This American Enterprise Institute podcast features a presentation from Clarence H. Carter, the Director of the Office of Family Assistance and Acting Director of the Office of Community Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This presentation covers Director Carter’s vision for a re-imagined safety net which builds the capacity of TANF clients and how local service providers’ expertise and creativity can be leveraged.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation annual compendium provides comparative analysis of TANF cash assistance programs within all 50 states and the District of Columbia and identifies changes in cash assistance rules that govern TANF state programs that have occurred over time or at a single point in time. The annual publication also presents tables that describe the dimensions of state policies thru July 2018 and longitudinal analysis of state policies between 1996 and 2018.

This Office of Family Assistance dataset identifies combined federal TANF and state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures at national and state levels. The dataset, which includes tables and national and state pie charts, illustrates how the TANF and MOE funds were used for basic assistance; work, education, and training activities; and child care. The dataset also identifies in tables those funds that were transferred to the Child Care Development Fund.

The Office of Family Assistance published data tables which cover TANF and maintenance-of-effort separate caseloads by state and at the national level from October 2018 through March 2019. The tables are cross-tabbed to include total recipients, total families, total children, one-parent families, two-parent families, no parent families, adults, and monthly caseload data.

This brief highlights an innovative collaboration forged between a corporation, government agencies, and a community partner in New Hampshire to create a career pathway for TANF participants. Read more about how the partners designed a phased training model to directly integrate TANF program requirements and prepare participants for a pharmacy technician career.

This brief is part of the Emerging Practice Series of the Office of Family Assistance’s Integrating Innovative Employment and Economic Stability Strategies (IIEESS) initiative, which highlights the strategies of TANF agencies and their partners to help low-income individuals gain and sustain meaningful employment. Each brief describes an emerging practice that has been implemented in one site, an overview of the program model, and the results that have been achieved. Compelling stories of participants’ success and suggestions from TANF agency staff to their peers provide actionable insights and on-the-ground perspectives.