TANF and Child Welfare

Resources

  • Research Brief: TANF Child-Only Cases
    From the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, this Urban Institute research brief focuses on TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) child-only cases. Around half of the TANF caseload is child-only, meaning that no adult is included in calculating the benefit. For many of these cases, these children reside with relatives (41%) or their parent may be ineligible for TANF (59%). Thus, the intersection between TANF and child welfare is important as this population may overlap with both agencies. This research brief provides an overview of the TANF child-only caseload and offers implications for policy and research. (January 2012)

  • Children and Caregivers in TANF Child-Only Cases: Identifying Unique Characteristics, Circumstances, and Needs
    As the proportion of child-only cases increases within TANF caseloads, a growing concern for children and caregivers has emerged. This report from Bay Area Social Services Consortium discusses legislation and policies that affect child-only cases and presents findings from major national, state, and county studies to illustrate the demographics and characteristics of caregivers and children in child-only cases. It also provides an analysis of the literature on child-only cases. The report concludes by summarizing three major findings.  (February 2007)
  • Infants of Depressed Mothers Living in Poverty: Opportunities to Identify and Serve
    This Urban Institute brief offers a first-time national look at the characteristics, access to services, and parenting approaches for infants living in poverty whose mothers are depressed. Results reveal that eleven percent of infants living in poverty have a mother suffering from severe depression. At the same time, many of these families are connected to services, such as WIC, health care services, food stamps, and TANF, presenting opportunities for policymakers and service providers to help these families. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation funded this research as part of an Urban Institute project identifying service strategies to help connect depressed mothers with treatment. (August 2010)
  • Databooks on State TANF Policies
  • Working Together for Children and Families: Where TANF and Child Welfare Meet
    This article examines the link between family poverty and child maltreatment, and the policy levers that can be employed to inhibit or promote child and family well-being within the context of welfare reform. It reviews California’s experience with interorganizational collaboration between welfare and child welfare and the special challenges agencies face in attempting to streamline services. The article was authored by Jill Duerr Berrick, Laura Frame, Jodie Langs, and Lisa Varchol and was published in International Perspectives on Welfare to Work Policy. (2006)
  • Where the Money Comes From: Paying for Child Welfare Services
    Child neglect and abuse inflict enormous costs on children and families – and on government budgets. This document by Tim Ross, Action Research Partners, explains the major sources of child welfare funding, using examples from the “Child Welfare Financing” pages of the website www.childwelfarepolicy.org. In particular, it discusses the following five sources of federal funding: Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act, the Social Services Block Grant, and Temporary Aid to Needy Families, and Medicaid. (November 2010)
  • Impact of TANF on State Kinship Foster Care Programs
    Many child welfare researchers and advocates have expressed concern about how welfare reforms implemented through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) may affect children and child welfare systems. This study, from Children and Family Research Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, examines early TANF impacts on state policies related to children living with non-parental relatives, in what commonly are known as kinship arrangements. The study findings are based on a survey of state TANF and child welfare officials from 20 states, which was designed to determine how state kinship care policies changed as the result of the 1996 PRWORA legislation. In addition, the study explored whether state officials believed that the implementation of TANF was having discernable effects on foster care caseloads or the living circumstances of children in kinship care. (February 2001)
  • Shoring Up the Child Welfare-TANF Link
    This Urban Institute policy brief by Rob Geen discusses the impact of welfare reform efforts on families who receive both TANF and child welfare services and offers recommendations to strengthen the link between the two programs. (June 2002)
  • Children in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Child-Only Cases with Relative Caregivers
    This study yielded mixed findings regarding the service needs and well-being of children in TANF child-only cases with relative caregivers. Taken together, these findings suggest both advantages of relative caregiver arrangements for children in TANF child-only cases and cause for concern. Children who enter relative care do so as a result of serious disruption in their parents' ability to care for them. Under such circumstances, relative care is believed to be preferable to either parental care or foster care with nonrelatives. However, these children often experience substantial difficulties as a result of the previous experiences and separation from parents, and the TANF system lacks the necessary resources to respond to them. (June 2004)
  • Understanding the AFDC/TANF Child-Only Caseload: Policies, Composition, and Characteristics in Three States
    This report describes how federal and state policies affect child-only caseloads, discusses the national TANF and child-only caseload trends, and examines the characteristics of child-only cases. For a more in-depth review, the reviewers focused on three states — California, Florida, and Missouri — interviewing state and county officials and staff, conducting case file reviews in one county in each state, and analyzing administrative data. (February 2000)
  • The Effect of State TANF Choices on Grandparent-Headed Households
    Findings from a study by AARP's Public Policy Institute of how welfare reform may have resulted in state Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) policies that are unresponsive to the unique needs of grandparents raising children in the absence of their parents. Policies and procedures relating to benefit levels, time limits, work requirements, and child support enforcement may have unintended consequences for grandparents. (November 2000)
  • Addressing the Well-Being of Children in Child-Only Cases
    This issue paper provides an overview of the multiple components of child-only cases. It includes a section on Innovative Practices, which highlights five different programs: Alabama's KinShare Pilot Program, New Jersey's Kinship Navigator Program, New York's community-based prevention funding initiative, North Carolina's Dare County Work First County Plan, and Ohio's Statewide Kinship Caregiver Services Program. (April 2001)
  • Helping Kin Care for Kids
    This article from the National Conference of State Legislatures discusses the need for child-only legislation and describes what a number of states have enacted to support caregivers. (December 2000)
  • Child Welfare and TANF Implementation: Recent Findings
    This Report for Congress examines research findings about Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) implementation as it has affected the nation’s child welfare system. It provides and introduction and background information and addresses the following topics: How are TANF and Child Welfare Linked Today?; What are Concerns and Opportunities?; Child Welfare Trends and Research Findings; Collaboration and Funding; Child-only and Relative Caregiver Cases. (July 2002)
  • The 1996 Welfare Law: Key Elements and Reauthorization Issues Affecting Children
    Journal: Children and Welfare Reform, Volume 12, Number 1 Winter/Spring 2002
    This article describes how the 1996 law changed the social policy landscape across a broad array of programs and initiatives affecting children. For each program or initiative, key developments since enactment of the law are described based on evolving state practices, changing economic conditions, and new research findings. The article also highlights key issues that were considered likely to be before Congress in 2002. (2002)

