Policy and Practice | June 2022

TANF FUTURE continued from page 5

to understand the intersectionality between our shared services. And most important, we have centered our con versations in the perspectives of the

assistance dropped from 68 in 1996 to just 23 in 2019. 1 Fewer families are able to access this important program and the program’s limited reach and punitive design reinforces structural racism, which seems to push more families further from opportunity. Research supports that racial bias affects the overall resources invested in TANF as a mechanism to advance economic mobility and the use of punitive measures, like sanction, against individuals and families. In the United States, Black, Brown, and Indigenous children are less likely to achieve upward mobility from deep poverty, and Black and Indigenous children are more likely to experience downward mobility. Work requirements and time limits do not take into account the deep and historic racial issues that have created a bigger hill for Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations to climb to achieve stable, living wages and attain real economic mobility. And yet, the promise is there. Despite these challenges, TANF remains one of the more flexible tools to aid families on their path to economic mobility. Many state and local TANF programs and leaders are navigating the limits of TANF’s federal policy framework to enact reforms that improve upon the foundation of the TANF program in ways that listen to the lived experience of children and families to advance long-term family economic vitality. For example, in Washington State, sharing power with those who have lived experience through development of the Poverty Reduction Work Group Steering Committee 2 resulted in the development of our 10-year strategic plan 3 to meaningfully end poverty and injustice. This group of dedicated families—half of whom are people of color—provided valuable insight into a system that is, for them, a full-time job to navigate, often contradictory in its requirements, and almost impos sible to comply with. They consistently reminded us to be forward- and sys temic-thinking, but to never forget that

About The Core

This article is part of APHSA’s blog series, The Core , taking a detailed look at TANF and the ways in which agencies, aligned systems, and community voices are thinking differently about TANF programs, and how they can help families succeed for the long term and get to the root of barriers communities face to promote opportunity for all. Each entry exemplifies efforts grounded in APHSA’s Core Principles for TANF Modernization (see https://bit.ly/ TANFmod) and work in alignment with the federal policy changes envisioned in “A Legislative Framework for TANF Reform” (see https://bit.ly/LegFrameworkTANF) . For more information, check out APHSA’s blog page, The Catalyst (see https://bit.ly/APHSAblog) .

families we are here to help. Through this work, we have

established a set of Core Principles 4 grounded in the values of equity, inclu sion, and the limitless possibilities of human potential as a clear North Star. Each of these Core Principles has served as a guidepost as we have constructed a comprehensive TANF Legislative Framework 5 with recom mendations for reforming the federal structure of the program. In the coming months, we are com mitted to continue working by looking inward and listening to the people we serve to build equitable TANF programs that help families holisti cally achieve economic mobility. At the same time, we will work fearlessly to advance a national conversation on the federal changes that can accelerate and catalyze the type of reforms that can help to unlock the potential of the TANF program. By working together, we can foster conditions that enable equitable economic mobility and well-being for all Americans. When our work is centered on people and public service, building common ground, and part nering across sectors, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Babette Roberts is the Director of the Community Services Division at theWashington Department of Social and Health Services. She also serves as Chair of the National Association of StateTANF Administrators (NASTA), an APHSA affinity group. Reference Notes 1. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/ poverty-results-structural-barriers-not personal-choices-safety-net-programs should-reflect-fact 2. https://dismantlepovertyinwa.com 3. https://dismantlepovertyinwa.com/ wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ Final10yearPlan.pdf 4. https://bit.ly/CorePrinTANF 5. https://bit.ly/LegFrameworkTANF

“their children are hungry now.” The final strategies and recommendations, all reviewed and approved by this steering committee, have been widely accepted in Washington State and already garnered not just interest, but action that will see meaningful change now and into the future in our state. Over the past 18 months, I have had the privilege of working with a bipar tisan group of TANF administrators through APHSA’s affinity group, the National Association of State TANF Administrators (NASTA), to discuss the policy changes needed at the federal level and the state and local practice reforms we can be making now. In these conversations, we have been confronting the difficult questions we must grapple with to reimagine the way TANF can align the full array of economic and family supports in pursuit of the goals of children and families we serve. We are intention ally connecting with the broader workforce system and leaders that rep resent the continuum of supports that promote child and family well-being

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