The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to improve the effectiveness and integrity of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) regulations. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) would help families experiencing the greatest economic hardships benefit from the services that Congress intended for the TANF program to provide.

Specifically, the proposed rule puts forward for public comment seven changes to the current regulations that would increase program integrity, clarify allowable uses of TANF, and reduce obstacles for individuals trying to access support. These are:

• Establish a ceiling on the term "needy";
• Clarify when an expenditure is "reasonably calculated to accomplish a TANF purpose";
• Exclude as an allowable TANF maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures cash donations from non-governmental third parties and the value of third-party in-kind contributions;
• Ensure that excused holidays match the number of federal holidays, following the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday;
• Develop new criteria to allow states to use alternative Income and Eligibility Verification Systems (IEVS) measures;
• Clarify the "significant progress" criteria following a work participation rate corrective compliance plan; and
• Clarify the existing regulatory text about the allowability of costs associated with the disseminating program information.

Comments on these proposed rules from all TANF partners and affected parties are due to HHS by December 1, 2023 and can be submitted via this form. 

The Domestic Violence (DV) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) webpage on the PeerTA website identifies information and resources that are targeted to supporting survivors of domestic violence and intimate partner violence. This webpage includes:

• A statement of the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Commitment to Supporting Families Struggling with DV/IPV.
• Information on the importance of Training Partnerships, which are critical to helping human services staff provide support to victims of sexual harassment or survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and to their children when accessing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs.
• Resources Available for TANF agency staff to help them make every effort to assist families and children who are experiencing sexual harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including:
  • OFA-sponsored technical assistance;
  • Contact information for Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) state and territory administrators and coalitions;
  • Links to FVPSA DV Training and Technical Assistance national and culturally specific resource centers; and
  • A listing of ACF Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES) demonstration grants designed to develop, evaluate, and implement best practices to provide safe access to child support and parenting time services.
• The Office of Family Violence and Prevention Services (OFVPS)’ contact information for inquiries related to FVPSA DV resources or resource centers, as well as directions for making TANF Policy Inquiries.

Finding and maintaining quality childcare is a challenge for many parents, and those living in low-income households often face even more obstacles. The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison will host a virtual session on October 4, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to introduce and discuss the current landscape of early care and education (ECE) as it pertains to low-income families. The panel will focus on policies and practices that offer support to low-income parents, an assessment of the current childcare subsidy program, and potential future measures could help to ensure access to affordable, high-quality ECE for all.

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.

Kinship navigator programs are services that assist kinship caregivers in learning about and using programs and resources to meet the needs of the children they are raising, to provide support for the caregivers, and to promote partnerships among public and private agencies. These programs work to improve caregivers’ knowledge of services and assist them in accessing the services they need to support the family’s ongoing stability. This Chapin Hall brief reviews the four kinship navigator programs currently rated as either “promising” or “supported” on the Title IV-E Clearinghouse and the innovative practices and program components in developing models. It provides potential recommendations for child welfare leaders who are considering designing or implementing their own kinship navigator program.

Future of Wealth Discussion Series events are live, one-hour virtual convenings that are open to the public and bring together leaders across sectors and disciplines to consider wealth-building objectives that the Aspen Financial Security Program considers critical to creating widespread household financial well-being. Aspen Institute will host an episode of this series, “Boosting Income and Benefits for Household Stability” on September 27, 2023 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET. During this event, public benefits leaders will discuss how the end of the public health emergency is creating challenges for the benefits infrastructure, and the opportunity to fundamentally transform these systems to create real onramps to wealth building.

The U.S. Census Bureau produces annual poverty estimates to measure the economic well-being of households, families, and individuals in the United States. This 2022 report provides estimates of two measures of poverty: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The official poverty measure is used to determine eligibility for several government programs and has been used as a benchmark of economic well-being since its adoption in the 1960s. The SPM, produced in collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, extends the official poverty measure by accounting for several government programs that are designed to assist low-income families but are not included in official poverty measure calculations. Highlights include that the SPM rate increased significantly, reflecting changes in economic well-being following the end of many pandemic-era programs.

In 2021, over 46.3 million people ages 12 and up in the United States met the criteria for having substance use disorder (SUD). Compared to other developmental periods, the co-occurrence of serious mental health conditions and SUD is concentrated in young adulthood. Young adults experiencing homelessness or housing instability are at particularly high risk for developing a SUD and experiencing challenges accessing care and support. Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach critical to engaging with people who use drugs and equipping them with life-saving tools. This Administration for Children and Families brief provides information and resources about harm reduction services for young adults experiencing homelessness.

For individuals on probation and those reentering their communities after incarceration, finding employment is often one of multiple challenges. Employment is an important factor in reentry, but getting to a place where the focus can be on a job, education, or a career requires support in other parts of life as well. The Los Angeles County Innovative Employment Solutions Program (INVEST) is designed to address the complex range of employment and supportive service needs and support individuals in pursuing their employment and career goals. This MDRC brief focuses on one of the unique features of the program: the array of supportive services that staff members can provide and tailor to individual client needs under a flexible spending model, which is enabled by the significant program funds reserved for supportive services and financial incentives and stipends in ways not often seen in traditional workforce programs.