This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation-funded (OPRE) study illustrates the early implementation of the Ramsey County, Minnesota, Lifelong Learning Initiative (LLI). Research has found that chronic stress associated with living in poverty can hinder executive skills, such as planning, decision-making, and organizing. The LLI uses a goal-oriented approach to help TANF recipients set their own employment-focused goals by breaking them down into more manageable tasks and develop these executive skills as they work toward employment outcomes.

This Administration for Children and Families (ACF) blog post discusses the “power of work” relative to the nation’s safety net, as well as ACF’s encouragement of state TANF programs to harness this power when striving to improve employment outcomes. ACF’s Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation is evaluating programs and methods that promote work among TANF recipients and other TANF-eligible populations, while also assessing job search assistance strategies, career pathways, and subsidized/transitional employment initiatives. Looking ahead, ACF’s Office of Family Assistance will continue work with state TANF agencies to identify models for career pathways, coaching case management, and employment-related initiatives. As well, the Fiscal Year 2019 President’s Budget proposal included a request for a minimum funding level for resources to support states as they invest in work-related programming.

The Office of Family Assistance published data tables which cover TANF and SSP-MOE caseloads by state and at a national level from October 2017 through June 2018. 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.

The Office of Family Assistance recently released a set of data tables to illustrate the number of TANF applications which were received, approved, or denied monthly for both calendar and fiscal years 2010 through 2018. These tables reflect both state and national data.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Regions I through IV hosted the OFA Regions I-IV East Coast TANF Directors’ Meeting, Leveraging Partnerships to Help Families Achieve Economic Stability, on July 24-26, 2018 at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston, Massachusetts. The meeting convened representatives from TANF programs from Regions I-IV and provided TANF representatives with an opportunity to learn about promising practices, discuss shared challenges faced by TANF programs, and share ideas with peers from other states about how to respond to the needs of low-income families. The meeting also included practitioners and researchers who shared information about their own work, and who looked to TANF representatives and federal partners for future research opportunities. Representatives attended presentations from experts and program administrators, and worked with other states to think of innovative practices during Team Work sessions.

This Urban Institute report notes the positive effect that safety net programs have on program recipients and their families. When reviewing program participation in TANF, SNAP, and public health insurance, the researchers discovered that the number of hardships that participating low-income families with children faced dropped by 48 percent, and food insufficiency decreased by 72 percent. The number of hardships was defined as the inability to meet essential expenses such as rent and utilities.

This Urban Institute brief provides guidance on the uses and practices of evidence-based policymaking made at the state government level. The discussion notes how these applications are drawn from the private sector and are implemented for program design and budgeting. Further, as a guide for state-level executives, there are recommendations about how to value evidence in the strategy and implementation of a policy agenda against competing demands for Governors.

This National Association of Counties (NACo) report discusses counties’ role in funding and administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program. The report also identifies counties’ challenges, including restraints by states limiting their ability to raise funds to meet social service needs.

These tables provide information about adults and children receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). They include information regarding age, gender, race/ethnicity, etc. Data is also included on Separate State Program (SSP), Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE), active families and closed cases.

This blog from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, authored by OFA Director Clarence H. Carter, is part of the Self-Sufficiency Series: Solutions from the Field, which profiles local programs from across the country finding solutions to accomplish the goals of encouraging self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, eliminating barriers to economic opportunity, and supporting strong families and healthy marriage. In particular, Circles USA and Open Table are highlighted for their efforts to boost the social capital individuals need to help them work towards self-sufficiency.