 Official seal | |
 HHS Logo | |
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1997 |
| Preceding Program | |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Annual budget | $16.5 billion (FY 2021)[1] |
| Website | www |
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF /tænɪf/) is a federal assistance program of the United States. It began on July 1, 1997, and succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, providing cash assistance to indigent American families through the United States Department of Health and Human Services.[2] TANF is often regarded as just "welfare", but some argue this is a misnomer.[3] Unlike AFDC, which provided a guaranteed cash benefit to eligible families, TANF is a block grant to states that creates no federal entitlement to welfare and is used by states to provide non-welfare services, including educational services, to employed people.
The TANF program, emphasizing the welfare-to-work principle, is a grant given to each state to run its own welfare program and designed to be temporary in nature and has several limits and requirements. The TANF grant has a five-year lifetime limit and requires that all recipients of welfare aid must find work within three years of receiving aid, including single parents who are required to work at least 30 hours per week (35 for two-parent families). Failure to comply with work requirements could result in loss of benefits. TANF funds may be used for the following reasons: to provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for at home; to end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and marriage; to prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.[4]
- ^ "About TANF". US Department of Health and Human Services. June 28, 2022.
- ^ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2011. "TANF". Accessed 12/9/2011 from "About TANF Program". Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
- ^ Waller, Margy (August 6, 2006). "New Goals and Outcomes for Temporary Assistance: State Choices in the Decade after Enactment". Brookings Institution.
- ^ Schott, Liz (March 11, 2022). "Policy Basics: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families". Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.