A benefit integrity program is meant to maintain program integrity by providing methods to ensure that benefit amounts provided to recipients in the TANF or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are accurate according to federal and state policies and based on the recipient's circumstances, and that misuses of program benefits are detected, prevented and ultimately deterred. This South Carolina Department of Social Services manual contains policy for the detection, investigation, establishment, and collection of payments made in error or due to fraud.

To address the growing challenge of public assistance fraud, a consortium of five states, working with contractors and supported by a grant from the Food and Nutrition Service, has established the National Accuracy Clearinghouse (NAC). The NAC is a contributory system of beneficiary information to support accurate and timely identification and verification of applicants applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to reduce duplicate benefit issuance and improve program access. This white paper explains how the NAC, as an innovative solution for secure sharing of information on recipients of health and human services among states, can safeguard support for such human services programs by enhancing public confidence that the federal and state governments are properly and responsibly administering their taxpayer dollars.

This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network primer was developed to offer service providers basic information about federal programs that can be used to finance kinship services and programs. Information for each source includes which federal agency administers the funding source, services the funding source can finance, and basic eligibility information. This funding primer is not intended to be an in-depth explanation of each source but, rather, a high-level overview that can be used to aid further research.

Family Resource Centers (FRCs) are community-based resource hubs where families can access support to promote child safety and child and family well-being. As conveniently located community or school-based hubs, FRCs bundle and co-locate many services, such as home visiting, parenting education, health screenings, childcare resources and referrals, playgroups, family counseling, government benefits screening, healthy eating and living activities, and food pantries. This Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network resource highlights takeaways from learning collaboratives in three states that explored increased collaboration between kinship navigators and FRCs.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program plays a key role in promoting strength and stability for families experiencing poverty. By helping families to meet their basic needs, obtain employment, and nurture healthy family relationships, TANF programs can foster long-term family wellbeing and economic independence. States have significant flexibility to use TANF funds to address unique family needs and accomplish any of the four purposes of TANF.

The Office of Family Assistance released a series of briefs that highlight innovative and strategic ways that states are leveraging TANF funds to strengthen families and communities by building capacity for self-sufficiency and economic independence. This brief explains the gap between Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program and TANF participation and suggests that there is room to increase support for families in need. The brief highlights how state TANF agencies could work to increase participation in WIC to fulfill the TANF purpose one.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training (E&T) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) have a shared goal of helping individuals/families achieve economic independence through employment. Coordinating SNAP E&T and TANF programs can enhance service delivery and improve employment outcomes for families with low incomes.

Generally, States cannot provide TANF cash assistance and SNAP E&T services to families simultaneously. However, four state agencies—Colorado, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin—are authorized under 7 CFR 273.7(d)(1)(ii)(H) to use SNAP E&T funds to support individuals who receive TANF cash assistance. This fact sheet highlights the work of Utah and Washington as well as explains how the integration of program administration, funding, and service delivery can enhance efficiency and may improve outcomes for participants.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding its fraud prevention efforts with a pilot program designed to reduce out-of-state benefit theft in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). While the majority of SNAP benefits are used as intended to provide critical nutrition support to families in need, USDA is committed to rooting out all program fraud, including stolen benefits. This resource describes a pilot to automatically block SNAP transactions in states where participants are unlikely to be shopping but empower participants to activate their card for out-of-state use when needed. It also mentions the ongoing initiatives to strengthen protections for SNAP benefits.

This Office on Trafficking in Persons fact sheet provides an overview of community resources and highlights programs assisting with job training, food, energy bills, housing, childcare, and recovery services for those affected by trafficking. Support for disaster recovery and access to social services such as substance use treatment and mental health care are also included.

In recent years, local, state, and federal child support offices started reexamining how their enforcement and collection roles can be paired with services that foster meaningful parental engagement and invest in the social and economic well-being of parents paying child support. In examining child support services, it is important to understand the reach they have throughout federal benefits. Across the continuum of human services programs, rules related to child support can impact whether someone qualifies for benefits, what amount they can receive, or the amount of child support they owe – including but not limited to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, childcare, and child welfare. Often, federal and state policies’ options regarding child support practices are made by individual programs in distinct silos from each other. This American Public Human Services Association resource discusses strategies that can help create the enabling conditions for continued progress in re-centering state and local child support collaborations with other human services program areas.