Biden Administration To Overhaul TANF Program Following State Mismanagement

The Administration for Children and Families is preparing to overhaul the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF).

Following a 2021 ProPublica investigation into how state governments abused a federal program designed to assist people in poverty, the Biden administration is moving to close the loopholes that made it possible. A new report from ProPublica detailed the changes that the Administration for Children and Families is drawing up to overhaul the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF).

Currently, the proposal is open for public comments until Dec. 1. After that, the commentary will be reviewed, leading to the issuance of final regulations

One of the biggest changes spurred by reporting from ProPublica, is that states will no longer be allowed to take credit for charitable giving done by private organizations like churches or food banks. In Utah, over the past 10 years, the Mormon Church was allowed to basically run its own aid programs, wherein they often forced people who did not follow the religion to partake in their religious rituals. Under the new rule, the State of Utah has to take credit for what it does and spend its own money instead of using the church to take credit for work the state did not perform.

Child protective services funding would also see a reform, as several states, including Arizona, which runs aggressive child protective services investigations, used funds intended to help poor families to perform surveillance of them. New TANF spending rules prohibit the funds set aside by TANF from being used on anything aside from programs that help keep struggling families together.

According to Ashley Burnside, a senior policy analyst and TANF expert at the Center for Law and Policy, the new rules are a good start, but she cautions they won’t stop the problem completely.

“This will not completely solve the problem of the leakage of TANF funds,” Burnside said. “But it will create guardrails so that more money actually gets to poor families.”

One of the biggest scandals involving misappropriation of TANF funds comes from Mississippi. According to Mississippi Today, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre allegedly conspired with former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant and other state officials to funnel money from TANF to help the University of Southern Mississippi build a new volleyball facility. Allegedly, the pharmaceutical company Favre was funding, Prevacus, received $2.15 million in funds from the Mississippi Department of Human Services, informally known as the welfare department.

The proposal from the Biden administration would require real proof that the money states are allegedly spending on TANF actually goes to the people and families it is supposed to.

“We remind states that there is a large body of research that shows that cash assistance is a critically important tool for reducing family and child poverty,” the statement reads. “Studies have found that when families receive TANF and are more financially secure, they are less likely to be involved in the child welfare system.”