The newly renovated Career Pathways: Catalog of Toolkits webpage offers an improved user experience and makes it easier to find workforce development resources. Developed by the Office of Family Assistance, the 2025 catalog features 24 toolkits from federal and state agencies, research organizations, and workforce stakeholders. Each resource supports career pathways and aligns with Administration for Children and Families priorities, including efforts to streamline fragmented workforce programs and connect workers with secure, well-paying jobs in high-need fields.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners and workforce partners, the catalog provides practical guidance on collaborating with employers, strengthening registered apprenticeships, connecting community college and job training to sequential credentials, launching career pathways initiatives, and engaging state, local, and county partners. The updated webpage helps users quickly identify tools that fit their TANF program goals, participant needs, and local workforce opportunities.

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 are needed for a job. This resource from the American Institutes for Research looks at how four states are working to define job-related skills in a consistent, evidence-based way. The effort focuses on public benefits specialist roles, making the lessons especially relevant to government agencies.

The resource is especially useful because it moves beyond the idea of “skills-based” hiring and looks at the foundational work needed to make it practical. By defining skills based on how jobs are performed, states can create more consistent approaches to hiring, career development, and workforce planning. For TANF agencies, these lessons can support both stronger internal workforces and more informed conversations with participants about the skills they can build and demonstrate in the labor market.

Young people leaving foster care often take on financial responsibilities earlier than their peers, while having fewer opportunities to learn about saving, banking, and building financial stability. This Annie E. Casey Foundation report examines the financial experiences of young people participating in the Opportunity Passport program, which combined financial guidance with savings accounts, stipends, and opportunities to receive savings matches. The report highlights both the challenges young people faced transitioning out of foster care and the supports that helped them begin building assets. 

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners working with young adults, this resource offers a useful way to think about financial stability beyond monthly income. Young people may need support developing the skills, habits, and resources to manage money and build assets over time. The findings can inform conversations about financial coaching, savings opportunities, employment supports, and partnerships with organizations that help young adults strengthen their financial lives.

Transitioning from foster care into adulthood can be challenging for any young person, but Native youth may also be navigating questions of culture, community, identity, and connection. This resource from the National Tribal Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement brings together guidance, research, tools, and programs that can help Tribal child welfare professionals support young people as they move toward adulthood. The resource emphasizes youth engagement, connectedness, well-being, and helping young people build futures that reflect their own goals and choices.

This resource focuses on culturally connected and youth-centered support and can help Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) staff and their partners think more broadly about how services can be coordinated around the goals and strengths of Native youth. By highlighting tools and approaches that can be adapted to individual and community needs, the resource provides ideas for building stronger supports as young people take on greater independence.

Access to education and training does not automatically translate into a good job. People also need help figuring out which opportunities make sense for their goals, how to pay for training, what credentials employers value, and what steps can lead to a sustainable career. This National Skills Coalition factsheet focuses on career navigation as an important part of making Workforce Pell work for students and workers. It highlights the role states can play in connecting people with information and support as they move through education and workforce systems.

Career navigation can make workforce referrals more useful by helping people move beyond simply identifying a training program to understanding how that program fits into a longer-term career pathway. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners can use the resource to think about stronger partnerships with workforce agencies, education providers, and employers, as well as the supports participants may need before, during, and after training. The broader lesson is important for TANF: connecting someone to a program is only the beginning; helping them understand where that opportunity can lead can make the pathway to employment much more meaningful.

States across the country are finding new ways to connect child support participants with employment opportunities. This federal webpage highlights child support-led employment programs operating across the country and the services they provide to help parents find and keep jobs. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can use these examples to identify promising practices, strengthen partnerships with child support agencies, and expand employment supports for families.

Steady employment benefits both parents and children. This National Conference of State Legislatures resource highlights how child support agencies are partnering with workforce programs to connect parents with employment services that can improve earnings and increase their ability to support their families. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners can use these examples to strengthen partnerships with child support and workforce agencies while helping participants access employment opportunities that promote long-term financial stability.

Parents who face barriers to employment often need coordinated support to remain actively involved in their children's lives. This Office for Planning, Research and Evaluation report shares lessons learned from programs serving disadvantaged noncustodial parents, including strategies for improving employment, parenting, and family engagement outcomes. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners can use these findings to develop more effective services that address the unique needs of noncustodial parents while supporting stronger family stability.