Aspen Institute released this financial capability toolkit designed for opportunity youth, or young people ages 16–24 who are disconnected from school and work. The toolkit helps practitioners bring financial education into programs through activities focused on money management, goal setting, savings, credit, and planning for the future.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, the toolkit offers practical activities that can complement employment and education services for young adults. Rather than treating financial capability as a separate topic, it helps TANF practitioners connect money skills to younger participants’ immediate goals and longer-term plans. The resource can support conversations about building financial stability as young people move toward employment, independence, and economic security.

September is National Kinship Care Month, recognizing the relatives and close family friends who step in to care for children when their parents cannot. This Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage offers a collection of information, tools, and resources to help communities better understand and support kinship caregivers.

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, the webpage can help build awareness of the needs of families who take on caregiving responsibilities unexpectedly and strengthen referrals to available supports. Kinship caregivers may need assistance with food, housing, financial support, childcare, and other services. The collection can also help TANF practitioners identify resources that connect caregivers with the assistance they need while recognizing the unique circumstances of kinship families.

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.

This Office of Family Assistance brief focuses specifically on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) child-only cases in which a child receives assistance while a parent is excluded from the assistance unit because of citizenship or immigration status. The brief examines how common these cases are among broader TANF child-only cases and brings greater attention to a part of TANF that can be easy to overlook.

For TANF practitioners, this resource provides useful context for understanding the families behind child-only cases and the different circumstances that can shape eligibility. It can help TANF staff understand the impact of child-only cases involving a parent excluded because of immigration status and how they impact program caseloads, spending, and reporting.

This Administration for Children and Families announcement highlights $6 million in funding for 10 jurisdictions to advance the use of predictive risk modeling in child welfare. These jurisdictions will pilot technology aimed at using data to help child welfare agencies identify patterns and potentially recognize situations where families may benefit from earlier or more targeted support.

This announcement is useful for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) leaders and staff who are thinking about how to strengthen coordination across systems and improve early intervention efforts. The announcement may encourage practitioners to consider how data can support human judgment, relationship-building, and direct engagement with families. Ultimately, it offers a window into how child welfare systems are evolving and what that may mean for the broader network of services that support family stability.

Men play a vital role in helping children and families thrive, yet they are often overlooked in conversations about foster and kinship care. This Creating a Family podcast episode explores the unique contributions of fathers, grandfathers, uncles, mentors, and other male caregivers, while discussing strategies for engaging and supporting them in meaningful ways. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners who work with kinship and foster families can use this resource to strengthen family engagement, promote inclusive caregiving practices, and better highlight the important role male caregivers play in helping children build safe, stable, and supportive relationships.

In August 2026, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Department of the Treasury jointly released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to help states, territories, and Tribes establish and administer Fostering the Future Accounts. 

New FAQ highlights include:  

• Establishing and administering Fostering the Future Accounts; 
• Available funding sources, including federal funds and private contributions; and 
• Fostering the Future Accounts eligibility, management, transfer, and withdrawal considerations. 

To further support implementation, ACF launched the National Fostering the Future Accounts Advancement Center to provide technical assistance tailored to the needs of states, territories, and Tribes. 

Kin caregivers often step in unexpectedly to care for children and may not realize they are eligible for support. This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network fact sheet explains how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) can help relatives raising children by providing financial assistance and connecting families with additional services. TANF practitioners can use this resource to better inform kin caregivers about available supports, answer common questions, and ensure families receive the assistance they need. This fact sheet can also be a useful tool for expanding awareness of TANF and helping caregivers access resources that promote stability for the children in their care.

The Administration for Children and Families announced a new Technical Assistance Center to help states, Tribes, and territories implement Fostering the Future Accounts, a program designed to help eligible young people build financial security as they transition into adulthood. Once launched, the center will offer training, tools, and individualized support to help jurisdictions successfully establish and manage these accounts. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners who work with youth and young adults can access this resource to learn about new opportunities that promote financial well-being and strengthen pathways to long-term economic independence.