P&P August 2016

Maximum TANF Benefits Leave Families Well Below the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) 1 Maximum TANF benefit as a percent of FPL (for a family of three) 0-10% 10-20% 20-30% 30-40% 40-50%

allow our staff to verify the required information in order to make quality eligibility decisions and reduce the need for clients to continually provide paper verifications (another way we have reduced the tax on bandwidth ). However, when necessary, pending an application for verification is appropriate. Alicia Koné I was finally connected to child care assistance through JOBS, with an experienced case manager named Virginia who worked for our state labor department (Employment Security). She was a wonderful advocate, sup- porting my goal to finish a bachelor degree, so I could get a decent-paying, 8–5, Monday–Friday job that gave me slack in my budget and schedule to be a good parent. ( Slack is another Scarcity idea—related to the brain’s extra band- width to do things like plan ahead, save, resist temptation, and patiently parent a fussy baby). I was doing the best I could to take “personal respon- sibility” for my son. I got enough slack to be able to intern with the Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition (WROC) in Seattle, where I learned advocacy skills and spent a legislative session in Olympia as their lobbyist, and fell in love with public policy. Looking back at my career, I can plainly see how these workforce development opportunities contributed to my ability as a small business owner and employer, creating new jobs in our economy. Two years and four months after I met Virginia—in March 1995—I “worked my way off” AFDC and food stamps—three months before I gradu- ated from college—thanks to a much better job I found at an Institute on campus in the Evans School of Public Affairs, where I subsequently received my master’s degree in 1997. Virginia cried at my exit interview because the welfare reform debate was under full swing that year, and already JOBS program rules were changing to forbid participants from pursuing four-year degrees as a part of their JOBS employ- ment plan. She was contemplating retirement, so she knew I was the last participant she would work with

MA RI CT NJ DE MD

DC

TANF Lifts Many Fewer Children Out of Deep Poverty Than AFDC Did 2

629,000 TANF (2010): Lifted 24% of children who otherwise would have been in deep poverty

Children

AFDC (1995): Lifted 62% of children who otherwise would have been in deep poverty 2,210,000

Children

How States Spent Federal and State TANF Funds in 2014 3

Basic assistance: 26%

Other areas: 34%

Refundable tax credits: 8%

Work-related activities and supports: 8%

Child care: 16%

Administration and systems: 7%

Chart Notes and Sources 1. The federal poverty level (FPL) for a family of three in 2015 is about $1,674 per month in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.; Alaska and Hawaii have higher poverty levels. Source: Calculated from 2015 Health and Human Services Pverty Guidelines and CBPP-compiled data on July 2015 benefit levels. 2. Deep poverty = income less than 50% of the FPL. Source: CBPP analysis of Census' Current Population Survey, additional data from Health and Human Services TRIM model. 3. Total does not add up to 100% due to rounding. Source: CBPP analysis of Health and Human Services 2014 TANF financial data.

See TANF on page 44

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August 2016   Policy&Practice