TANF at 30
Landmark Dates for TANF
From the Director of the Office of Family Assistance:
- Thirty Years Later, Welfare Reform Needs Its Own Reform
- TANF and Work: The Gap Between Perception and Reality
- TANF and Work: The Caseload Reduction Credit and How States Exploit It
- The Prevalence of TANF Child-Only Cases Involving Immigration-Status-Ineligible Parents
- Safeguarding TANF Assistance: State Options for EBT Location and Purchase Restrictions
Families are Stronger Together
Finding relatives and other trusted adults can make a significant difference for children involved in child welfare. The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network will host a webinar on September 14, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. ET to present how…
The Director’s Corner provides a regularly updated collection of resources selected or highlighted by the Director of the Office of Family Assistance, David Swegle. Recent resources address timely Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)…
ACF Awards $7.3 Million to Help States Build Prevention Infrastructure to Reduce Foster Care Entries
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…
September is National Kinship Care Month, recognizing the relatives and close family friends who step in to care for children when their parents cannot. This Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage offers a collection of information, tools, and…
Relatives often step in to raise children when parents cannot, but kinship families can face significant financial, caregiving, transportation, and service-access challenges. This guide from the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network…
How can human services programs make sure families have a meaningful role in shaping the services they receive? This Chapin Hall report explores that question through the Opportunities for Prevention & Transformation Initiative, or OPT-In for…
Work Innovations
Skilled trades employ more than 18 million people, but employers face substantial replacement and growth needs as demand changes and experienced workers retire. This Jobs for the Future (JFF) report examines 124 skilled trade occupations and…
Service-to-career pathways connect community service with career development, work-based learning, and opportunities for further education and employment. This Jobs for the Future (JFF) resource describes how these pathways can help participants…
Reliable childcare can be an important factor in a family’s ability to work, train, or pursue education. This Child Trends brief examines the experiences of 107 Maryland families who received Child Care Scholarships in 2025. Before receiving a…
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) brings workforce programs and partners together to help people prepare for and find employment. The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will host a webinar on September…
What does it take for parents to stay in school, work toward a career, and care for their children at the same time? Child Trends used photovoice—a participatory approach that combines photographs, participant-written captions, and group…
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has launched the Indigenous Growth in New and Innovative Trade Employment (IGNITE) Grant Pilot Program, a competitive funding opportunity that will support implementation-ready Tribal workforce development…
Promoting Healthy Marriages and Two-Parent Families
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…
This resource explains the foundations of sexual risk avoidance education and how it is designed to support youth in making intentional, long-term healthy choices. It helps clarify how prevention-based approaches fit into broader adolescent…
This report presents evidence and perspectives on how sexual risk avoidance approaches have proven to influence youth behavior and support healthier outcomes over time. It focuses on long-term patterns rather than short-term interventions. For…
This implementation guide outlines practical steps for designing, delivering, or partnering on sexual risk avoidance education programs. It emphasizes structure, consistency, and alignment with broader youth development goals. In Temporary…
The Urban Institute’s Marriage Calculator shows how marriage can change a household’s income, taxes, and benefit eligibility. It helps surface the often complex financial consequences of family structure decisions. For Temporary Assistance for…
The THRIVE Initiative eLearning platform offers courses at zero cost, designed to strengthen organizational capacity and improve service delivery across human services programs. Topics include leadership, collaboration, and system improvement…