The Office of Family Assistance’s TANF Outcomes Technical Assistance and Logistics (TOTAL) team delivers training and technical assistance to state TANF programs and partners responding to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA). The team hosted their July office hours on July 31, 2025 to review the best practices and tools for collecting education outcome data for FRA reporting. The discussion included data collection through self-attestation and how TANF programs may implement this method for reporting on secondary school outcomes of TANF recipients and exiters.

On July 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a significant policy shift to restore compliance with federal law and ensure that taxpayer-funded program benefits, intended for the American people, are not diverted to subsidize illegal aliens. HHS has formally rescinded a 1998 interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which had extended certain federal public benefits to illegal aliens. This new policy applies PRWORA’s plain-language definition of “Federal public benefit,” reverses outdated exclusions, affirms that programs serving individuals, households, or families are subject to eligibility restrictions, and clarifies that no HHS programs have been formally exempted under PRWORA’s limited exceptions.

The revised list newly includes all programs now classified as “Federal public benefits” under PRWORA:

• Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics
• Community Mental Health Services Block Grant
• Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)
• Head Start
• Health Center Program
• Health Workforce Programs not otherwise previously covered (including grants, loans, scholarships, payments, and loan repayments)
• Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Prevention, and Recovery Support Services Programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
• Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant Program
• Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant
• Title IV-E Educational and Training Voucher Program
• Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program
• Title IV-E Prevention Services Program
• Title X Family Planning Program

The above list is not exhaustive. Any additional programs determined to be Federal public benefits will be announced in program specific guidance.

On March 24, 2025, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families shared a letter with TANF Administrators to ensure TANF agencies are aligned with Executive Order 14218 “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders” and are not providing federal public benefits to illegal aliens, per statutory requirements. In this Information Memorandum, the Office of Family Assistance provides additional details on the applicable laws and enforcement mechanisms regarding restrictions on federal public benefits for non-qualified aliens.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the new request for applications for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) pilot. The pilot will select up to five states to test innovative approaches aimed at promoting work and reducing government dependency.

The pilot is authorized under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and reflects the Administration’s commitment to reshaping welfare programs to encourage employment, personal responsibility, and strong, stable two-parent families. States are encouraged to propose alternative performance measures to the work participation rate that prioritize rapid employment outcomes, earnings progression, and reduced dependency on TANF, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and other welfare. 

ACF encourages all states and territories to apply. The application period will close at 11:59 PM ET on August 15, 2025. The pilot program for the selected states will begin on October 1, 2025.

Further information on the TANF pilot program can be found on the Office of Family Assistance Fiscal Responsibility Act implementation page. If questions remain, please contact TANFquestions@acf.hhs.gov. 

The Office of Family Assistance’s TANF Outcomes Technical Assistance and Logistics (TOTAL) team hosted their office hours in June 2025 to review definitions, eligibility rules, and case studies related to the new Secondary School Attainment Rate reporting requirement. They discussed the data that needs to be collected, possible data sources, and how to calculate the secondary attainment rates.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief report describes the ways in which Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies vary within the context of the federal program requirements and includes dozens of detailed tables showing policy choices across each state and territory.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief provides a graphical overview of some of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policy differences across states and territories. It includes information about initial eligibility, benefit amounts, work and activity requirements, and ongoing eligibility and time limits.

As the TANF program nears its 30th year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to reinforcing the program’s core values of personal responsibility and work as a pathway to reduced dependency and family self-sufficiency. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) authorized a new opportunity for states to pilot program performance and accountability measures in TANF. Pub. L. No. 118-5, § 302. The pilot can play a pivotal role in the design of modern approaches to moving work-eligible individuals into the labor force, while providing critical insights on ways to operationalize personal responsibility. To align with Trump Administration priorities, ACF is issuing a new request for pilot proposals and encourages all states and territories, including members of the prior cohort of applicants, to submit a proposal. The up to five pilot states will focus on moving TANF recipients from dependency to independence by promoting work, personal responsibility, and strong, stable families as the foundations of self-sufficiency. This draft request for proposals is available for public comment. Email any comments on the proposed collection of information to infocollection@acf.hhs.gov for consideration by ACF.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published a Federal Register Notice seeking public comment by June 20, 2025, on a proposed information collection for the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) TANF Pilot Program. This reissued request reflects a shift in federal priorities toward promoting work and reducing dependency. Up to five states will be selected for a six-year pilot that replaces traditional Work Participation Rate (WPR) requirements with work and family stability outcome-based performance measures. During the 30-day comment period, stakeholders should review the Draft Request for Proposals to understand and comment on the pilot’s goals, eligibility, and accountability framework. Alternatively, a copy can be obtained by sending an email to infocollection@acf.hhs.gov; all requests should be identified by the title of the information collection.