This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation infographic discusses how various potential downsides to increasing earnings play out in the likelihood that recipients of TANF would accept a higher-paying job. The infographic touches on benefit loss and benefit cliffs, job stability, and the burden of reapplying for benefits.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) will host a national webinar for state TANF programs and partners entitled Building Strategic Partnerships and Maximizing TANF Flexibilities to Reduce Housing Stability on January 15, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. ET to roll out its newly released Dear Colleague Letter on Housing Stability. OFA will provide an overview of current and relevant research for TANF programs and will offer peer perspectives from two TANF programs investing in housing stability activities.   

The webinar also will help increase knowledge about approaches for addressing housing instability for families, facilitate the introduction of new partnerships, and share options for maximizing TANF flexibilities to reduce housing instability for families and children and achieve TANF purposes.

The Native Wellness Institute is hosting a virtual training on February 5 and 6, 2025 to highlight lessons learned over the decades of best practices in working with Native youth and there will be opportunities to learn from peers. Topics include: 

• Building Trust and Relationship; 
• Living in Balance; 
• Healing and Harmony; 
• Healthy Relationships; 
• Engaging with Youth; 
• Social Media; 
• Culture and Belonging; and 
• Vision. 

This training is intended for anyone who works with Native youth in any capacity. There is a fee for participation.

This Administration for Children and Families resource is a compilation of their funding opportunities that may be of interest to organizations and agencies seeking funding opportunities to support work in the areas of mental health and substance use, collectively referred to throughout this document as “behavioral health.”

The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation released this brief, which summarizes an expert convening focused on the child support program’s current ability and future potential to help address child poverty. The convening focused on the current state of child support services, how child support services intersect with other programs and institutions, and innovations in service design and provision.

Self-regulation skills are the skills needed to finish tasks, stay organized, and control emotions, and they are critical in finding and maintaining employment. Poverty and other chronic stressors can hinder the development and use of these skills, but coaching can promote self-regulation skills and help adults with low incomes become economically secure. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report presents findings from a study of four employment coaching programs conducted as part of the Evaluation of Employment Coaching for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Related Populations. The report presents estimates of impacts of coaching on participants’ self-regulation skills, employment, earnings, self-sufficiency, and other measures of personal and family well-being throughout the 21 months after enrollment.

The Office for Family Assistance partnered with Children’s Bureau to develop the Families Are Stronger Together Learning Community (FAST-LC), which focused on preventing family involvement in the child welfare system through developing, implementing, and enhancing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-Child Welfare partnerships and innovations. FAST-LC was a one-year initiative that involved eight state and two tribal TANF-Child Welfare partnerships. The FAST-LC launched in September 2023 and concluded in September 2024. OFA published the webpage that highlights various resources, including a journey recap for each participating site and research briefs.

Lead exposure for children can lead to lower IQ, slowed or stunted growth, and hearing problems or other long-lasting health effects. The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is partnering with communities across the country to host a series of free educational sessions on the dangers of lead and how to reduce and prevent lead exposure. Upcoming awareness sessions will provide:
• Important information about lead exposure and its impacts on health;
• Specific actions to protect children and communities from lead exposure;
• Practical resources in English and Spanish; and
• Opportunity to network with other community leaders and members with shared interests.

The Office in Planning, Research and Evaluation released eight infographics, which describe the experiences of families with children enrolled in Head Start FACES programs during the 2021-2022 program year, with a focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in family health and well-being. The data in the infographics provide a window into the experiences of a sample of Head Start parents who were able to respond to the survey during this time.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) information brief aims to demystify research terms for fatherhood practitioners. In the brief, NRFC provides a comprehensive description of the different types of program data and their purpose, offers practical guidance for collecting and using data, and underscores the importance of routinely evaluating program services and outcomes to enhance programming and disseminate program impacts. Additionally, this brief emphasizes the value of using program data in a meaningful way and offers recommendations on how to leverage this data to improve program effectiveness and better support program participants.