Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Pilot Evaluation
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to coll...
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION:
Request for public comments.
SUMMARY:
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is proposing to collect data for the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (
TANF) Pilot Evaluation.
Description:
The
TANF Pilot Evaluation
will include implementation and outcomes studies of pilot programs authorized under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 (Pub. L. 118-5), which authorizes HHS to select up to five states to test new outcomes-based performance benchmarks in the TANF program. The implementation study will describe pilot design, staffing, service provision, partnerships, contextual details, and factors that support or hinder the pilot's implementation. The outcomes study will assess changes in participant outcomes using surveys and administrative data. This new information collection request includes a semi-structured discussion guide, staff survey, time-use survey, cost and resource workbooks, and in-depth participant interview guide for the implementation study. It also includes a 12-month post-TANF-exit survey for the outcomes study. These instruments will provide information on how states implement the pilots, how services and staffing evolve, and how outcomes change under the new performance benchmarks. The data will be used to produce a report on outcomes to be submitted to Congress, as required by the FRA; inform future TANF policy development; and contribute to the broader evidence base on outcomes-based performance monitoring.
Respondents:
Most of the implementation study data collection instruments will be conducted with TANF staff including state and local-level leadership staff, data specialists, supervisors, and frontline staff. The in-depth interview guide will be conducted with TANF participants. The 12-month post-TANF-exit survey will be conducted with TANF participants who provided contact information through the Study Information Form, which was approved under ACF's generic clearance for formative research (Office of Management and Budget #: 0970-0356), and agreed to be contacted for this survey.
Annual Burden Estimates:
Instruments 1, 2, and 5 will be tailored based on the respondent and, therefore, the burden table shows the breakdown by respondent type.
Note:
Annual burden is calculated based on 5 years of data collection. An extension request will be submitted to OMB within 3 years of initial approval.
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
91 FR 35690
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Pilot Evaluation,” thefederalregister.org (June 12, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-11797/submission-for-office-of-management-and-budget-review-temporary-assistance-for-needy-families-tanf-pilot-evaluation.