The National Crittenton Foundation, in partnership with Ascend at the Aspen Institute, developed this toolkit to guide use of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey in direct service, education, and policy settings. The toolkit is designed to promote healing for individuals impacted by childhood trauma, educate the community about the impact of childhood adversity, and encourage implementation of two-generation policies to prevent ACEs for future generations. Materials provided include a tip sheet, sample protocol, case studies, testimonials, and links to additional resources.

The two-generation approach typically promotes uniting two types of programs to serve families. One type consists of early childhood development programs such as home visiting, Head Start/Early Head Start, and successful transition to elementary school. Simultaneously, two-generation programs attempt to link these efforts to services that focus on parents, including postsecondary education and workforce development. By promoting early education and supports for children along with tools to improve parents’ economic situation, the two-generation approach aims to improve outcomes for both. This brief from Child Trends provides an overview of the approach and calls for more research to explore the potential benefits for families.

One-third of adult recipients of TANF benefits are under age 25. This group of young adult parents is typically treated like all other recipients, which does not allow the program to address the specific educational and developmental needs of young parents and their children. The implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) presents an opportunity to address these needs and expand the focus on disadvantaged young adults. This brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) discusses ways in which TANF can partner with youth-serving workforce programs under WIOA.

This report from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University focuses on “core capabilities,” including executive function, and how they can be impacted by toxic stress, leading to challenges with life skills such as parenting and workplace effectiveness. The report discusses how environmental triggers can impact ability to use core capabilities to maintain emotional balance, and reviews how and when these skills develop. The report also includes examples of how excessive stress can alter one’s ability to use core capabilities, and how service providers can help clients build missing capabilities.

The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (SEBTC) demonstration was implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the goal of reducing summer food insecurity for children. Children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) EBT cards. During the first two summers of the demonstration (2011 and 2012), eligible children received a $60 monthly benefit. Summer 2013 compared the impacts of a $30 benefit to a $60 benefit, and summer 2014 examined implementation strategies and benefit use patterns. This USDA report provides an analysis of the data.

Fact Forward, previously South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (SCCAPP), is an entity using TANF funds for teen pregnancy prevention programming. Fact Forward became a national model as one of the first states in the country to utilize surplus TANF funds for teen pregnancy prevention. They developed resources to assist in the development of teen pregnancy prevention programs, which include sample needs assessment tools, program characteristics checklists, and outcome evaluation tools.

The Hawaii Department of Human services (DHS) uses the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to fund a diverse set of positive youth development (PYD) programs to prevent teenage pregnancy and other behaviors that can negatively affect a successful transition to adulthood. DHS selected a PYD approach because 1) a broader PYD approach is expected to be more cost-effective than a narrower teenage pregnancy prevention (TPP) approach; and 2) a PYD approach yields numerous other social benefits related to fostering self-sufficiency (e.g., staying in school, avoiding abuse of alcohol and drugs, building character, developing job and decision-making skills). The report details Hawaii’s efforts in the development of appropriate performance measures for its TPP and PYD programs.

There is considerable flexibility within TANF to focus on preventing teen and unplanned pregnancy and many states have made good use of this flexibility to invest TANF funds in a variety of strategies to reduce teen and unplanned or non-marital pregnancy. This report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) highlights teen and young adult pregnancy prevention efforts from various states.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) has posted Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Separate State Program Maintenance of Effort (SSP-MOE) Characteristics data for fiscal year (FY) 2014. The tables provide national- and state-level data for FY 2014 of TANF program recipients by characteristics and financial circumstances. The tables include demographic data on the age, gender, and race/ethnicity of children and adults in TANF families for active and closed cases.