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1 1 (July 20, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdaxp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated July 20,2020 The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) blockgrant was createdin the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA, P.L. 104-193). That law was the culmination ofa series of legislative changes that altered the rules for providing benefits and services to needy families with children. Public cash assistance to needy families with children has its origin in the early 1900s state and locally financed mother's pension programs that aided single mothers (often widows) so that children could be raisedin their own homes rather than institutionalized. The Social Security Act of 1935 provided federal funding for these programs with the explicit goal to aid mothers so they would not have to work and could stayhome to raise their children. Post-1935 changes altered the context in which programs for needy families with children operated. In 1939, survivors' benefits were addedto Social Security, providing socialinsurance benefits to widows andtheir children. The increase in labor force participation among married mothes altered views about whether government should aid single mothers to stay at home. Families with children whose fathers were alive but absent comprised more of the public cash assistancecaseload. The caseload also became more nonwhite. Cash assistance to needy families with children becane among the most controversialofsocialprograms, particularly beginning in the late 1960s as the cash as sistance caseloadhad its first large increase. Proposals to replace or reform cash assistance for needy families were debated across four decades, ultimately leading to the enactment ofPRWORA. T h AN F BIcxGran,. The TANF blockgrant's overallpurpose is to increase the flexibility of statesto meet four statutorygoals: (1) provide assistance to needy families so thatchildren may remain in their homes; (2) reduce dependency of needy parents on government benefits through work, job preparation, and marriage; (3) reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and (4) promote the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. PRWORA and the creation of TANF altered the federalrules that applied to states for their cash assistance programs. It also es tablished a broad-purpose blockgrant that provides funds to states to address both the effects and rootcauses ofchildhood economic dis advantage. TANF provides grants to the 50s tates, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. American Indian tribes may also operate their own TANF programs with federaldollars. ThebulkofTANFfundingis in a basic blockgrant of $16.5 billion per year. Every year, each state receives a fixed grant based on how lmuch it received in federal funding in the pre-1996 cash assistance and related programs during the early- and mid-1990s. Tribes also may receive grants based on mid-1990s expenditures. The TANF block grant has not been increased since the enactment of the 1996 welfare law. There has beenno adjustment for inflation or population change. From 1997 to 2019, TANFhas lost 37% of its value to inflation. During TANF's history, states haveat times receivedTANF funds in addition to thebasic blockgrant. For FY2020, the only additional funding to states for TANF is through the TANF contingency fund. In addition to federal funding, states are required to expend a mininum amount of their own funds on the TANF-rehted population and TANF-related programs (a total minimrum of $10.3 billion per year.) This amount is alsobasedon historical expenditures in pre-TANF programs and is known as the maintenance ofeffort (MOE) requirement. Some states spend more than the minimrum. States may use federalblockgrant and MOEfunds in any mannerthat is reasonably calculated to achieve TANF's statutory purpose and goals. States have used TANF funds for a wide range of benefits and services. In FY2018, a total of $31.3 billion was spent by states fromfederalTANF and state MOEfunds. TANF assistance, including monthly cash benefits to families with children, totaled $6.7 billion. In addition to assistance, TANF contributes to state funds used for work and training programs, child care, pre- kindergarten programs, programs to provide services to children who havebeen abused and neglected or are at risk of it, and other services (youth activities, responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage promotion). Figure I. Uses of Federal TANF and State MOE Funds, by Category: FY2018 is c Astsate k $6,7b Osildcar- .... .3. Workprogram . .. . $3.33 Pefundab.e tax cred's $2.83 pr-KHead Start Q. - (2D L Total: n jd .................... . 4 ,$3 1.3 rR es $2.8 Billion Adrqn sratle h $2.2 Short-Term n,-n . , .... $146 Ot h eer Ssvice s S4L6P Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), based on datafrom the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) A A '2 xa S 1,k y\

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