Over the past ten years, only a few states have invested TANF and TANF-related funds on healthy marriage and relationship-related services. This National Healthy Marriage Resource Center fact sheet outlines how TANF funds can be used to fund programs that develop and maintain healthy marriages/families. The fact sheet highlights economic and physical data that supports this public policy initiative and justifies the investment of public funds in healthy marriage activities.

The Empowering Families program, as a part of the Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services (STREAMS) evaluation, a large multisite evaluation conducted from 2015 to 2022 to identify strategies for improving the delivery and effectiveness of healthy marriage and relationship education program, included an eight-session workshop that integrated Healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) content with information on financial literacy and job and career advancement. The HMRE content came from Family Wellness, a relationship skills and parenting curriculum designed to promote healthy family interactions. The program supplemented workshops with one-on-one services, including case management, financial coaching, and employment counseling. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report describes the impact of the Empowering Families program after one year. The report also provides information on program implementation and costs.

At the 2024 National Fatherhood Summit, participants learned how TANF funding can support fatherhood programs. Attendees learned how fatherhood programming fits into the purposes of TANF, how some states are using their TANF funds to support fathers, and how cross-agency partnerships can support and encourage responsible fatherhood. The presenters also shared promising practices for recruiting, serving, retaining, and engaging fathers.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) held the Linking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Families to Employment and Economic Opportunities Meeting in August 2017. This meeting allowed TANF program representatives from around the country the opportunity to learn about promising practices and actionable implementation strategies to improve employment outcomes and economic independence among TANF families. This session included the efforts of the Office of Adolescent Health to Coordinate adolescent health initiatives across HHS, including Teenage Pregnancy Prevention programs.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) held the Linking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Families to Employment and Economic Opportunities Meeting in August 2017. This meeting allowed TANF program representatives from around the country the opportunity to learn about promising practices and actionable implementation strategies to improve employment outcomes and economic independence among TANF families. This session included the TANF efforts to reduce non-martial births, including abstinence programs, visiting nurse services, and services for youth such as teen pregnancy prevention, counseling, and after-school programs.

Philadelphia Workforce Inclusion Networks (Philly WINs) is part of the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project, which seeks to rigorously evaluate employment strategies for people with low incomes and physical or mental health challenges. Philly WINs helps adults with disabilities find and maintain competitive employment and helps employers foster inclusive work environments. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report discusses the effectiveness of Philly WINs and aids stakeholders interested in replicating this model to understand the program and its operations.

Community engagement in research involves collaborating with community members as integral partners and valuing lived experience as essential expertise. But the federal context can introduce unique complexity to undertaking community-engaged research due to some of the characteristics of federally funded projects, such as their scale, multisite nature, and contracting requirements. Some federal staff may feel unequipped to use such methods. This Urban Institute report summarizes results from an environmental scan of federal research and evaluation projects conducted in the past ten years that involved community engagement. The report summarizes findings from two key activities:

• identifying and documenting example federal research projects that incorporate community-engaged methods; and
• assembling and soliciting feedback from a community advisory board on several specific Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation practices, processes, and materials.

Chapin Hall compiled a toolkit that promotes child and family well-being and prevents child welfare involvement. The following tools are focused on state-level policy:

• TANF & Child Welfare Innovations;
• State Policy Options to Increase Economic & Concrete Supports (ECS) as a Child Welfare Prevention Strategy;
• Flexible Funds for Concrete Supports to Families as a Child Welfare Prevention Strategy; and
• Providing ECS to Increase Effectiveness of Evidence-Based Services.

These tools are focused on federal-level policy:

• ECS Testimony from May 2024 Family First Hearing;
• ECS as Evidence-Based Service: Summary of Chapin Hall’s Submission to the 4E Clearinghouse;
• A Preventable Cost: The Economic Burden of Child Maltreatment and Child Welfare Involvement; and
• ECS: Implications for Family First and Systems Change.

This American Public Human Services Association resource is part of a series that highlights how the incoming Administration can leverage the human services infrastructure to further national priorities including economic prosperity, better health and well-being, affordable housing and food, and ensuring the labor market meets the demands of American businesses to keep them thriving.

The Western Mass Mental Health Outreach for MotherS PartnershipSM (Western Mass MOMS) is part of the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project, which seeks to rigorously evaluate employment strategies for people with low incomes and physical or mental health challenges. Western Mass MOMS is designed to reduce depressive symptoms, improve social connections, and promote labor market success among mothers or caregivers with low incomes that are experiencing symptoms of depression. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report discusses the effectiveness of Western Mass MOMS and aids stakeholders interested in replicating this model to understand the program and its operations.