2024 - 2032
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to select up to five states to be part of a pilot program where they will negotiate TANF performance benchmarks for work and family outcomes instead of adhering to the standard TANF Work Participation Rate.
Led by Mathematica and its partners, The Adjacent Possible and the American Public Human Services Association, the Supporting Pilot Program Outcomes, Research, and Technical Assistance in TANF (Project SUPPORTT) is providing research, evaluation, and data-related technical assistance to the states selected to be a part of the TANF Pilot Program authorized by the FRA. Project SUPPORTT is also designing and executing studies to evaluate the TANF Pilot Program.
In conducting this work, OPRE and Project SUPPORTT coordinate closely with ACF’s Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and the activities funded by OFA’s TANF Outcomes Technical Assistance and Logistics (TOTAL) contract.
Major Activities
Project SUPPORTT is partnering with ACF, state and local TANF staff, and other interested parties to design and carry out implementation and outcomes studies to address six key research questions:
- How did states describe their pilots?
- How did states implement their pilots?
- What were TANF programs’ outcomes during the pilot period?
- What were TANF participants’ outcomes during the pilot period?
- How did the shift to outcomes-based performance accountability relate to participant outcomes?
- What were the lessons learned from the pilot?
Project SUPPORTT is also developing research, evaluation, and data-related tools and resources to support the pilot states. The study team is also facilitating peer learning communities among pilot states and will share lessons learned, findings, and resources from the research and technical assistance activities with pilot states, nonpilot states, and other TANF jurisdictions through a variety of mechanisms.
Points of contact: Lauren Deutsch Stanton, Amelia Popham, Siri Warkentien, and Kim Clum.