The Program Monitoring Guide is used to provide a consistent framework for conducting on-site, programmatic monitoring of local areas throughout Ohio. The guide ensures that the Office of Fiscal and Monitoring Services, Bureau of Monitoring and Consulting Services’ oversight and monitoring practices reinforce federal law and regulations as well as Ohio’s guidance and policies as they pertain to administrating workforce development at the local level.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the new request for applications for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) pilot. The pilot will select up to five states to test innovative approaches aimed at promoting work and reducing government dependency.

The pilot is authorized under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and reflects the Administration’s commitment to reshaping welfare programs to encourage employment, personal responsibility, and strong, stable two-parent families. States are encouraged to propose alternative performance measures to the work participation rate that prioritize rapid employment outcomes, earnings progression, and reduced dependency on TANF, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and other welfare. 

ACF encourages all states and territories to apply. The application period will close at 11:59 PM ET on August 15, 2025. The pilot program for the selected states will begin on October 1, 2025.

Further information on the TANF pilot program can be found on the Office of Family Assistance Fiscal Responsibility Act implementation page. If questions remain, please contact TANFquestions@acf.hhs.gov. 

In FY2022, states spent more than 44 percent of federal TANF and state funds on non-assistance services, including work, education, and training activities; childcare; and child welfare services. Questions have arisen about how states use and account for TANF funds, and as a result the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review TANF non-assistance spending. This GAO report, part of a series of reports reviewing TANF, examines how the seven selected states have used TANF non-assistance funds, non-assistance data collected and used by selected states, and any data challenges faced by selected states and the extent to which the Department of Health and Human Services provides support to address these challenges.

In December 1995, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asked the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) to determine if there were sufficient provisions for accountability in Federal block grant programs. This PCIE resource responds to the original OMB request primarily by focusing on the statutes of 13 Federal programs commonly referred to as block grants. It concentrates on the statutes because of their fundamental significance in establishing a framework for accountability.

Through a partnership with Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) initiatives, the Office of Family Assistance is excited to offer the opportunity to receive compliance support and technical assistance on strengthening employment outcomes for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants by integrating new and effective approaches for meeting various needs of families within the TANF system. This TANF HMRF learning community is a great opportunity to listen and engage with peers and learn new and innovative ways of integrating employment and relational skills into TANF programs. 

The Family Routes Initiative seeks to engage with TANF programs interested in integrating evidence-based HMRF practices. Participants will have access to tools and information for integrating these strategies throughout programs, especially ways to integrate soft skills, goal setting, self-regulation, accountability, and personal responsibility into programs to improve employment outcomes and promote stable families. 

The initiative promotes the dissemination and application of HMRF program research conducted by ACF to other programs that serve fathers, families, and children. By participating in this initiative, participants will learn how to adapt HMRF practices to their unique program context.

 What’s involved?

• Learn, connect, and try out new ideas without funding or reporting requirements
• Apply practical, low- or no-cost adaptations in your program
• Contribute your experiences to guide the development of effective HMRF practices for TANF recipients

Why participate?

• Peer collaboration: join a network of TANF programs to share experiences, challenges, and approaches
• Tailored support: receive guidance and support that fit unique needs (no one-size-fits-all approach)
• Flexible time commitment: participate in monthly virtual group sessions from July to October 2025, with optional additional office hours and one-on-one support

Interested in learning more? Attend an informational webinar on June 26, 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET to learn more about the Family Routes Initiative – no preparation or prior commitment is required.

Questions? Contact familyroutes@deloitte.com.

The differences by family structure are substantial. Women who give birth out of wedlock suffer from pervasive disadvantage that cannot be explained by their basic social and demographic attributes. They work less. When they do work, they make less money. A high school or college education provides lower economic returns than it does for married or divorced mothers. Never-married mothers’ incomes increase more slowly with age. Even the impact of children, although modest for all mothers, is less strongly related to income than it is for married and divorced mothers.

This Institute for Family Studies resource uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth’s 1979 cohort to track whether specific individual mothers have bettered themselves economically over time, or instead, if different kinds of women are now becoming single mothers.

Summer jobs can provide early exposure to professional environments, equipping participants with essential skills for the workplace, including communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Summer youth employment programs (SYEPs) are primarily workforce development programs, meaning they are intended to prepare young people, often from families with low incomes, to one day enter the workplace. This MDRC report is the synthesis of conversations with SYEP staff members as well as interviews with policy experts to better understand what makes SYEPs effective. The report represents a practitioner-informed understanding of the practices that are believed to improve youth outcomes in this understudied field.

Studies have shown that literacy levels are strongly positively correlated with earnings and socioeconomic status, with high literacy levels associated with higher earnings. The effect is not limited to only adults in the household. Research highlights the importance of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs investing in adult basic education (ABE) to not only improve the earnings and employment outcomes for adults but also improve future outcomes for children in the household. This Office of Family Assistance brief explains how these investments aligns with TANF purpose two as literacy programming have downstream effects on the entire family and can lead to higher-paying jobs that increase economic independence and reduce benefit churn, where families exit TANF (or other means-tested benefits) only to reapply shortly thereafter. The brief highlights programs that utilized federal or state TANF dollars to provide programming that focuses on increasing literacy levels and skills gain, along with providing supportive services, to lead to better outcomes.