Policy and Practice | December 2022

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By Danielle Barnes

Creating a Desired Future State Together: Modernizing TANF to Truly Benefit Families

I n 2019, while I was the Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner, the state legislature called me in for a high-profile briefing, which became a contentious hearing concerning why the department had been unable to spend down its $732 million Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reserve. I won’t ever forget the months that followed. The topic garnered a great deal of attention from the public. So much so that the local newspaper ran a series of stories that focused on examining the state’s expenditures. As a department, we found ourselves in a constant defensive posture as we strug gled to explain the complexities and restrictions of the federal program. In each of the news stories, the local newspaper published a picture of me at the budget hearing wearing a white jacket. I often tease, recalling the months of media attention, that I should bury that jacket. Years later, the jacket is long gone. However, the complexities and chal lenges for states to distribute TANF dollars to people who truly need them haven’t changed. The time has come for states to rethink and modernize TANF to ensure that families are ben efiting from the program as it was originally designed. As Commissioner, I faced a situation where restrictive state laws and ambiguous federal guidelines prevented my agency from distributing these dollars quickly and in a way to meet the unique needs our Tennessee families had that might not have aligned perfectly to the guidelines. Families who needed assistance faced onerous restrictions

to access benefits that fell well short of subsistence levels. At the time, the Tennessee monthly cash benefit was $277 for a family of three. 1 To receive this benefit, families had to muddle through overly bureaucratic and some times demeaning processes to puzzle through different and sometimes con tradictory eligibility requirements for multiple assistance programs. As governments concentrate on holistic care of families, we must pause to ask ourselves, are we really

distributing these dollars in a mean ingful way? Are we making solid investments in child care and educa tion, since we know there is a direct correlation between lack of access to quality care and education, and poverty levels? Are there innovative partnerships to help meet the needs of the families who don’t come to our doors? Have we asked our families what they need to grow beyond their current circumstances and enjoy self sustaining lives?

Illustration by Chris Campbell

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Policy&Practice December 2022