Assistance program
Welfare Reform Research, Evaluations and National Studies
$16.5 Million committed in FY2020–FY2026
- Agency
- Administration for Children and Families, Health and Human Services, Department of
- Assistance
- Project Grants
- CFDA number
- 93.595
- What it does
- Welfare Research (WR) funds were authorized as a set-aside of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to support research, evaluation, and technical assistance related to the TANF program. This includes research on the effect of State TANF programs on employment, self-sufficiency, child well-being, unmarried births, marriage, poverty, economic mobility, and other factors; State-initiated research on TANF; ; development of a “what works clearinghouse†of effective approaches for moving welfare recipients into work; and technical assistance activities to support TANF programs and services. The funding opportunities in this listing support these objectives. the objectives of the Center for Research on Hispanic Children & Families are to lead and support research on the needs of Hispanic populations served by ACF and on promising approaches to promote social and economic well-being among Hispanic families with low incomes. Similarly, the objectives of the National African American Child & Family Research Center are to lead and support research on the assets and needs of African American families and children served by ACF programs, and on promising approaches to promote social and economic well-being among African American families with low incomes. The Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Scholars Network Awards are intended to support research on strategies for improving family self-sufficiency conducted by social science scholars in partnership with state or local human services agencies. The Career Pathways Secondary Data Analysis Awards support rigorous research through secondary data analysis on questions regarding the effectiveness of TANF-funded services that aim to address the employment and self-sufficiency needs of TANF and TANF-eligible individuals, with career pathways programs being one such service. In FY24, award recipients of the Family Self-Sufficiency Demonstration Development Grants (awarded in FY21 for a two-year grant period) were eligible to apply for the Family Self-Sufficiency Demonstration Development Phase 2 Awards, which will support award recipients in advancing the implementation and formal testing of the approaches to improve economic self-sufficiency among TANF and TANF-eligible families that they developed under their initial award. The objectives of the Tribal Research Center on Early Childhood Development and Systems Award is to support community-based participatory research and evaluation of ACF early childhood and family economic well-being initiatives that serve tribal communities. The objectives of the TANF Data Collaborative Equity Analysis Awards are to support state, territory, or county TANF agencies in conducting equity-focused analyses of their TANF and other human services data to support program improvement and inform policymaking. The objectives of the Center for Research on Coordinated Service Approaches to Support Whole Families (forecasted to award in FY25) are to conduct and strengthen research on the intentional coordination of human services to support the social and economic well-being of families with low incomes and those from underserved communities.