiving roles, and long-term goals.

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 not always equal economic stability. Practitioners can use it to ground conversations about self-sufficiency in local reality, making it easier to connect job planning and financial goals to actual household needs and improve family stability.