Part of a larger project sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services called Key Programmatic Elements of Engaging Fathers to Promote Self-Sufficiency (KEEP Fathers Engaged), this fact sheet explores three strategies for child support agencies to engage fathers and improve family stability. The strategies are: 1) focus outreach on the emotional and other nonfinancial contributions fathers make to children’s well-being; 2) develop partnerships to help fathers achieve their full potential; and 3) use data and evaluation to support sustaining father engagement. The fact sheet provides brief sketches of how these strategies were used within the Georgia Division of Child Support Services, the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Division, and at the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Child Support Enforcement.

This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network tipsheet focuses on how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can support children living with relatives or caregivers who are not receiving full family benefits. It fills a key gap for kinship families who often step in without financial preparation. TANF practitioners can use these strategies to design or improve child-only grants, ensuring support reaches the child without creating unnecessary barriers for caregivers. It also helps staff think through policy and implementation choices that better reflect the realities of kinship care.

The Family Resource Simulator shows how earnings, benefits, and expenses interact as circumstances change. It makes “what if” scenarios visible in a way that is difficult to capture through conversation alone. In Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) settings, the simulator can support planning discussions by helping families see how small changes in work hours, income, or benefits affect overall stability.

The National Center for Children in Poverty’s Basic Needs Budget Calculator breaks down what it actually costs to meet essential needs like housing, food, childcare, and transportation. It highlights gaps between wages, benefits, and real household expenses. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners can use it to support budgeting work that feels concrete and locally relevant, helping families understand what stability requires in practical terms.

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.

A resource from the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network highlights how agencies are prioritizing placement with relatives or trusted caregivers when children cannot remain with their parents. These approaches help maintain family connections, reduce disruptions, and support more stable caregiving arrangements.

TANF programs can support this work by reinforcing care in the home or with relatives, including efforts that help stabilize caregiving arrangements, reduce placement changes, and support caregivers in meeting the day-to-day needs of children. This may also include coordinating with partner systems and aligning services to strengthen family-based care and promote continuity.

This America Succeeds report highlights the workplace value of durable skills: communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and leadership. TANF programs can integrate these into their case management or training to help participants build foundational and transferable skills for long-term career growth.

This tipsheet suggests ways TANF leaders can use technology to support program participation and participants’ employment outcomes. By investing in technology solutions, TANF agencies may efficiently deliver services that promote participant self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on government benefits. Technology options discussed in this resource include: 

• Virtual service delivery platforms, including digital service hubs, virtual case management tools, and online learning platforms
• Virtual platforms providing access to data and analytics
• Tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) 

This resource also discusses factors for TANF leaders to consider when evaluating potential technology solutions.

In this 2021–2026 Strategic Plan for Adult Education and Literacy, the Texas Workforce Commission outlines the guiding principles and vision for adult education and literacy over the five years with a focus on the Texas workforce customer’s experience.