The Oklahoma Department of Human Services has adopted an innovative approach to preparing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants for employment: fully integrating relationship skills education into its work readiness program. By transforming its TANF orientation process to focus on soft skills development and navigating workplace relationships, the agency’s integrated approach is laying a foundation for helping TANF participants obtain and sustain employment.

This brief is part of the Emerging Practice Series of the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative, which highlights the strategies of TANF agencies and their partners to help low-income individuals gain and sustain meaningful employment. Each brief describes an emerging practice that has been implemented in one site, an overview of the program model, and the results that have been achieved. Compelling stories of participants’ success and suggestions from TANF agency staff to their peers provide actionable insights and on-the-ground perspectives.

In December 2025, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted a conversation for the Human Services Policy Advisors network and Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Assistant Secretary Dr. Alex Adams to spotlight new administration priorities. This NGA discussion summary highlights ACF’s efforts to ensure every child has a safe, stable home by emphasizing prevention, family preservation, and kinship care. A recording is available but please contact the NGA Children & Families team for the password at info@nga.com. 

For TANF programs, this focus on keeping families together before deeper system involvement resonates with prevention-oriented work and cross-system collaboration. TANF staff can use insights from these efforts to strengthen connections with local child welfare and kinship support networks, helping families maintain stability and access supports that reduce economic hardship and crisis.

This National Center for Diligent Recruitment resource describes what it means to build a “Kin-First” child welfare system that prioritizes placing children with relatives or familiar caregivers when out-of-home care is needed. It offers principles and practices for supporting kin caregivers with the right resources and engagement. TANF programs can use the kin-first framework to inform partnerships and service planning, especially when working with relatives raising children by aligning cash assistance, work supports, and family stability services with kinship-centered approaches.

This resource from the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network explains how Family First Prevention Services Act reimbursement can be used for services that help Native children and families before deeper child welfare involvement occurs. It offers practical guidance on eligible programs and supports that honor traditions and community strengths. For TANF programs serving Native families, this can inform cross-system coordination and funding alignment — helping connect participants to culturally grounded supports that reinforce family wellbeing alongside TANF’s economic goals.

This Child Welfare Playbook strategy emphasizes the importance of engaging extended family and kin caregivers early when children are at risk of removal to explore options for support and safety within the family network. This strategy reinforces the value of early engagement and family-centered approaches. TANF case managers can consider how involving a broader support network can strengthen family stability, reduce crisis escalation, and connect participants to supports that align with their goals.

This Child Welfare Playbook strategy highlights the value of tribal family coaches – community-based supports who work with families to navigate systems, build strengths, and connect to resources in culturally grounded ways. For TANF programs serving Native communities, this strategy provides a practical idea for how partnerships and staffing models can be designed to improve engagement, trust, and access to supports that promote both economic stability and family strengthening. Integrating or aligning with family coach roles can enhance service responsiveness and outcomes.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the State of Iowa are launching a first-of-its-kind partnership to modernize Iowa’s child welfare information system, creating a new, user-friendly technology platform designed to improve caseworker efficiency and strengthen services for children and families. This initiative is built on user-centered design and robust data and aims to free frontline staff from outdated systems, enabling better decision-making that supports family stability and permanency. Alongside the launch of ACF’s new Child Welfare Technology Incubator to help other states scale similar innovations, this effort aligns with broader federal goals to improve outcomes and keep families safely together.

The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network will host a webinar on March 25, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. ET to showcase six different Family Resource Center (FRC) models that are creatively supporting kin caregivers and grandfamilies across the country, from rural and urban hubs to school-based, faith-based, and mobile programs. FRCs serve as community anchors that offer wraparound supports like parenting education, benefits navigation, peer groups, and concrete resources that help families thrive.

This report from the Sutherland Institute explores how religious involvement and faith communities can support family stability by fostering commitment, shared values, and social support networks. It reviews evidence suggesting that participation in faith communities is linked with stronger family cohesion and resilience. While focusing on religion’s role, the examples can help TANF programs think about the broader social supports and community connections that contribute to family well-being and how partnerships with community organizations might enhance supports for participants.

This Institute for Family Studies resource outlines seven policy approaches states can use to support marriage, family stability, and economic wellbeing — including relationship education, shared parenting supports, income policies, and community-based initiatives. For TANF programs, this resource offers concrete ideas that can inform program design, partnerships, and policy alignment, such as integrating relationship skills into employment services, coordinating with child support and parenting programs, and considering how benefits and work policies affect family stability. TANF leaders can use this perspective to identify opportunities where family-strengthening strategies and economic supports reinforce one another to improve outcomes for parents and children.