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.

Goal4 It!™ is a participant-centered framework for working with TANF participants to set goals, break their goals down into manageable steps, develop specific plans to achieve the steps, and regularly review their goal progress. This report summarizes the design and implementation of Goal4 It!™ at the Jefferson County, Colorado, Department of Human Services. The agency implemented Goal4 It!™ as an alternative to the traditional case management provided by Colorado Works, its TANF program. 

This case study report is intended for staff at all levels of government who work within agencies that promote the well-being of children and families. It explains how Montgomery County, Maryland’s Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) enterprise integrated case management system (eICM) shares data across more than 70 DHHS programs, allowing staff to better understand their clients, more efficiently serve them, and improve their outcomes. The report discusses why the eICM was implemented, how the eICM works, how the eICM team overcame various data privacy and confidentiality challenges, and how the eICM benefits the residents served. It includes several lessons learned and recommendations from the people who developed and use the eICM.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the way many human services agencies operated. The stress, trauma, and grief caused by the pandemic prompted agencies to rethink how they engaged with and supported their clients. It also forced agencies to experiment with new approaches to address persistent stress and trauma experienced by their own staff. This Mathematica podcast brings together research experts and leaders of human services programs to discuss trends that have emerged in human services agencies during the pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) conducted the 2021 National TANF Directors’ Meeting from September 20 - 24, 2021. This Innovation Station video highlighted Coaching for Success—a free 14-module eLearning Curriculum that OFA made available to all State and Tribal TANF agencies and Native Employment Works (NEW) programs. The purpose of the curriculum is to train employment case managers in how to leverage coaching techniques to improve their case management skills. The adapted video gives a brief overview of the first eight modules and features Module 4 which focuses on active listening and eliminating distractions.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) conducted the 2021 National TANF Directors’ Meeting from September 20 - 24, 2021. During this concurrent workshop, a presentation examined how Connecticut’s Welfare to Work program responded to COVID-19 by shifting to a virtual service delivery system while building staff capacity to deliver services remotely statewide. Discussion covered how Connecticut’s initiative kept participants connected and engaged with their Employment Services program during COVID. Lessons learned also included a review of how COVID will impact future program operations, including the implementation of virtual orientation sessions.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) conducted the 2021 National TANF Directors’ Meeting from September 20 - 24, 2021. During this concurrent workshop, panelists explored how Tribal TANF and NEW programs can consider expanding virtual services to motivate participants to pursue opportunities, especially those which may have been previously inaccessible. Speakers discussed a variety of strategies used in the past year to create virtual education and training opportunities and virtual case management services for clients, as well as how these offerings were developed, challenges along the way, witnessed successes, and recommendations for programs considering offering similar resources. This session concluded with a review of OFA’s Coaching for Success eLearning modules, which program staff can use to provide virtual coaching and mentorship to participants.

This case study profiles Kentucky’s Targeted Assessment Program (TAP), which provides comprehensive assessment and intensive case management for parents in the state’s child welfare and TANF systems. The program’s goals are to support participants in overcoming barriers to self-sufficiency and family safety with a focus on mental health, substance use, intimate partner violence, and learning disabilities or deficits in 35 counties statewide. The case study also notes services provided by TAP; how the program manages staffing, communication, and funding; and how program participation and outcomes are measured. The case study also highlights TAP’s promising approaches, challenges, and future plans.

(See also Resources on "domestic violence" in the Resource Library)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added new peer support programs to the Title-IV Prevention Services Clearinghouse, for which all states can now claim federal reimbursement. The expansion advances the Trump Administration’s Great American Recovery and A Home for Every Child initiatives by equipping states with evidence-based resources to help parents overcome addiction, thereby strengthening families and reducing the number of children entering foster care. The services are designed to connect parents and caregivers with people who have lived experience navigating similar challenges, providing practical support, encouragement, and connections to community resources before families reach a crisis point. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners can use this resource to better understand how peer support can complement existing services, engage families in a more accessible and supportive way, and connect parents and caregivers to resources that can help promote family stability and well-being.