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
This vignette features a Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that participated in the Family Routes Initiative Learning Community and expanded their Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) services. This…
This toolkit contains a collection of four one-page resources designed to facilitate strong, collaborative relationships with families. The toolkit includes flyers that can navigate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners…
As the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program marks nearly 30 years, conversations about the program’s original intent is gaining renewed attention. This opinion piece reflects on how families, the workforce, and state programs…
The Administration for Children and Families announced a new Technical Assistance Center to help states, Tribes, and territories implement Fostering the…
Skills-based hiring is intended to help employers focus more on what people can actually do and less on traditional requirements such as degrees or years of experience. But making that approach work requires a clear understanding of which skills…
As of July 15, 2026, 30 states have either ended or substantially reformed the practice of diverting Social Security survivor benefits from foster youth. The action marks a major milestone in protecting earned benefits for some of the…
Work Innovations
This vignette features a Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that participated in the Family Routes Initiative Learning Community and expanded their Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) services. This…
This toolkit contains a collection of four one-page resources designed to facilitate strong, collaborative relationships with families. The toolkit includes flyers that can navigate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners…
As the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program marks nearly 30 years, conversations about the program’s original intent is gaining renewed attention. This opinion piece reflects on how families, the workforce, and state programs…
The Administration for Children and Families announced a new Technical Assistance Center to help states, Tribes, and territories implement Fostering the…
Skills-based hiring is intended to help employers focus more on what people can actually do and less on traditional requirements such as degrees or years of experience. But making that approach work requires a clear understanding of which skills…
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) supports families as they work toward financial independence, and the policies used to measure state performance play an important role in how the program is administered. This issue brief, co-…
Promoting Healthy Marriages and Two-Parent Families
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…
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…