As the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program marks nearly 30 years, conversations about the program’s original intent is gaining renewed attention. This opinion piece reflects on how families, the workforce, and state programs have changed since welfare reform was first enacted in 1996 and argues that today's policies should be reformed to meet current needs.

This article by the Assistant Secretary of Administration for Children and Families, Alex Adams, and the Office of Family Assistance Director, David Swegle, could serve as a useful discussion starter for TANF practitioners because it encourages thinking beyond day-to-day program operations and considering how policy changes could affect the families they serve. Whether you work directly with participants or help shape program decisions, the resource highlights questions about balancing work, family stability, and long-term economic mobility. It can also support conversations with colleagues about how TANF can continue helping families overcome barriers to employment while adapting to today's economic realities.

In April 2026, the Office of Family Assistance launched the TANF Program Integrity Office Hours: a series of topical peer learning sessions where state agencies can share what's working, explore real challenges, and walk away with practical strategies they can use. This webpage hosts session recordings with companion tools, lessons learned, and helpful resources.

Benefit cliffs can create difficult choices for families as earnings increase and public assistance begins to phase out. The American Public Human Services Association will host a webinar on June 22, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. ET to explore strategies for helping families navigate these transitions while continuing to build financial stability. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, the discussion will provide valuable perspectives on how policies, program design, and service delivery can support economic mobility without creating unintended barriers. TANF practitioners can use the information to better understand participant experiences and identify approaches that help families move forward with confidence.

The ACF Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a webinar to summarize the open Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): Strengthening TANF as a Safety Net and Work Program and instructed interested parties on how to submit a formal comment.

The NPRM is intended to strengthen TANF's role in supporting family well-being and work, as well as creating additional accountability for states to ensure TANF funds serve their intended purpose, while maintaining state flexibility. 

Review the recording here as you are preparing to submit formal comments on the NPRM for HHS consideration. Comments are due December 1, 2023. HHS welcomes comments from all affected parties and will closely review and consider every comment it receives. We refer you to the NPRM on information on how to submit comments if you wish to do so. 

If you have questions about the webinar, please email TANFquestions@acf.hhs.gov. 

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 Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report 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 programs highlighted in this evaluation are: • Family Development and Self-Sufficiency, which serves TANF recipients and their family members in Iowa. • Goal4 It!TM, which provides employment coaching to TANF recipients in Jefferson County, Colorado in lieu of traditional case management. • LIFT, which is a voluntary coaching program operated in four U.S. cities. • MyGoals for Employment Success, which serves recipients of housing assistance in Baltimore, Maryland, and Houston, Texas.

Watch the Corresponding Video

This webinar provides an overview of the Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI2) road test process, with examples of how it has helped large and small, urban and rural TANF programs to make targeted improvements and manage change. The presentation was held on March 26, 2018, as part of the IIEESS Coaching for Success series.