As part of implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023, state and territory TANF programs are required to submit the Work Outcomes of TANF Exiters Report by May 15, 2025. This report is mandatory for states and territories to submit on a quarterly basis.

The TANF Work Outcomes Reporting Requirement – What You Need to Know guide will walk you through the submission process for the report, including: 

• What needs to be included;
• How to create the report;
  • Includes formatting advice for Excel users;
• How and where to submit the report; and
• What happens after the report is submitted? 

The Office of Family Assistance’s TANF Outcomes Technical Assistance and Logistics (TOTAL) team delivers training and technical assistance to state TANF programs and partners responding to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA). The team hosted their April office hours, which provided clarity on work outcomes reporting requirements. 

For any questions or assistance on education outcome measures, contact the TANF Data Division at tanfdata@acf.hhs.gov. 

This Administration for Children and Families (ACF) letter outlines the Trump-Vance administration’s approach to the TANF pilot project, aligning with its commitment to promoting work and reducing dependency. ACF will release a solicitation for proposals shortly and will work to meet statutory deadlines and select a new cohort of states for the pilot later this year.

Human service agency administrators, researchers, and policymakers increasingly turn to applied data analytics to evaluate programs or inform policy. Applications of the data may vary but the goal is the same: to improve the lives of the families served. This webinar highlights a toolkit developed through the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation-funded TANF Data Collaborative to help agencies build the culture and infrastructure needed to apply data analysis routinely, effectively, and accurately. The webinar discusses some of the key strategies and tools included in the Toolkit that can serve as a helpful resource for building sustainable data use in human service agencies.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse resource provides tips for fatherhood programs to:

1. Plan Strategically;
2. Develop and Maintain Solid Partnerships;
3. Document and Evaluate;
4. Tell Their Story;
5. Respond to Changing Social Contexts;
6. Develop Multiple Funding Sources; and
7. Lead Systems Change.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse state profile examines the interaction between fathers and programs funded by the West Virginia Department of Human Services to support families, particularly the program services available through the TANF program.

This Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services webpage highlights faith and community partnerships, including services ranging from faith-focused counseling, family programming, faith-based programming, and more.

Ron Desantis’ Faith and Community Initiative was launched in August 2019 to support those on the front lines of serving Floridians. The resources highlighted on their webpage aid faith institutions and community organizations with tools to support and enhance their work to serve their community.

There are impoverished families who are discouraged from pursuing upward mobility through work, reacting to what they perceive as perverse incentives woven into the government safety net – or “benefit cliffs.” This Sutherland Institute report evaluates the economic decision-making of safety net participants based on their understanding of the programs they use. The report answers these questions: 

1. Are Utahns who participate in government assistance programs changing their economic behavior in response to benefits cliffs, and if so, what actions are they taking regarding work/earned income?
2. Which government assistance programs are these Utahns most concerned with losing? In other words, which benefits are they trying to preserve?
3. What is the level of awareness of alternatives to government assistance programs in the event of a program participant losing a given benefit?

The American Enterprise Institute hosted a discussion on child welfare priorities, where experts examined how to reform a system facing a decline in foster homes and competing priorities between family reunification and child protection. This webinar recording highlights the panelists’ conversation on the importance of distinguishing between “complex poverty”—which involves substance abuse and mental illness—and material poverty.