The National Eligibility Worker’s Association (NEW: PATHS) received a grant from the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) to develop a handbook of best practices for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.

Most published “best practices” focus on programmatic or agency procedures – things that are often out of the immediate control of the staff that are key to implementing your TANF program.

The handbook will feature proven techniques that have assisted families to become independent from program support and that allow workers to maximize their time and resources.

Our best practice guide focuses on five major components of TANF and we ask that you share your practices about any or all of them. Just click on the topics below for more details.

We believe this is an incredible vehicle to share proven techniques from around the country. Be a part of the action!

Family Relationships and Stability

• Developing innovative approaches to supporting healthy marriages

• Creating effective marriage education opportunities

• Providing marriage skills training

• Developing high school education modules on the value of marriage

• Creating marriage mentoring programs

• Providing equitable treatment of two-parent married families. Identifying access and safe visitation practices that encourage non-custodial parents to be more involved in their children’s lives

Employment Services

• Providing effective Job Readiness assistance

• Creating constructive activities that lead to self-sufficiency

• Determining which services best help families obtain/maintain employment

• Universal Engagement Strategies

• Case Management Priorities

• Basic Skill Development Programs

• Monitoring Client Employment Plans and Outcomes

• Increasing Participation Rates

• Identifying and addressing client barriers to employment within overall self-sufficiency plans (mental health, chemical dependency, housing, language and culture, health and disability, motivation, self esteem, etc.)

Child Support Enforcement Program

• Successful establishment and enforcement of child support orders

• Utilizing Federal Parent Locator Services

• States’ best child support collection practices

• Increasing the percentage of paternity establishments for children born out of wedlock

Children’s Education

• Language and early literacy services

• Professional development and training of early child care and education teachers

• Employing/training parents of Head Start children

• Intergenerational activities

• Increasing enrollment into Head Start

• Improving children's health development and school rediness

• Increasing the average percent gain in word knowledge and letter identification for children in Head Start programsIncreasing the percentage of parents who report reading to children three times per week or more

• Increasing the percentage of parents who report reading to children three times per week or more

Child Care Assistance

• Ensuring parent choice in child care services

• Assisting parents in finding child care that best fits their child’s needs

• Providing education in how to find child care

• Assisting parent in finding child care that provides a safe environment