Consistent visits between parents and children aren't just emotionally meaningful; they are also often a formal requirement in reunification plans. However, getting to visits can be challenging. A parent without reliable transportation, who works irregular hours, or who can't cover travel costs may miss visits through no fault of their own, and those missed visits can affect the reunification timeline. These webpages from the Department of Children, Youth and Families in Washington State can help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners see visitation as a concrete service need, not just a scheduling issue. The webpage serves as a call to proactively connect clients with transportation assistance, flexible work scheduling, and other practical supports that make staying connected to their children possible.

Understanding the reunification process can be overwhelming for parents who are navigating foster care involvement. Written for families, this Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage guide outlines what parents can expect and how they can actively participate in reunification efforts. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners may find the guide especially useful for understanding common questions and concerns families experience. It can help TANF staff provide more informed support and reinforce the importance of consistent engagement, planning, and communication throughout the reunification journey.

This resource is built for parents, which makes it especially valuable for practitioners. Designed to reduce confusion and fear, this Los Angeles County webpage breaks the reunification process into steps from a family's point of view. Reading it can give Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) staff insight into what clients are experiencing: the uncertainty, the pressure, the concrete tasks the parents trying to check off. That perspective matters. When TANF practitioners understand the emotional and logistical weight families are carrying, they can offer more relevant support and have more productive conversations about solutions to the challenges parents may face.

This plain-language page from Wisconsin outlines the shared expectations and milestones in the reunification process, and provides a clear look at what parents must do and what caseworkers are expecting. It is a practical primer for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) staff who do not come from a child welfare background but regularly work with families who are in this process. Understanding the roadmap parents are following helps TANF practitioners identify where support is most needed and frame their services in terms that connect directly to a family's reunification goals.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child welfare systems often serve the same families, but they don't always talk to each other. This Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage helps bridge that gap by explaining what the reunification process looks like from the child welfare side, including planning, timelines, and required supports. For TANF practitioners, this is essential context. When you know what families are being asked to demonstrate before a child can return home, you can align your services — employment support, financial assistance, case management — to help them meet those benchmarks, rather than working in parallel without connection.

Updated by the American Bar Association each June, this webpage pulls together events and family stories focused on National Family Reunification Month, offering practical resources on what helps families heal and reconnect after separation. This page is a strong reminder that reunification is an ongoing process that requires coordinated support. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this webpage is a useful touchpoint to find useful materials and connect with national conversations and state events. These resources can reinforce to the families you serve that their goal of coming back together is worth the fight.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced $6 million in funding for states to pilot the use of predictive analytics in child welfare programs. The initiative is intended to help child welfare agencies explore how data and technology can support earlier identification of family needs, improve service coordination, and strengthen decision-making processes. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, this announcement highlights the growing role data tools may play in supporting families across human services systems. TANF programs may find this resource useful as they consider how data-sharing partnerships, early intervention strategies, and cross-system collaboration can help better identify family needs and connect participants to supportive services before challenges escalate.

The Ohio Kinship and Adoption Navigator (OhioKAN) Program Manual offers a practical example of how coordinated family support services can be organized to better meet the needs of children and caregivers. Developed by Ohio’s Department of Children and Youth, the manual gives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners a useful look at how programs can streamline referrals, improve communication across partners, and connect families to services more efficiently. For TANF agencies working to strengthen case management or build stronger community partnerships to support children and caregivers, this resource provides real-world guidance on creating systems that are easier for families to navigate and easier for staff to coordinate.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced a new $7 million innovation challenge aimed at helping more children and youth find safe, stable, and permanent homes. The “A Home for Every Child Innovation Challenge” will reward child welfare agencies that achieve the highest foster home-to-child ratios, as well as those demonstrating the greatest improvement over a one-year period beginning in October 2026. These performance-based bonuses reflect ACF’s broader goal of achieving a 1:1 ratio of foster homes to children in foster care nationwide. 

Under the challenge, the state with the highest foster home-to-child ratio will receive $3 million, while the second-place state will receive $2 million. Two additional states showing the most improvement will each receive $1 million. Registration for the challenge opens May 14, 2026, and closes June 30, 2026. The competition period will run from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, with winners expected to be announced in November 2027. 

To participate, child welfare jurisdictions must be part of ACF’s “A Home for Every Child” initiative and formally opt into the new Program Improvement Plan pilot announced through Child and Family Services Review Technical Bulletin #14. 

For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, this challenge highlights the importance of strengthening family stability before crises escalate. TANF agencies can use this opportunity to explore partnerships and innovative approaches that connect economic mobility, workforce services, and child well-being efforts.

This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network tipsheet highlights how partnerships between child welfare agencies, aging agencies, and community organizations can strengthen support for grandparents and relatives raising children. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs working with kinship caregivers, this tipsheet helps practitioners identify opportunities to coordinate services so that families will not have to navigate multiple systems on their own. The resource also offers practical ideas for outreach and collaboration that can help TANF agencies better engage kinship families, reduce service gaps, and connect caregivers to support that improve stability for both children and the adults caring for them.