This Office of Family Assistance webpage is a directory of free resources available for Temporary Assistance for Needy (TANF) block grant programs and other federal workforce development programs. This 2025 edition of the Catalog includes 24 identified toolkits that were published by federal agencies, state agencies, research organizations, and workforce stakeholders. Each featured resource aligns with ACF priorities and uplifts the presidential administration’s streamlining of fragmented workforce development programs that have been historically too disconnected from propelling workers into secure, well-paying, and high-need American jobs. They include information on collaborating with employers, strengthening registered apprenticeship programs, linking community college or job training into sequential credentials, starting a Career Pathways initiative, and engaging state, local, and county partners.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs play a critical role in helping families move toward employment, stability, and long-term economic mobility, including through the use of career pathways, which are connected sequences of education, training, and work experiences that help individuals progress through chosen fields. STAR has created a catalog of career pathway toolkits to help TANF programs plan career pathway initiatives. 

To accompany the Career Pathways Toolkit Catalog, these Starter Pathways are designed to help TANF administrators and staff navigate the toolkits more efficiently and intentionally. 

Users can begin with Starter Pathways to identify where to start planning based on their role and quickly access the most relevant toolkit sections based on their career pathways goals.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs play a critical role in helping families move toward employment, stability, and long-term economic mobility, including through the use of career pathways, which are connected sequences of education, training, and work experiences that help individuals progress through chosen fields. STAR has created a catalog of career pathway toolkits to help TANF programs plan career pathway initiatives. 

To accompany the Career Pathways Toolkit Catalog, these Guided Use Cases offer short, practical explainers that show how TANF programs can apply selected tools to common implementation challenges. TANF administrators and staff can use these Guided Use Cases to quickly identify which tools are most relevant, when to use them, and how they can support TANF program goals.

Low literacy and numeracy are prevalent among TANF participants and can be barriers to pursuing education, job training, and employment. Improving literacy and numeracy may improve employment outcomes as adults with higher literacy levels tend to earn more and experience greater job stability.

This tipsheet provides TANF leaders with practical guidance on why and how to use TANF resources to support basic skills development to improve employment outcomes. By investing in foundational skills, TANF agencies can promote long-term self-sufficiency and reduced dependence on government benefits.

Both college-going and college completion rates are far lower in rural areas than in other geographical settings. To better understand what works to help rural students enroll in and complete college, MDRC has launched the National Rural Higher Education Research Center. The center will work with college systems to conduct eight research studies in two regions: the South and the Mountain West. In this Evidence First podcast episode, MDRC discusses the research questions the Center will address in response to the needs of rural practitioners and policymakers.

With institutional cultures that are rooted in family, community, and holistic supports, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are uniquely positioned to catalyze the systemic change needed to better support Black and Native student parents. Ascend at the Aspen Institute established the Black and Native Family Futures Fund to provide funding and expert technical assistance to eight HBCU and TCU partners. Ascend is hosting a webinar on November 14, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. ET where student parents and leaders from some of the Fund partners will discuss key themes including the importance of family-like environments, student parent expertise, and the support of leadership.

Career pathways are a series of secondary, postsecondary, and/or adult education and training services that progressively lead to higher credentials and more advanced employment opportunities, with supports designed to help clients progress through these steps. The career pathways framework prepares participants for fields that are growing or in high demand (sometimes with a focus on fields growing in their geographic area), including health care, manufacturing, office administration, construction, and green industries. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation resource describes the effectiveness of programs that were identified by the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse as using a career pathways approach. It summarizes what is known about these programs and their impacts so Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other program administrators, policymakers, researchers, and the general public can apply the evidence to their context.

Despite rising college costs, a postsecondary education remains one of the most reliable pathways to good jobs and well-paying careers in the United States. Postsecondary education carries an immense earnings premium: One recent study found that a bachelor’s degree holder earns about $964,000 more over their lifetime than someone with a high school education. However, access to higher education remains strongly divided by demographic factors such as race and socioeconomic status. Programs that promote postsecondary access for underrepresented groups remain more important than ever; one such program is Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), which helps increase college enrollment and success for low-income students. This Center for American Progress resource describes GEAR UP, their services, and program outcomes.

In 2016, the Annie E. Casey Foundation launched Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP™), a national initiative that helps youth and young adults who have been involved in the foster care or justice systems or who have experienced homelessness succeed in school and work by building and expanding education and employment pathways. Through partnerships with public agencies, postsecondary education, housing, service providers and more, LEAP partners are working toward improving policies and practices that place more systems-involved young people on positive economic trajectories. This Annie E. Casey Foundation brief shares the key takeaways from an evaluation conducted to better understand their efforts in tackling the root causes of disconnection from education and careers with systems-involved youth.

HireAbility Vermont, Vermont’s state agency meant to help those with disabilities prepare for, obtain, and maintain meaningful careers, designed Vermont Career Advancement Project (VCAP) to address barriers to employment and encourage enrollment in training programs for high-wage occupations. VCAP will train more people for career pathways by connecting participants with programs and educational opportunities that result in a credential, postsecondary degree, or higher-paid job. This Mathematica brief describes how VCAP connects people with disabilities with opportunities for career training.