The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hosted a webinar on April 23, 2024 to highlight the voices of parent leaders, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Prevent Child Abuse America. This virtual conversation included how communities can support families to prevent adversity and promote positive experiences so kids can thrive.

All states may choose to allocate a portion of their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars to support fatherhood work. Despite this funding opportunity, very few states have taken advantage of it. States may have other priorities for the use of their TANF dollars, decision makers may not be aware of all the benefits of father involvement for child wellbeing, or TANF program leaders may have limited knowledge about the components of fatherhood programs and how to start/maintain fatherhood programming. This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse spotlight demystifies the process for using TANF funds to support fatherhood programming and looks at how Ohio has used their state TANF funds to support father-related services through the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood (OCF). The spotlight details the history of how OCF was established, how it works to meet four specific goals, and how its work throughout the state addresses two of the four purposes of the TANF legislation.

The purpose of the Next Steps for Rigorous Research on Two-Generation Approaches (NS2G) project was to build the evidence base for two-generation approaches. Two-generation initiatives combine economic security services for parents with accessible, high quality early care and education for children, and hold promise for improving family well-being. In this recording, co-hosted by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and Ascend at the Aspen Institute, NS2G team members describe the work that two-generation initiatives conducted to strengthen approaches to intentionally coordinating services for caregivers and their children. Presenters shared tools and techniques that can be used by other two-generation initiatives to strengthen their approaches.

The ACF Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a webinar to summarize the open Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): Strengthening TANF as a Safety Net and Work Program and instructed interested parties on how to submit a formal comment.

The NPRM is intended to strengthen TANF's role in supporting family well-being and work, as well as creating additional accountability for states to ensure TANF funds serve their intended purpose, while maintaining state flexibility. 

Review the recording here as you are preparing to submit formal comments on the NPRM for HHS consideration. Comments are due December 1, 2023. HHS welcomes comments from all affected parties and will closely review and consider every comment it receives. We refer you to the NPRM on information on how to submit comments if you wish to do so. 

If you have questions about the webinar, please email TANFquestions@acf.hhs.gov. 

Many of the men who participate in fatherhood programs may have experienced trauma from adverse childhood experiences, community violence, or incarceration. Traumatic experiences can have a negative impact on fathers’ own functioning as well as on their children’s well-being, particularly for men of color or those with low incomes. In recent years, fatherhood programs and other social service providers have become more aware of how traumatic experiences can impact program participants. However, there is still a need to ensure that practitioners incorporate recognized, trauma-informed (TI) practices into their services. This MDRC brief provides practical information and easy-to-use tools designed to support TI practices in a fatherhood program context.

Many effective services promote healthy development in early childhood and support families’ well-being that are located across sectors. These include high-quality childcare and early education (CCEE), and support for other family health, educational, and financial needs. It can be challenging for families to benefit from all these services because they all function separately, typically in different locations and with differing eligibility, enrollment, and service provision requirements. Potential roadblocks can exacerbate disparities because they affect marginalized families the most. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation study provided an in-depth look at different approaches to coordinating CCEE with other health and human services.

In recent years, policymakers and researchers have questioned the fairness and effectiveness of pursuing civil contempt to secure child support payments, particularly for parents with low incomes. Civil contempt proceedings are costly, burdensome, and often counterproductive to the goals of the child support program. They can impede employment, increase child support debt, alienate noncustodial parents from their children, and decrease parents’ future cooperation. Developed by the Office of Child Support Services, the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration assessed a different approach to improving child support payments. PJAC services aimed to address noncustodial parents’ reasons for nonpayment, promote positive engagement with the child support program and the other parent, and improve the consistency and completeness of their payments. This MDRC report compares the benefits and costs of PJAC services with those of business-as-usual child support enforcement.