This Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation brief provides a graphical overview of some of the TANF policy differences across states and territories. It includes information about initial eligibility, benefit amounts, work and activity requirements, and ongoing eligibility and time limits. This brief is a companion to the 2022 Welfare Rules Databook.

The Office of Family Assistance podcast series, “Incorporating Lived Experiences into Decision Making,” provides insights into how TANF agencies can include and involve individuals with lived experience in receiving TANF into agency programming and policy development. The series discusses why including individuals with lived experience is important and highlights various strategies and resources agencies can use to incorporate these perspectives. This first episode explores various strategies agencies have taken to gather and use input from individuals with lived experience to benefit agencies’ understanding, decision-making, and programming. Podcast speakers discuss varying approaches, including gathering survey feedback on program operations, forming participant advisory committees, incorporating participant-led case management practices, and hiring individuals with lived experience into permanent positions. This episode also explores how to engage in lived experiences equitably, including discussions of compensating individuals appropriately for their time and expertise.

This Administration for Children and Families report provides data for fiscal year (FY) 2016 through FY 2021 and presents information regarding TANF expenditures and caseloads, work participation and earnings, the characteristics and financial circumstances of TANF recipients, TANF performance measures, interactions between TANF and child support, as well as specific provisions of state TANF programs. In addition, this report documents current family self-sufficiency and stability-related research, provides national data on non-marital births, and presents child poverty statistics.

On January 25, 2024, the Center for the Study of Social Policy hosted a webinar where community providers discussed the challenges they face in providing responsive services, including building evidence and operating in the context of restrictive “evidence-based” standards. Panelists provided recommendations for actions that state and federal policymakers can take to ensure all families have the support they need through expanding access and availability of programs that are developed by and for communities of color.

Read the corresponding brief here.

The social safety net includes numerous programs that families with lower incomes can access to obtain cash income, resources for food, and help with housing, child care expenses, and energy costs. However, many people who are eligible for these programs do not receive help. This Urban Institute report uses the Analysis of Transfers, Taxes, and Income Security microsimulation model to hypothetically assess the aggregate benefit dollars and reductions in poverty if there was 100% participation in the following means-tested programs:

• Supplemental Security Income;
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children;
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
• Child care subsidies supported by the Child Care and Development Fund;
• The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; and
• Public and subsidized housing programs.

Results are provided nationally and at the state level, as well as by age group and race and ethnicity.

Benefits cliffs refer to the sudden and often unexpected decrease in public benefits that can occur with a small increase in earnings. This happens when families receive benefits through a public assistance program, earn a raise, and then become ineligible to continue receiving benefits despite being unable to sustain their household. This National Conference of State Legislatures report provides an overview on the Federal income eligibility requirements for public assistance programs, including housing assistance, utility assistance, food and nutrition assistance, direct cash assistance, child care, and health insurance. Additionally, it highlights work requirements for these public assistance programs and state policy strategies and legislation related to benefit cliffs.

The authors behind Project IMPROVE’s recently published brief, Business Process Management: How to Make Time for What Really Matters, will be hosting a series of web-based events that will allow participants to learn more about how to implement business process management in their human services organizations to improve staff and participant experiences.

• 25-Minute Information Session, February 29th from 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET: Authors provided an overview on how to implement business process management strategies such as streamlining paperwork and operations, refining program processes, leveraging technology, and more! Review the recording of this session.
• 60-minute “Open” Office Hours, March 13th from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET: For those curious about how to get started with business process management in their human service organization were able join a group discussion with the authors and ask questions.
• Individualized Office Hours, April 2nd from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET: The brief authors offered individualized advice on how to implement business process management in a human service organization.

Employment coaching involves trained staff working collaboratively with participants to help them set individualized goals related to employment and providing motivation, support, and feedback as participants work toward those goals. Recently, there has been growing interest among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in using employment coaching to assist Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes become economically mobile. This video accompanies a Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report which highlights the evaluation that was designed to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the four programs participating in the Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations study. The report answers the following research questions: In what contexts were programs implemented? How did the designs of the programs vary and differ? How was coaching implemented across programs?

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of External Affairs and Office of Regional Operations hosted the “Less Poverty, More Prosperity: States Tackle Benefit Cliffs” convening, bringing together 17 states that have all taken steps to address the cliff effect in their communities, as well as parents with lived experience, businesses, and non-profit and philanthropic organizations. This ACF blogpost discusses how ACF and its partners are working to shed more light on this issue and how it impacts children, families, and communities.