NJCA: TANF at 25: Overcoming a Racist History and Improving Long-Term Family Well-Being

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TANF at 25: Overcoming a Racist History and Improving Long-Term Family Well-Being

Advocates and analysts discuss issues and improvements to the safety net program

Trenton, NJ Aug 19 This Sunday Aug 22 is the anniversary of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which provides direct cash assistance and other support services to families in difficulty. New Jersey’s leading advocacy and policy analysis organizations used this milestone to discuss the problematic history of the programs, current issues, and proposed solutions. In the TANF, its 25-year tenure, pitifully low benefits, increasingly narrow eligibility, and cut-throat job demands have been woefully inadequate to meet the needs of low-income people and have perpetuated patterns of systemic racism.

TANF is the only NJ program designed to protect low-income families with children during times of greatest need, but since its inception the program has shrunk, mostly leaving parents of color stuck in poverty without support. necessary to get by, said Renée Koubiadis. , director of poverty reduction at New Jersey Citizen Action. Acknowledging the racist ideas that have influenced the design and implementation of TANF over the years is a crucial first step in ensuring that it can be a real safety net for all families, especially people of color. who are disproportionately affected by poverty.

The TANF has made it more difficult for very low-income families to access essential help and support by reducing benefit levels, reducing eligibility and increasing the likelihood that families will be excluded from the program with measures punitive and severe penalties. Due to strict work requirements, TANF recipients are kicked out of the program too soon when they take on low-paying, part-time, or temporary jobs that are not self-sufficient, even though these are often the only jobs available to those. who are most in need of TANF benefits. Programs like TANF exhibit systemic racism by keeping black mothers and other people of color in low-paying jobs while denying them access to meaningful support to lift themselves out of poverty.

Over a century of anti-black narratives such as the suggestion that black women are unworthy mothers and paternalistic policies that sought to control the behavior of black women and force their labor, continue to influence TANF to this day, commented Ife Floyd, TANF Research and Analysis Director for the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. What we see in TANF today as a reflection of these policies is a weak agenda for families of all races and ethnicities going through difficult times.

Despite its intention to reach families at 50% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), or severe poverty, the NJ program currently only reaches families at 30% of the FPL or less. Since 1996, there has been a 91% drop in enrollment at NJ TANF. In its August 4 report, the Center on Budget Policy Priorities identified that the national declines in enrollment between 1993 and 2016 were related to a decrease in eligibility and lower average public benefits (79%), not to a decrease in needs (21%). From 1987 to 2019, NJ did not increase TANF benefits at all, then increased them by 32% in 2019 and 2020, increasing the monthly benefit for a family of 3 from $ 424 to $ 559.

“Thousands of low-income families have relied on programs like TANF to help them escape extreme poverty, put food on the table and a roof over their heads, but that doesn’t mean that the program is flawless, said Brittany Holom-Trundy, Senior Policy Analyst at NJ Policy Perspective. As currently conceived, TANF focuses only on getting families out of the program, rather than ensuring them the support they need to be successful in the long term. As we honor TANF’s 25th anniversary, lawmakers should continue to improve the program by increasing levels of cash assistance, removing arbitrary limits on benefits, and providing more innovative employment and education options. “

In 1996, TANF reached 100% of families in great poverty nationwide, now it is less than 20%. If it had the same scope as in 1996, the number of families covered would increase from 1.1 million to 3.1 million. Between 1995-2005, severe poverty fell from 5.4% to 7.4% for children of single mothers (the population most served by TANF), while the number of families receiving cash assistance fell by 2 , 7 million. Then, between 2005 and 2016, the percentage of all children living in extreme poverty fell from 3.5% to 2.7%, not because of the success of TANF, but thanks to other aid programs. government improvements such as the EITC.

In order for TANF to be a real safety net and truly meet the needs of low-income families, the Center on Budget Policy Priorities recommends several improvements: Focus within TANF on the needs of black mothers and children, which would benefit all poor families; establish a federal minimum benefit level; prohibit mandatory work requirements, behavioral requirements, deadlines and other exclusions from eligibility; refocus TANF agencies on helping families in an immediate crisis situation and improving long-term well-being; change TANF’s funding structure to focus resources on basic aid, address funding inequalities and prevent erosion of benefits over time. Starting with a recognition of the racist conception of TANF and taking these steps can ensure increased economic security and improved well-being for all families struggling with poverty.

Watch the full discussion on TANF here: https://fb.watch/7up0rC-ZoR/

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New Jersey Citizen Action is a statewide advocacy and empowerment organization that advances social, racial and economic justice for all, while meeting the urgent needs of low and moderate income New Jerseyans through education and direct services.

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