  • TANF and Child Welfare – Bibliography
    This extensive bibliography of resources on TANF and Child Welfare was compiled by the Child Welfare Information Gateway. (June 2011)

From the States

  • Tennessee: Promising Practice Fact Sheet – Child-Only TANF/Kinship Care Relative Caregiver Program - Tennessee
    This brief fact sheet provides information on the Relative Caregiver Program (RCP), which was created by the Tennessee General Assembly to support relative caregiver(s) of a minor child. It is a partnership between the Department of Human Services (DHS) which issues TANF grants and the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) which administers this program and contracts with community-based agencies to deliver services to caregivers. DCS takes the lead role in service delivery in this partnership. The program was first launched in three regions and went statewide in 2006. It is still in operation. (August 2010)
  • Washington: Child-Only TANF/Kinship Care
    This brief document discusses Child-Only TANF/Kinship Care, the approach in Washington State, promising practices, and lessons learned.

Collaboration between TANF and Child Welfare to Improve Child Welfare Program Outcomes

  • Collaboration between TANF and Child Welfare to Improve Child Welfare Program Outcomes – Funding Opportunity
    Department of Health & Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau
    The purposes of this funding opportunity are threefold: (1) to demonstrate models of effective collaboration between public assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)) and child welfare agencies that will improve outcomes for children and youth who are in, or are at risk of entering, the child welfare system; (2) to evaluate and document the processes and outcomes of these collaborations; and (3) to develop identifiable sites that other States/locales seeking improved collaboration between TANF and child welfare agencies can look to for guidance, insight, and possible replication.

  • Collaboration between TANF and Child Welfare to Improve Child Welfare Program Outcomes – Demonstration Projects

    • Linkages: California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) and Child Welfare Collaboration to Improve Outcomes
      • Agency: California Department of Social Services
      • Directors: Danna Fabella, Project Director; Stuart Oppenheim, Executive Director, Child and Family Policy Institute of California

    • Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) Agency Without Walls
      • Agency: Cook Inlet Tribal Council
      • Director: Cristy Willer, Project Director

    • Jeffco Community Connection (JCC)
      • Agency: Jefferson County Human Services
      • Director: Natalie Williams, Project Director
    • Next Steps TANF/Child Welfare Collaboration Project
      • County of Rockland Department of Social Services
      • Directors: Elizabeth Kohlmeier and Jan Jason, Co-Project Directors, Next Steps
    • Louisiana Kinship Integrated Services System (LA KISS)
      • Agency: Louisiana Department of Social Services
      • Director: Shewayn Watson, Project Director, Department of Children & Family Service

Websites

  • The Research Forum at the National Center for Children in Poverty
    The Research Forum encourages research, collaboration, and exchange of information among key stakeholders, such as researchers, funders, policymakers, state and local administrators, practitioners and advocates. The website contains several publications on the subject of child-only cases.

 

Last updated 4/13/12