The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) held the Linking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Families to Employment and Economic Opportunities Meeting in August 2017. This meeting allowed TANF program representatives from around the country the opportunity to learn about promising practices and actionable implementation strategies to improve employment outcomes and economic independence among TANF families. This session included the efforts of the Office of Adolescent Health to Coordinate adolescent health initiatives across HHS, including Teenage Pregnancy Prevention programs.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) held the Linking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Families to Employment and Economic Opportunities Meeting in August 2017. This meeting allowed TANF program representatives from around the country the opportunity to learn about promising practices and actionable implementation strategies to improve employment outcomes and economic independence among TANF families. This session included the TANF efforts to reduce non-martial births, including abstinence programs, visiting nurse services, and services for youth such as teen pregnancy prevention, counseling, and after-school programs.

The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) is one of the largest federally funded programs designed to address adolescent pregnancy. PREP legislation requires grantees incorporate into their programs content on at least three of six adulthood preparation subjects (APSs): adolescent development, healthy life skills, educational and career success, parent-child communication, financial literacy, and healthy relationships. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report presents conceptual models for each of the six APSs, and a unified framework that identifies commonalities across the models and provides guidance for including a positive youth development approach in APS programming.

The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) is one of the largest federally funded programs designed to address adolescent pregnancy and prepare youth for successful transition to adulthood. PREP grantees have flexibility in designing and implementing programs, provided they adhere to certain requirements specified in the legislation, including educating youth on at least three of six adulthood preparation subjects (APSs): adolescent development, healthy life skills, educational and career success, parent-child communication, financial literacy, and healthy relationships. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief offers guidance to grantees who want to or already address financial literacy in their PREP program.

The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) is one of the largest federally funded programs designed to address adolescent pregnancy. PREP grantees have flexibility in designing and implementing programs, provided they adhere to certain requirements specified in the legislation, including educating youth on at least three of six adulthood preparation subjects (APSs): adolescent development, healthy life skills, educational and career success, parent-child communication, financial literacy, and healthy relationships. Incorporating the APSs into PREP programming is important for pregnant and parenting youth, who might need supports in areas beyond, but related to, preventing repeat pregnancies. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief explores how APS programming might be tailored to meet the needs of pregnant and parenting youth participating in PREP.

The Office of Family Assistance published this Dear Colleague Letter to highlight a previously disseminated letter, Identifying and Ending Welfare for Illegal Aliens, to encourage states to align their programs to Executive Order 14218’s provisions and federal statutes and regulations, concerning restrictions on permitting illegal aliens to obtain cash or non-cash federal public benefits.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sent a letter to state administrators of the TANF program, reminding them it is prohibited to provide benefits to illegal aliens. This ACF press release highlights the letter, Identifying and Ending Welfare for Illegal Aliens, to inform readers that the Trump Administration is working to identify and cease taxpayer subsidies to illegal aliens in contravention of law.

Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) restricts the eligibility of non-U.S. nationals (aliens) for many federal benefit programs. It applies to federal health care, housing, welfare, unemployment, and retirement benefits, as well as many other types of federal benefits. This Congress report explains the PWRORA restrictions on alien eligibility and lists which federal benefit programs are subjected to said restrictions, including TANF.

SAVE is an online service administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides point in time legal status and naturalized/acquired U.S. citizenship information to federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal agencies. Approximately 1,200 agencies nationwide use SAVE to support their benefit eligibility and licensing determinations. This includes agencies such as those that provide health care benefits, social security benefits, education grants and assistance, state driver’s licenses and ID cards, and occupational and professional licenses.

SAVE is an online service administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides point in time legal status and naturalized/acquired U.S. citizenship information to federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal agencies. Approximately 1,200 agencies nationwide use SAVE to support their benefit eligibility and licensing determinations. This includes agencies such as those that provide health care benefits, social security benefits, education grants and assistance, state driver’s licenses and ID cards, and occupational and professional licenses.

This USCIS webpage offers resources to prospective agencies, including the eligibility requirements to register for SAVE, the registration process, and webinar and tutorial opportunities.