Families are experts in their own experiences, and their perspectives can help improve programs. This Office for Planning, Research and Evaluation toolkit provides practical strategies, tools, and resources for gathering and using family feedback to strengthen Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child support services. TANF program leaders, frontline staff, and partners can use these resources to meaningfully engage families, improve service delivery, and ensure programs better reflect the needs and priorities of the communities they serve.

This Office of Family Assistance webpage is a directory of free resources available for Temporary Assistance for Needy (TANF) block grant programs and other federal workforce development programs. This 2025 edition of the Catalog includes 24 identified toolkits that were published by federal agencies, state agencies, research organizations, and workforce stakeholders. Each featured resource aligns with ACF priorities and uplifts the presidential administration’s streamlining of fragmented workforce development programs that have been historically too disconnected from propelling workers into secure, well-paying, and high-need American jobs. They include information on collaborating with employers, strengthening registered apprenticeship programs, linking community college or job training into sequential credentials, starting a Career Pathways initiative, and engaging state, local, and county partners.

This I Am Dad podcast examines a practical question for fatherhood programs: what helps fathers participate consistently enough to benefit from services? The conversation explores the difference between incentives and supports, the barriers that can make participation difficult, and why programs should ask fathers directly what they need. Examples include transportation, food, gift cards, and other supports that can reduce the practical costs of participation.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, the discussion offers a useful reminder that engagement is not simply about asking clients to attend. TANF programs may need to design services around participants’ schedules, transportation challenges, family responsibilities, and other realities that affect retention. These lessons can inform fatherhood initiatives within TANF as well as broader strategies for making services easier for families to access and complete.

This case study from the American Institutes for Research looks at how Indiana is using intermediaries – organizations that connect employers, schools, and other partners – to expand access to high-quality work-based learning. The study addresses a common challenge: schools and employers may both support work-based learning, but often lack the staff, time, relationships, or infrastructure needed to coordinate opportunities at scale.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, Indiana’s experience offers a practical model for thinking about who can play the “connector” role between participants and employers. Intermediaries can reduce the burden on individual organizations, coordinate employer relationships, provide shared tools and supports, and help translate policy into day-to-day practice. These lessons may be useful for TANF programs seeking stronger work-based learning, apprenticeship, or employer partnerships without having to build every piece of the system themselves.

This Jobs for the Future resource examines Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act waiver decisions for 40 states and territories and highlights several emerging approaches, including reaching young people earlier, expanding employer-driven training, increasing on-the-job training flexibility, and extending supportive services after people enter employment.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, the resource provides ideas for strengthening TANF–workforce partnerships and thinking beyond job placement as the end goal. Including transportation, childcare, training, and post-employment supports in the discussion is especially relevant to TANF programs working to help participants not only find jobs, but remain employed and progress toward greater economic stability.

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) issues such as safeguarding benefits, TANF and work, caseload reduction credits, and child-only cases.

For TANF practitioners, this page is a quick entry point into current policy and practice discussions. Rather than searching across multiple sources for new OFA materials, TANF practitioners can use the page to identify research-to-practice briefs and other resources that may help inform policy decisions, program administration, and conversations about how TANF is serving families.

Technology jobs can offer strong opportunities for career growth, but training alone does not guarantee that participants will find and keep employment. This MDRC report examines strategies for helping people from underserved communities enter technology careers, including the supports and partnerships needed to make these pathways work.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, the resource offers ideas for connecting participants to growing fields while navigating the barriers that can make technology careers difficult to access. It can help practitioners think about training alongside career coaching, employer connections, and other supports that help participants move from learning new skills to securing employment. The findings can also inform partnerships with workforce programs and employers seeking to create more accessible pathways into technology careers.

Aspen Institute released this financial capability toolkit designed for opportunity youth, or young people ages 16–24 who are disconnected from school and work. The toolkit helps practitioners bring financial education into programs through activities focused on money management, goal setting, savings, credit, and planning for the future.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, the toolkit offers practical activities that can complement employment and education services for young adults. Rather than treating financial capability as a separate topic, it helps TANF practitioners connect money skills to younger participants’ immediate goals and longer-term plans. The resource can support conversations about building financial stability as young people move toward employment, independence, and economic security.

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 24, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. ET to explore the importance of collaboration and shared responsibility across the workforce system, including partnerships that make services more effective for job seekers.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this can help frame conversations about how stronger relationships with workforce boards, career centers, employers, and other partners can make referrals more meaningful. Understanding how workforce partnerships can help TANF practitioners better support their participants as they build skills, access services, and move toward quality employment.

Career-Connected Learning in Maryland helps students understand how what they learn in school connects to future education, training, and careers. This webpage can provide knowledge about apprenticeships and career-connected learning experiences available in Maryland and how the state supports industry-led experiences that prepare young people for the workforce. There is also guidance on planning for education and life after high school, as well as how students can earn industry-recognized credentials that open doors to competitive careers.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this resource can support conversations with young parents and families about education, training, and career planning. Information about apprenticeships, industry-recognized credentials, and career-connected learning can help TANF practitioners make more targeted referrals and connect families with opportunities that lead to competitive careers. It can also help TANF programs and their workforce partners strengthen relationships with schools, employers, and training providers so young people receive support as they prepare for life after high school.