This guide outlines how states can use TANF funds to provide direct cash assistance to families, particularly through flexible mechanisms like nonrecurrent short-term benefits (NRSTs).
This section of the Building Resilience plan outlines strategies to improve the long-term solvency and sustainability of state unemployment insurance (UI) trust funds through better funding practices and legislative reform.
The IRS Direct File Pilot Program After Action Report evaluates the 2024 pilot of a free, government-run tax filing system, assessing taxpayer participation, user experience, and potential for future expansion.
This brief offers a new, anti-racist vision for transforming the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) into a program that actively pushes back against structural racism and advances racial equity and economic prosperity for all families.
This paper discusses the country’s chronic underinvestment in children and resulting outcomes, including new data on poverty rates among young children, is inextricable from the prospects of young children; and the remarkably comprehensive pandemic-era response policies, including which changes contributed most to reducing child poverty.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Data Collaborative Pilot Initiative is a component of the TANF Data Innovation project. The 30-month pilot offered technical assistance and training to support cross-disciplinary teams of staff at eight state and county TANF programs in the routine use of TANF and other administrative data to inform policy and practice.
This section of the Building Resilience plan outlines strategies to help states modernize outdated unemployment insurance (UI) IT systems, making them more modular, secure, fraud-resistant, and user-centered.
The Summer EBT Playbook offers states practical strategies, tools, and examples to effectively implement the new Summer EBT program, ensuring low-income children receive food benefits when school is out.
This section of the Building Resilience plan outlines strategies to expand access to unemployment insurance (UI) for underserved populations and improve benefit adequacy through system reform, outreach, and data-driven equity efforts.
This panel discussion from the Academy's 2025 Policy Summit explores the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and public benefits, examining how technological advancements are influencing policy decisions and the delivery of social services.
