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In Examining Tanf (Transitional Assistance To Needy Families),

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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…show more content…
These block grants have been set at $16.5 billion annually since 1996, with no increase for inflation, therefore, the actual value of the block grant has been devalued by 1/3rd as of June 2015 (Center). Additionally, each state is required to contribute 80% of the MOE (maintenance of effort) of their AFDC funds from 1994-essentially the required funding required for each state is between $11-$12 million (Schott). Therefore, each state has a budget of $27.5-$28.5 million; this money can be spent in a wide variety of areas, such as job preparation, and parenting education to help stabilize families. Flexibility of spending was new when TANF was introduced, and it allows each state to move funds around and spend it different areas, meaning that there is not a specific dollar amount allocated for any specific area, just as long as it is spent on achieving the goals mentioned previously. An integral piece of the TANF policy is centered around time-limts for providing funds to each family/child; just like with the spending portion of the policy, this responsibility is given to each state, and it is within each state’s right to determine said policy, however, the purpose is to discourage families from being dependent upon the program, therefore, the federal government has a five-year lifetime limit for each family (Center). With the overall goal of TANF to essentially get people off of the program, and get them into
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