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.

This Imprint resource was co-authored by Assistant Secretary Alex Adams and highlights the importance of prevention-focused strategies in supporting families and keeping children out of more intensive systems like foster care. He argues that building strong entry points into supportive services, rather than waiting for crises, leads to better outcomes and less system involvement. The resource reinforces the value of early engagement with families, cross-system referrals, and collaboration across child welfare and community partners to help families thrive before deep instability occurs.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) is excited to offer the opportunity to receive technical assistance on strengthening employment and relational outcomes for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants by integrating new and effective approaches for meeting the economic and social needs of families. State and Tribal TANF programs and their partner organizations that support TANF purposes are welcome to express interest in receiving technical assistance to strengthen employment and relational outcomes of customers.

The Family Routes Initiative supports the integration of evidence-based Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) practices, approaches that help build and sustain healthy marriages, strengthen positive father-child interactions, and build skills employers seek (e.g., soft skills, goal setting, self-regulation, accountability, and personal responsibility).

What Does the Family Routes Initiative Offer?

Selected participants may receive:

• Tailored assistance aligned to program goals and context
• Support adapting evidence-based HMRF practices for local needs
• Practical tools and resources to strengthen family outcomes

To express interest, please contact: familyroutes@deloitte.com.

This report outlines trends in declining marriage and fertility, critiques existing policies considered to discourage family formation, and proposes policy changes, including eliminating “marriage penalties” in welfare and tax programs and offering new tax credits to support married couples with children, to encourage stable, two parent families. The report frames these ideas as long term strategies for reversing demographic and cultural shifts and fostering economic and social resilience.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced the appointment of Wendy Horman as Director of the Office of Child Care (OCC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, leadership within the OCC is closely connected to TANF’s statutory focus on work preparation, employment, and family economic improvement. Access to stable childcare remains a critical support that enables parents to participate in job search, training, and employment activities. As director, Horman will lead the OCC within the Office of Early Childhood Education and work to strengthen the Child Care Development Fund, the United States’ largest national voucher program, which provides states with funding to help low-income families access childcare. Her work will focus on supporting families and improving child outcomes, empowering states and programs to improve alignment with local approaches to services, and eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy to deliver maximum benefit to the families ACF serves.

This website offers a range of free tools couples can use to strengthen their relationships. TANF programs can share them with participants who are in committed relationships or working toward family stability. These tools can help support communication, trust, and connection, which are often tied to broader economic and social wellbeing for families.

This toolkit from National Marriage Week offers free downloadable materials to help communities highlight healthy, committed relationships. It includes promotional graphics, sample social media posts, print ads, radio scripts, and a guide with ideas for community events and awareness building activities. These resources can be a helpful addition for programs that incorporate relationship skills, family support, or partner engagement into case management or workshops, giving staff approachable tools to encourage strong interpersonal connections that contribute to family stability and economic wellbeing.

The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network will host a webinar on February 11 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET to focus on how kinship and family support programs are building and sustaining multi-state navigator initiatives. The session will share real-world lessons about effective partnership structures, staffing strategies, data sharing, and funding approaches as well as examples of promising models that have expanded across regions. This is a chance to learn how navigator services can expand for broader reach, strengthen cross-state collaboration, and help connect families to benefits and supports.