Work requirements are a central part of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), but the way they are defined and measured can be difficult to translate into everyday program decisions. This report breaks down how the federal work participation standard works in practice and how states meet it, helping TANF staff connect policy rules to real program operations.

A key detail is that child recipients are not considered work-eligible, meaning families where only children receive TANF assistance—or child-only cases—are excluded from work participation rate calculations. These cases can include situations where grandparents or other relatives are caring for children and receiving assistance on their behalf. Because of this distinction, programs are not evaluated on their engagement of these families in the same way as adult-recipient cases, which can significantly affect reported participation rates.

For TANF practitioners, this resource clarifies where compliance requirements apply and where they do not. It can help TANF programs design work activities that meet federal expectations while still reflecting the realities of the families being served. It can also support more informed program design decisions that balance accountability metrics with meaningful employment and family support strategies.

This Chapin Hall brief helps unpack how families actually move through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) over time, going beyond simple caseload counts to show how long families stay connected to support. One of the key insights is that child-only cases now make up about the same share of the caseload as adult recipient cases, shifting how programs need to think about engagement and service design. It also shows that child-only cases are 44% less likely to exit TANF at any point than adult-recipient cases, pointing to a group that may experience longer or more stable reliance on assistance.

For TANF practitioners, this brief highlights where systems may be working as intended—and where families may be getting “stuck” without clear pathways forward. Child-only cases often involve caregivers like relatives raising children without receiving benefits themselves, which can change how support needs to be structured. Practitioners can use these insights to rethink outreach, adjust case management strategies, and design supports that better match the different experiences within the caseload, rather than treating all cases the same.

This Urban Institute brief focuses on “child-only” cases—situations where children receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits without a parent in the assistance unit, often because they are living with relatives or other caregivers. These cases make up a significant share of TANF caseloads and are often treated the same as traditional households, despite having very different needs. The brief helps TANF practitioners better understand who these families are and where current supports may fall short. It points to gaps in services for both children and their caregivers and offers insight into how programs can more effectively identify and respond to these cases. For TANF staff, this means being better equipped to tailor services, strengthen caregiver support, and ensure children in nontraditional living arrangements are not overlooked.

This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network tipsheet focuses on how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs can support children living with relatives or caregivers who are not receiving full family benefits. It fills a key gap for kinship families who often step in without financial preparation. TANF practitioners can use these strategies to design or improve child-only grants, ensuring support reaches the child without creating unnecessary barriers for caregivers. It also helps staff think through policy and implementation choices that better reflect the realities of kinship care.

This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network guide helps ground your work in the importance of keeping children connected to family, culture, and community, an approach that closely aligns with the goals of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The guide explains how policies like the Indian Child Welfare Act support relative caregiving and why that matters for long-term stability. For Tribal TANF programs or TANF programs working with Tribal families, this guide also provides understanding on how to better support kinship caregivers who may not fit neatly into traditional program models. It offers context you can use to design more responsive services, strengthen family-centered approaches, and ensure that benefits and supports reflect the realities of the families you serve.

Research shows that separating children from their families causes lasting trauma. Child protection agencies should exhaust all means to ensure children and families receive essential support to safely remain together. In instances when temporary out-of-home placement is necessary, finding the best possible family-based setting helps to mitigate trauma. Placement preferably should be with kin, but when kinship care is not possible, placing children in a safe family setting with a resource caregiver in their community is essential.

To ensure family-based placements meet the differing needs of children in the child welfare system, child protection agencies should actively recruit and retain resource caregivers from varied backgrounds. This Casey Family Programs brief highlights a menu of strategies for recruitment and retention of resource families, as well as a selection of tools and resources to help develop comprehensive, integrated recruitment and retention plans.

The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a critical period and can be particularly difficult for youth aging out of foster care. Administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program supports youth in or formerly in foster care as they transition to adulthood. Selected state officials told the U.S. Government Accountability Office that they decide on their service array by using data, participant feedback, and information from other states. These officials also reported offering youth services based on individual skills and needs. The most widely used services in selected states are related to education, health, and housing.

This U.S. Government Accountability Office report addresses: (1) how selected states support youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood, (2) ACF resources for states on effective Chafee services, and (3) the extent that state and federal funds are used to support services for older youth.

During their work in multiple states, the Foster Insights team at the University of Chicago observed notable trends in kin placement rates and the stability of kin placements. The Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network hosted a webinar on September 29, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. ET to share these observed trends and discuss their implications for stakeholders across the child welfare space. There was a discussion on what could be learned about kinship families using placement data, and how these data-driven insights could help further the case for a kinship-first culture.