Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Michael Reisch

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is the means-tested income support program that replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in 1996. Unlike AFDC, TANF is behavior rather than benefits oriented, has multiple goals and targets and a dynamic, longitudinal, and complex focus with an emphasis on outcomes. TANF replaced the entitlement for low-income children and their caretakers with block grants to states for income support, services, or job training. It established a five-year federal lifetime cap on receipt of benefits. Although states retained their authority to determine eligibility requirements and benefit levels, they must meet work participation requirements or lose part of their block grants. States must deny benefits to families in which a member is a fugitive felon, ...

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