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
Young people leaving foster care often face financial challenges as they transition to adulthood, including managing money, securing housing, and planning for future goals. This Annie E. Casey Foundation brief introduces their financial…
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs have long supported families in building economic stability. This Dear Colleague Letter by the Office of Family Assistance explores how TANF funds may now be used to support Trump Accounts,…
Young people aging out of foster care may face a stark reality. They leave the system at 18 with little financial cushion and few of the family safety nets on which most young adults rely. To address this, federal guidance has been issued by the…
Too often, accessing public benefits requires families to travel to offices during business hours, wait in long lines, and navigate systems that were designed around administrative convenience rather than client need. The San Francisco Human…
Many families do not enter the child welfare system all at once; they arrive there after a series of crises that no one stepped in to address early enough. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can be a part of that early…
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child welfare systems often serve the same families, but they don't always talk to each other. This Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage helps bridge that gap by explaining what the…
Work Innovations
WorkforceGPS will host a free webinar on May 28, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. ET focused on how agencies can improve coordination through integrated systems and cross-program collaboration. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners,…
Tailored for Success: How Two Programs in Los Angeles Customize Employment Services for Young People
This MDRC report explores how two workforce programs in Los Angeles adapted employment services to better meet the needs of young people. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners serving youth and young parents, this…
As workforce needs continue to change, career and technical education programs are adapting to prepare individuals for new opportunities. This MDRC podcast explores how education and training programs are responding to shifts in the labor market…
Workforce Pell was created in response to a simple truth: a great education and a better life do not necessarily require a four-year college degree. Whether through apprenticeships, hands-on Career and Technical Education, or certificate programs…
This AIR resource explores how Workforce Pell could expand access to short-term education and training programs that lead to employment opportunities in high-demand industries. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, many…
This Office of Family Assistance Information Memorandum (IM) highlights how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds can be used to support families with childcare needs, including parents and caregivers who provide care at home. It…
Promoting Healthy Marriages and Two-Parent Families
The Administration for Children and Families' Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Division of Tribal TANF Management hosted a Webinar, "Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Webinar." This Webinar was the first of a two-part series, and…
The Office of Family Assistance hosted the "Broadening the Scope of Work Activities: Using Cultural Activities in Tribal Communities" Webinar to provide an opportunity for participants to hear from Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Region IX hosted six Tribes from Arizona, community stakeholders and topical experts at the 2011 Tribal TANF…
The following report describes the Urban Partnerships for Welfare Reform Academy II that took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota from October, 26-29 2003 to continue partnerships and foster collaboration to improve service delivery and TANF…
This report describes this Rapid Response Technical Assistance event held in Washington, DC, September 5-6, 2001. The purpose of this conference was to give practitioners an opportunity to exchange information on experiences, learn of promising…
This resource by Study.com provides practical family conflict resolution activities that help people recognize what is driving disagreement, see situations from different perspectives, and work through problems in a more structured way. For…