In September 2024, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) continued its investment in economic mobility with a gathering of state government officials from across ACF’s Region V. This gathering emphasized the role states can play in engaging families in the policy process, including working with philanthropy to ensure funding for creative solutions to problems confronting parents, and actively collaborating with state legislators to ensure the actionability of legislative solutions. This ACF resource provides a recap of the Region V summit, including an overview of each state’s innovative strategies to support expectant parents and the parents of young children. Strategies highlighted include the creation of a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) engagement unit in Illinois, expansion of Medicaid coverage for 12 months postpartum in Indiana, the launching of Family Connects in Ohio and Family Impacts Teams project in Michigan, standing up of the newly created Department of Children, Youth, and Families in Minnesota, and the creation of the Wisconsin Child Support Parent Advisory Group.

In response to the joint memo from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service where they expressed their awareness of increasing reports of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) theft, Congress passed the Consolidated Continuing Appropriations Act in December 2022 to outline provisions for the use of federal funds to replace stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. This ACF program instruction provides guidance to states in the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to support families facing an economic crisis, primarily due to the loss of TANF benefits stolen via card skimming, card cloning, and other similar fraudulent methods.

Families experiencing poverty who do not have access to economic assistance are more likely to be involved with the child welfare system than their counterparts experiencing poverty who do have access to economic assistance. Families of color are disproportionately affected and harmed by this link between the lack of economic assistance and child welfare system involvement. Considering the first statutory goal of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is to support needy families so that children remain safely at home or with relatives, TANF cash assistance can be leveraged to ensure families struggling to meet their basic needs have access to a robust set of concrete and economic supports. Research demonstrates that providing cash to families can reduce the risk of economic hardship and rates of child maltreatment and family involvement in child welfare, while also promoting stability. This recording is of a 2024 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency plenary session, where panelists discussed research, practice, and policy considerations around how TANF can be used as a primary prevention resource to provide tailored and tangible economic supports to families at risk of engaging with the child welfare system. The Director of the Office of Family Assistance, Ann Flagg, moderated this plenary session.

The Office of Family Assistance released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for states seeking information on implementing the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work outcome measure provisions in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The FAQ resource is designed to respond to questions that the Office of Family Assistance has received that are not answered in existing resources and/or where language in the technical resource required additional clarification.

This re-occurring breakout session took place during the 2024 National Tribal Technical Assistance Meeting to provide an overview of the grants management cycle for Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Native Employment Works (NEW) programs. The Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Grants Management provided guidance and resources to help navigate the fiscal roles and responsibilities associated with these program awards. This session shared updates in fiscal policy and practices, trending audit findings, and the opportunity to gauge attendees’ fiscal awareness and knowledge of these program awards.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) recently published two important documents related to the implementation of the Temporary Assistance Needy Families (TANF) provisions in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023.

The first, published on July 18, 2024, is updated guidance and application submission information for the TANF pilots. As noted by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in his letter, ACF welcomes all state and territory TANF agencies to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to innovate by submitting a proposal by the deadline of September 3, 2024.

The second, published on July 19, 2024, is a Program Instruction and technical resource guide designed to support state and territory agencies in successfully understanding, preparing, and submitting the new reporting of work outcomes, as required by Section 304 of the FRA and described in the Interim Final Rule on TANF Work Outcomes Measures.

On July 24, 2024, OFA hosted a webinar to review the new measures and provided technical guidance for preparing and submitting the new reports for the measures. The materials and recording are now available to review.

All updates can be found on OFA’s FRA Implementation site.

The Administration for Children and Families released this resource, which includes frequently asked questions with responses to help programs understand the process when applying for ACF funding and/or managing awards. Topics in this Frequently Asked Questions webpage include Application Process, Application Review Process, and Grants Management.

Section 304 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 requires all states to report the data necessary to produce outcome measures for work-eligible individuals who leave Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The interim final rule on TANF Work Outcomes Measures was published on June 28, 2024. The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a webinar on July 24, 2024, where OFA presenters reviewed the new measures and provided technical guidance for preparing and submitting three new reports for the measures: Work Outcomes of TANF Exiters Report (quarterly), the required Secondary School Diploma or its Recognized Equivalent Attainment Rate (annually), and the Supplemental Work Outcomes Report (annually).

Over the last three years, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has increased program investments in support of Public Law 102-477 (477) as part of their commitment to uplift indigenous communities, foster self-sufficiency, and honor tribal sovereignty. In fiscal year 2023, almost 300 Tribes within about 70 plans integrated 133 ACF grant awards totaling nearly 85% of the total funding integrated under 477 across the federal government. This includes Child Care and Development Fund, Community Services Block Grant, Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Native Employment Works programs. This ACF resource highlights examples of how tribes leverage the 477 Program based on the funding they get from ACF and their specific needs, including from Citizen Potawatomi Nation and from Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.