By Ashley Burnside

This statement is submitted by staff from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). CLASP staff are experts on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policy and are committed to targeting TANF funds toward cash assistance for families with very low incomes. As summarized below, there is strong and growing evidence that monthly cash assistance improves children’s health and educational outcomes. While Mississippi’s abuse of TANF funds to provide favors to politically connected individuals is the most dramatic and egregious example of how states have used TANF funds for other purposes, it is unfortunately far from the only example of states allocating TANF dollars towards areas that are not aligned with the program goals or toward improving child outcomes. Congress should support policies to target TANF spending toward monthly cash assistance for families with very low incomes, and toward work supports and services that best meet the needs of parents facing financial emergencies, both by supporting the administrative actions taken by the Administration for Children and Families and by passing additional legislative guardrails.

CLASP is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose mission is advocating for policies that advance economic and racial justice. Founded more than fifty years ago, CLASP works to develop and implement federal, state, and local policies that reduce poverty, improve the lives of people with low incomes, tear down barriers arising from systemic racism, and create pathways to economic security.

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