The Competitive Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) is a federal funding opportunity that supports organizations working with adolescents and young adults to build skills for healthy relationships, responsible decision-making, and planning for the future. Eligible applicants include community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and other qualified partners that serve young people. 

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, PREP is an opportunity to strengthen supports for youth beyond employment services alone. Many TANF families include teens and young adults who are navigating important life transitions, and this program can help fill gaps by supporting skills that contribute to long-term stability and well-being. TANF agencies can use this opportunity to partner with organizations that are focused on youth development or explore whether they are eligible to apply directly. This funding can help expand services that prepare young people for adulthood in a more intentional and supportive way. Applications are due August 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. 

In June 2026, the Office of Family Assistance launched the Programming to Build Strong Families and Promote Economic Independence series, designed to provide flexible, practice-informed technical assistance and compliance support to Tribal TANF programs.

During the second session, participants heard from Subject Matter Experts and participated in discussions on strengthening two-parent families and father engagement through partnerships with Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) and Responsible Fatherhood (RF) programs. 

This vignette features a Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that participated in the Family Routes Initiative Learning Community and expanded their Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) services. This resource highlights steps the program took to achieve their goals and concludes with a brief exercise for other TANF programs to bring to their programs.

This toolkit contains a collection of four one-page resources designed to facilitate strong, collaborative relationships with families. The toolkit includes flyers that can navigate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners through discussions with participants by modeling co-regulation and self-regulation skills. It also includes handouts TANF participants that highlight healthy communication skills to support daily interactions at work and at home.

Want practical ways to boost your program’s employment outcomes and help advance core purposes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)? The Office of Family Assistance is sponsoring The Family Routes Initiative (FRI) to assist TANF programs in achieving employment, two-parent family formation, and responsible fathering goals, and invites TANF program staff of all levels to join us for a special Office Hours session on July 30th, 2026, from 2:00-3:00 PM ET.

Why Attend? 

The Administration for Children and Families launched the FRI to facilitate the transfer of practical Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) tools to help human services programs improve practical skills of TANF program staff and enhance the experience of families and participants engaged in TANF services. Participation in the initiative is intended to strengthen key skills and program capacities. 

Drawing from proven HMRF research and practices, this interactive, open forum will provide peer-to-peer and expert facilitated training, ideation, and design support focused on improving practical relational and employment-related skills, while linking participating programs with tailored technical assistance for strengthening employment and social outcomes for TANF participants.

Key Takeaways for Your Program:

• Emotional Regulation: Model emotional self-regulation and co-regulation skills with participants to manage daily stressors.
• Healthy Communication: Integrate practical communication skill-building directly into your existing employment and family services to strengthen participant engagement and improve employment outcomes.
• Advance TANF Purposes: Gain actionable strategies to help your program build economically stable and intact families.

Resources You Can Access Now:

• Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) Toolkit: Strategies to Improve Family Outcomes for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Participants
• Roadmap to Success: Lessons from the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) Learning Community

Many families do not enter the child welfare system all at once; they arrive there after a series of crises that no one stepped in to address early enough. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can be a part of that early intervention, providing income support, employment services, and family stability before situations escalate.

The Administration for Children and Families has now added new evidence-based interventions to the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, a federal list of proven programs states can fund to keep families together and reduce unnecessary foster care entries. For TANF practitioners, this resource signals where federal child welfare investment is heading and opens opportunities to align TANF-funded services with approved prevention strategies. If your agency is already providing parenting support, substance use navigation, or family counseling, these new interventions may mean new pathways to coordinate funding and recognition for that work.

From the Wheatley Institute at BYU, this report examines how economic shifts, education gaps, and digital engagement patterns are influencing men’s participation in work, relationships, and family life. The resource connects broader structural trends to challenges in marriage formation and father engagement. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, it provides context for understanding barriers men face in employment and family roles, and it informs efforts to strengthen fatherhood supports, workforce engagement, and family stability strategies.

This research from the Institute for Family Studies highlights differences in reported relationship satisfaction depending on how couples meet, suggesting that in-person connections may be associated with stronger long-term outcomes. It adds nuance to how relationship formation pathways can shape family experiences. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can use it to support discussions about healthy relationship development and the factors that contribute to stable partnerships and families over time.

This resource from the Institute for Family Studies explores how online dating is changing the way relationships begin and the potential implications for commitment and long-term family formation. It raises questions about how modern relationship patterns influence stability and partner selection. In Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) settings, it can be used to inform relationship education discussions that focus on intentionality, communication, and the broader context shaping the successful development of families today.

This Institute for Family Studies resource examines how consistent, quality employment for men is connected to stronger family stability and engagement. The report highlights employment not only as an economic factor, but as something closely tied to relationship stability and family formation. Within Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, it can be used to better align workforce development efforts with family well-being goals, particularly in supporting fathers’ economic participation and long-term family contributions.