In the child welfare system, where families often face compounding challenges, coordinated efforts can prevent deeper system involvement and promote family stability. Every role contributes a distinct and essential piece to achieving these outcomes. This ZERO TO THREE webpage offers several strategies to illustrate how collaboration across programs and sectors can improve family outcomes, including: 

1. Centering families through Family Team Meetings;
2. Community coordination to bridge support;
3. Judicial leadership sets a collaborative tone;
4. Legal advocacy to elevate support;
5. Child welfare leadership drives systems change;
6. Building a network with Active Community Teams;
7. Driving sustained impact with Site Implementation Teams; and
8. Scaling success through policy and funding.

In American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities, Elders are highly respected and are referred to as the community’s leaders, teachers, keepers of knowledge, and role models to all. Elders ensure the continuation of traditional native customs. Research confirms that connections between Elders and children protect and support the well-being of both groups. For children, benefits of these intergenerational connections include social-emotional gains, such as increased self-awareness, improved relationship skills, and better decision-making. Intergenerational connections also have been shown to contribute to greater academic success, better self-esteem and mood, and healthier habits. Even though intergenerational connections benefit children, very few child welfare programs include intergenerational services.

The Elder Connections Project was designed to better understand how American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Elders’ knowledge, experience, and observations are helpful in developing strategies, resources, and culturally safe and appropriate practices to prevent children from entering foster care. This Casey Family Programs brief offers a summary of those findings, which are applicable to children and families of all communities.

The next quarterly Work Outcomes Report is due on November 15, 2025. The following links may be helpful as you complete your report. 

• TANF Work Outcomes Reporting Requirement – What You Need to Know
• TANF Work Outcomes Measures Technical Resource
• TOTAL Office Hours: April 2025
• TOTAL Office Hours: May 2025
• TOTAL Office Hours: May 2025 (Post-Submission for Work Outcomes of TANF Exiters Report)

Coaching is not an approach you bring to supervision occasionally – it’s a set of tools and behaviors you use in some combination daily. The Coaching for Supervisors modules aim to leverage coaching techniques to support supervisors of case managers. These four self-paced modules will help supervisors develop and sustain a person-centered, relationship-based, goal-driven mindset.

The Coaching for Supervisors modules build upon and incorporate the previous modules from the Coaching for Success series designed for TANF employment case managers.

The "Other" category should only be used for expenditures that cannot be reported in another line item. Expenditures reported in the “Other” category must meet one of the four purposes of TANF. OFA regularly follows up on "Other" category expenditures to ensure proper classification. This resource covers the permissible types of "Other" expenditures:

1. Tribal TANF Programs;
2. Expenditures for Compact of Free Association (COFA) States; and
3. Expenditures That Don't Fit Other Categories (Requires strong justification), such as:
   • Programs combining multiple categories that cannot be meaningfully separated.
   • Services with unique aspects not captured in Lines 6-22.

It helps users understand the proper use of the "Other" category to help avoid misclassifications.

Each template in this guide is designed as a standalone resource for specific expenditure categories. State TANF administrators and financial reporting staff can select and use any template that applies to their specific program expenditure. There are four templates:

1. Assistance Authorized Solely Under Prior Law (Lines 7a-7c);
2. Non-Assistance Authorized Solely Under Prior Law (Lines 8a-8c);
3. Other Expenditures (Line 23 - includes Tribal TANF Programs and unique programs); and
4. Estimation Documentation Builder (Any estimated expenditure).

The ACF-196R is the federal form that states use to report TANF expenditures quarterly to the Office of Family Assistance (OFA). Part II of this form requires detailed narrative descriptions for specific expenditure categories that need additional context to demonstrate alignment with TANF purposes.

The narrative sections of the ACF-196R form provide essential context for understanding state TANF expenditures and support OFA’s oversight responsibilities. While numerical data shows what was spent, narratives explain how and why funds were used, ensuring transparency and accountability in TANF program administration. This guide will help you develop clear, comprehensive narratives that satisfy federal reporting requirements and effectively communicate your state’s TANF activities.

This toolkit is designed for state TANF administrators, budget officers, and financial reporting staff responsible for completing ACF-196R narrative requirements. It includes three standalone resources that complement the official ACF-196R instructions by providing practical tools and examples to improve narrative quality. 

These resources are designed to help states effectively complete ACF-196R narrative requirements. Each resource can be used independently or as part of a comprehensive approach to improving expenditure narratives.

This template can be used when estimating expenditures. It offers guidance on key components and proposed questions to answer.

This template can be used for Other Expenditures (Line 23 - includes Tribal TANF Programs and unique programs). It offers guidance on key components and proposed questions to answer.