This Wisconsin Department of Health Services webpage includes a section featuring the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model. IPS is a supported employment model that helps people with mental health and substance use disorders find and keep jobs of their choosing. The IPS model is based on the philosophy that employment is treatment and leads to improved recovery outcomes. The webpage illustrates the eight principles of IPS and how stakeholders (including job seekers, businesses, counties, tribal nations, mental health providers, and vocational services providers) benefit from implementing IPS.

Child support is an important resource for children who live apart from a parent, but there are many reasons why noncustodial parents may be unable or unwilling to pay. The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison hosted a webinar on January 11, 2023 where three researchers shared their insights on the current child support context in Wisconsin. Topics in the webinar included: long-term impacts formal child support has on children's economic outcomes; barriers to payment for low-income noncustodial fathers, particularly in light of the COVID pandemic; and how Wisconsin child support agencies connect noncustodial parents with services to help address employment and child support payment barriers.

There is a growing recognition of the importance of healthy social-emotional development and the behavioral and mental health of young children, as well as the critical nature of early relationships with parents and other caregivers. Addressing the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers with and at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities is a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This briefing paper examines an array of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (IDEA, Part C) programs may consider implementing to effectively support the social-emotional development and mental health needs of eligible children as the policies and programs reflect the importance of nurturing early relationships for a child's social emotional wellbeing. An appendix includes state spotlights in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

This brief reviews lessons learned by family treatment courts (FTCs) in the case of parental substance use disorder. FTCs can support positive outcomes such as improved recovery, increased child welfare involvement, timelier reunification for families, and permanency. The brief outlines approaches that FTCs deploy, such as early identification and timely access to treatment, peer recovery coaches, intensive case management and case coordination, building rapport and trust through supportive engagement, and face-to-face family time and reunification services when children are placed outside of the home. The brief also includes vignettes on how FTCs have been used in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; Fairfield County, Ohio; and Tompkins County, New York.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs rely on accurate information to ensure benefits reach eligible families while maintaining program integrity. The Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) helps states identify duplicate public assistance participation across state lines and verify information that may affect eligibility. For TANF practitioners, understanding how PARIS works can support more accurate eligibility determinations, reduce administrative burden, and strengthen coordination with other public assistance programs while helping safeguard limited program resources.

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 June 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 plain-language page from Wisconsin outlines the shared expectations and milestones in the reunification process, and provides a clear look at what parents must do and what caseworkers are expecting. It is a practical primer for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) staff who do not come from a child welfare background but regularly work with families who are in this process. Understanding the roadmap parents are following helps TANF practitioners identify where support is most needed and frame their services in terms that connect directly to a family's reunification goals.

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.

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.