Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Issues for the 110th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised July 16, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL34206 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Gene Falk, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA, P.L. 109-171) ended more than four years of congressional debate on "reauthorizing" the block grant of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The DRA extended funding for most TANF grants through FY2010, except TANF supplemental grants that expire at the end of this year (FY2008). Supplemental grants go to 17 states that have high population growth or low historic funding in TANF's predecessor programs per poor person. H.R. 6331, a Medicare bill enacted over President Bush's veto on July 15, 2008, extends supplemental grants for one year, through FY2009.
TANF is best known as the funding source for welfare benefits for low-income families with children. In 2006, 1.9 million families per month received TANF cash welfare, down from the historical high of five million families receiving cash welfare in the mid-1990s. In 2006, less than three in ten poor children were in families that received TANF cash welfare. However, TANF funds a wide range of "nonwelfare" benefits and services for needy families with children. In FY2006, spending on activities related to traditional cash welfare accounted for a little more than half of total TANF funding, while other "nonwelfare" activities accounted for the remainder.
Though cash welfare is a shrinking part of what TANF funds, many of the issues Congress might consider in the 110th Congress (beside supplemental grants) focus on families receiving cash welfare, particularly the work participation standards that apply to these families. The DRA made changes that require states to either increase participation among families receiving cash welfare in work or job preparation activities or reduce their welfare caseloads to meet these numerical performance standards. The DRA also required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue rules regulations defining what specific activities count toward the participation standards. HHS final regulations, published on February 5, 2008, allow states to count participation in a four-year college degree program toward the participation standards and provide for limited counting of rehabilitative activities. However, the regulations also limit counting activities such as adult basic education (ABE), pursuing a General Educational Development (GED) credential, and English as a Second Language courses, generally requiring them to be counted only in conjunction with activities more closely related to work.
In terms of "nonwelfare" spending from TANF, Congress might consider proposals left over from TANF reauthorization proposals, but not included in DRA, to loosen some rules for nonwelfare spending. Congress might also consider improving the information available on how TANF funds are used for "nonwelfare" benefits and services, since relatively little is known about this half of TANF funding. Additionally, legislation that affects foster care, child welfare services for abused and neglected children, and child care funding would have an effect on TANF, since large amounts of TANF "nonwelfare" dollars are used to supplement dedicated federal and state funding for these programs. This report will be updated as legislative events warrant.
