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Filed Under: Contingency Fund, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Contingency Fund

Last Updated: July 2023  When Congress created the TANF block grant in 1996, it created the TANF Contingency Fund for states to draw upon during periods of economic distress. This fund was intended to address some of the risks and hardships states would face as a result of the conversion of the former AFDC program Contingency Fund

Filed Under: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Welfare Rules Database

Welfare Rules Database

Last Updated: July 2023  The Welfare Rules Database (WRD) is a longitudinal database that tracks state TANF policies. The WRD was created in 1997 by the Urban Institute’s Assessing the New Federalism (ANF) project, and it is currently funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Welfare Rules Database

Filed Under: First Year of Life, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

First Year of Life

Last updated: July 2023  In the United States, young children are more likely to be poor than any other age group. Poverty during the “first year of life” is a particularly strong indicator of risk—after all, children who are born into families experiencing poverty are far more likely than other children to spend more than First Year of Life

Filed Under: Diaper Need, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Diaper Need

Last Updated: July 2023  Diaper need—the gap between sufficient diapers to keep a child dry and what their caregiver can provide—affects more than 5 million children in the United States. One in three families struggle to provide enough diapers to change their child frequently enough, and families with marginalized identities or backgrounds are disproportionately affected. Diaper Need

Filed Under: Child Welfare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Child Welfare

Last Updated: July 2023  Material hardship increases the risk for child welfare involvement due to neglect and abuse. Providing income support to families in need, like assistance provided through the TANF, reduces the risk for child maltreatment and the child welfare system involvement that results from it. This is crucial to ameliorating racial disparities, as Child Welfare

Filed Under: Child Support, Tax Offset Option

Tax Offset Option

Last Updated: July 2023  The “tax offset option,” authorized through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, is when states elect to give families who are owed child support any support that the IRS deducts from a non-custodial parent’s tax refund for past-due child support. Only five states — Alaska, California, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and West Virginia Tax Offset Option

Filed Under: Child Support, Foster Care Charges

Foster Care Charges

Last Updated: July 2023  Currently, some states require all parents to pay child support while their child is in foster care, though federal law only requires that states issue orders to Title IV-E families. However, research shows that requiring families to reimburse the state and federal governments for the costs of foster care services is Foster Care Charges

Filed Under: Family Cap Policies, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Family Cap Policies

Last Updated: July 2023  Family cap policies deny additional assistance to families who have another child while receiving TANF benefits. They are based on faulty and racist assumptions that mothers have more children to qualify for more public assistance; research has shown that caps have no effect on birth rates among families who are TANF Family Cap Policies

Filed Under: Asset Limits, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Asset Limits

Date: July 2023  Most states limit the amount of assets that either applicant or recipient families can hold and still be eligible for TANF. Low asset limits can restrict access to cash assistance and make it harder for families to save for emergencies or long-term goals. This disproportionately affects groups that are the most likely Asset Limits

Filed Under: Alternatives to Using the Word "Welfare", Temporary Assistance for Needy Families