A Review Of Tanf Assistance Programs

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 ended America’s largest cash assistance program, which was the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). It was replaced with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which emphasized work, personal responsibility, economic self-sufficiency and strong families. This was created in an effort to help minimized the use of welfare by low income mothers. As a result, these low income mothers could no longer receive cash aid until further notice,

In 1996 the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant was created as a way to provide assistance to needy families and to end the dependence on government benefits through encouraging job preparation, marriage with the formation of two parent families, and work. In reality, TANF has created a weakened safety net and provides less protection for individuals facing poverty. It grants less assistance than before to lessen poverty and the hardship that comes along with it. The policy has become more of a Band-Aid that is continually ripped off due to its sanctions and requirements revealing the same deeper issues that were there in the first place. Families are stuck in a hole of poverty where they cannot climb out of, and policies like TANF help to maintain it. Since the year 2000, poverty in the U.S has been on the rise, especially the increase in deep poverty. The number of families in deep poverty rose from 2.7 million to 3 million between 1996 and 2013. This is an extremely important issue that we are currently facing in our country. More time and effort needs to be spent on both the creation and reformation of policies like TANF to help combat this rising issue in our country.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is intended to assist families that are living in poverty to achieve self-sufficiency by providing the family with cash benefits. The TANF program has several characteristics of early U.S. social welfare programs. Although today, the policies regarding the TANF program are much different than the early programs and changes continue to occur to change the TANF policy. Today the TANF policy provides funding sources, strict income limits, and has incorporated employment programs to promote self-sufficiency of individuals that receive benefits, to name just a few.

This paper discusses the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that was established in 1996. It examines the development and goals of the policy as well as addresses the target population that benefits from this program. A review of the agencies associated with TANF and the benefits the program provides to its clients is also given. In addition, the funding sources of TANF are addressed. Lastly, it examines the social issue this program is meant to address.

Poverty rates among children in the United States are 1/3 higher than they were two decades ago and about 1.5 to 4 times as high as the same rates in Canada and Western Europe. In 1995, about 15.3 million children lived in families in which had a total income that failed to exceed the poverty line. There is little doubt that children raised in poverty or even below poverty have a less enjoyable childhood. Past research that attempted to link economical disadvantage and childhood development fail to incorporate all factors. Events like divorce and unemployment can drastically change a family's economic status.

When you are standing in the checkout line at your local grocery store do you ever think about how the person in front of you is paying for their groceries? Most citizens do not take a second thought at other peoples payment methods if it means they can get out of the store swiftly as possible. In the United States on average about 21.3 percent of Americans receive welfare assistance that is approximately 52.2 million people. Welfare assistance is a program that provides money through a variety of programs consisting of: food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Americans suffer income complications everyday trying to make it by, but looking

In examining TANF (Transitional Assistance to Needy Families), it is important to look into the past to understand how the program has evolved into its current state. The first inception of the program in its infancy, had one sole purpose, “to provide financial assistance to needy children”, therefore providing government funds to the dependents, and not parents. The 1950’s brought an expansion of the program including providing financial assistance to the mother of the child, however excluded both married couples and those children born out of wedlock. These unintended consequences contributed to the changes that occurred in 1961, which included providing assistance to two-parent families. Additionally, it was at this time that the

The government has many funds going across the United States to help support the residents of its country. Food stamps, also known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) or TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) is a resource that provides people with a way to buy food if they don’t have the money to do so. This aid is given in different forms such as a LINK card, cash and/or paper that resembles money but can be redeemed for food.Most people that use this resource are having hardships in their lives. The USDA ( U.S Department of Agriculture) states that nearly 40 million Americans are being fed by this program.( "Food Stamps.")

As mentioned earlier Congress introduced the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program block grant in 1996 for low-income families. It was by was of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Congress made the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) square allow through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, as a component of a government push to end welfare as we probably am aware it. TANF supplanted Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which had given money welfare to poor families with youngsters since 1935. The four main reasons for the TANF project are to:

One of the many policies that can assist in Josey' s case comes from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 called the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families according to the Office of Public Affairs. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, This policy began in 1997 under the Clinton administration. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act is also known as TANF. The goal of TANF is to provide families in need with a variety of financial assistance and work opportunities so that they can eventually become independent. TANF is a federally funded grant program that allows for states to administer their own assistance programs for families in need. In order to receive assistance parents

The United States federal government spent about $16.5 billion dollars each year to support the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (“Policy” 2). This program, established in 1996, provides a block grant to the states, which use these funds to operate their own programs.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), also referred to as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), has varied greatly over its lifespan. At its inception in the mid 1900’s, TANF provided $26 Billion in benefits, which grew to $35 Billion in 1994 when it eventually began decreasing again. (Figure 4) (Cancian, 2009). TANF recipients also grew in accordance with this trend with 5 Million recipients in 1966, growing to 14 Million in 1995, and eventually decreasing again (Figure 4) (TANF Caseload Data, 2017). Consequently, TANF has always been a smaller system than EITC, with a smaller expenditure per recipient.

Children in poverty is a typical social issue occurring in society today. “More than 16 million children in the United States – 22% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level” (“National Center For Children In Poverty,” n.d.). The federal poverty level measures the amount of income a family takes in per year. It varies depending on the number of people in a family. For a nuclear family (two parents and two children) the federal poverty level is around twenty-four thousand dollars in a year (“Health Care.gov,” n.d.). The average American makes around forty-six thousand dollars a year. The parents of the children in poverty make at least twenty-two thousand dollars below the average. Their families are extremely poor. Also, not just one child is facing this hardship, sixteen million children are part of families below the federal poverty line, just in America. “About 22% of children in the U.S. lived below the poverty line in 2013, compared with 18% in 2008” (Calfas, 2015). Unfortunately, the rate of poverty affecting children has gone up through the years. More and more children will face poverty during day to day life. Children can be affected by poverty in many ways. “Poverty can impede children’s ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty also can contribute to poor

Poverty is a considerable social problem; with a significant impact on those who suffer within. Growing up in poverty “reduces a child’s chance of growing up to be a healthy, well-adjusted, and contributing adult in our society” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 59). Poverty is families having to struggle to afford necessities. Poverty does not know where your next meal is coming from or having to choose between paying rent and seeing a health care provider. The impact of poverty affects one’s ability through physical, social, emotional, and educational health. Even though individual overcome poverty it still extends across cultural, racial, ethnic, and geographical borders. Children represent the largest group of poverty in the United States. “Growing up in poverty places a child at a profound disadvantage and substantially lowers the chances that the child will mature into a well-adjusted, productive, and contributing