Children without parents in the TANF caseload: Thinking beyond the child-only label (original) (raw)
Related papers
Health Affairs, 2022
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which was established in 1996 and renewed in 2005, constituted a major reform of the US welfare system. Since its renewal, few studies have examined its effects on children. We used instrumental variables, two-way fixed effects, and event studies to examine the associations between statelevel TANF policies, Child Protective Services involvement, and foster care placement during the period 2004-16. We found that each additional TANF policy that restricted access to benefits was associated with a 13 percent reduction in TANF caseloads. Using TANF policies as an instrument, we found that increases in TANF caseloads were associated with significant reductions in numbers of neglect victims and foster care placements. In two-way fixed effects models, restrictions on TANF access were associated with more than forty-four additional neglect victims per 100,000 child population and between nineteen and twenty-two additional children per 100,000 placed in foster care. Our findings suggest that additional research using data that capture the nuances of maltreatment should be used to investigate the relationships among TANF policies, child maltreatment, and foster care placement.
Family care or foster care?: How state policies affect kinship caregivers
PsycEXTRA Dataset
In 1997, the Urban Institute surveyed state foster care administrators to gather information on state policies for identifying, licensing, and financially supporting kinship care families. For purposes of this brief, "kinship care" refers to a child whose placement was arranged by child welfare authorities. States were found to differ in three primary ways: (1) who they consider eligible caregivers; (2) how they license or approve family members for caregiving; and (3) how they support kinship families within the child welfare system. Regardless of how states define kin, almost all give preference to relatives over non-kin foster parents and many work actively to recruit family members to care for children in the foster care system. Policies on treatment of the kinship care family also vary among states, but in general (41 states), kinship families are held to a less stringent standard for foster family eligibility than nonrelated foster families. However, about half of these states do not provide foster care payments to kinship families meeting a lower standard, resulting in large differences in the resources provided to public kinship care families. Federal and state kinship care policies are in flux. In a rapidly changing policy environment, with continuing interest in kinship care, states are likely to continue to face a complex array of options and incentives for financing public and private kinship care. (Contains 11 endnotes.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. project analyzes changes in income support, social services, and health programs. In collaboration with Child Trends, the project studies child and family well-being.
Child Care Needs of Welfare Recipients In Maryland's Welfare Reform Program
The Journal of Sociology Social Welfare, 2015
Legislation mandating participation of welfare recipient parents in education and employment and training programs has created increased demand for provision of child care. Providing the most appropriate care for this unique population depends, ideally, on its needs and preferences. This study examines child care needs and preferences of a sample of participants in Maryland's welfare reform employment and training programs. Although care by a relative is most widely used by these respondents, it is not clear that this is the type of care preferred by the majority of respondents. This has important implications for policy decisions regarding child care funding.
Children and Youth Services Review, 2007
Data from the Milwaukee TANF Applicant Study were used to identify parent, family, and child-specific predictors of child welfare services involvement among 1075 families that applied for TANF assistance in 1999. Child-specific measures related to a randomly selected focal child from each applicant family were collected. Thirty-eight percent of the families were investigated for child maltreatment and 11% of the focal children were placed in out-of-home care between the 1999 TANF applications and the end of 2005. Prior child welfare services involvement and economic hardships were significant predictors of both child maltreatment investigations and out-of-home care placements. However, neither outcome was related to child-specific attributes nor behaviors once parent and family characteristics were taken into account. These findings suggest that TANF agencies are serving a population that needs help balancing family and work responsibilities.
2001
There is little question that the sweeping changes in welfare policy initiated by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193) (PRWORA) will have an impact on families involved in state child protection systems. The PRWORA eliminated the federal guarantee of a basic income support for all qualified families and replaced it with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), a programmatic combination of work requirements and sanctions for non-conforming behavior. Past research establishes an association between welfare receipt and involvement with the child protection system. Leaving welfare to enter the workforce, the primary goal of the PRWORA, carries with it both the potential for self-sufficiency and the uncertainty of a major life transition. Many welfare recipient families are likely to experience a number of potentially adverse life events, including transitions to work, economic strain, parental stress, and possibly sanctions, w...
Child Care for Families Leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
2001
Since Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program in 1996, the welfare rolls have decreased by more than 40 percent. While unemployment and poverty rates have declined, families who leave welfare generally earn low wages and remain below the poverty level. Because families leaving welfare are mostly single mothers with young children,
Age, Race, and Children's Living Arrangements: Implications for TANF Reauthorization
2003
This brief presents new information on the variations in family structure or living arrangements of poor children, by age and race, and analyzes the implications for current policy decisions. Data from the 1999 NSAF indicate that about half of poor children have two highly involved parents. This is the norm for poor infants but is less likely to be true for older children. Nearly two-thirds of poor infants have two highly involved parents because they are born into married or fragile families. Parents of poor teenagers are more likely than parents of poor young children to be divorced or separated. About half of poor teenagers live with single mothers, and divorced visiting becomes a significant arrangement for maintaining contact with their fathers. More than one-third of poor children are born into fragile families, with visiting the dominant arrangement for fatherchild contact. At no age are the majority of poor children living with a single mother and uninvolved father. Black children are much less likely than nonblack children to live with both of their natural parents because so few of their parents marry or cohabit. Fragile-visiting families are a uniquely important arrangement by which poor black children have frequent contact with both parents. Parents of older versus younger black children are much less likely to maintain their visiting arrangements. (Contains 15 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
‘In a bind’: Foster mothers' experiences with welfare reform
Journal of Children and Poverty, 2010
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 has diminished government support to single mothers and further limits the options for full-time parenting, placing priority on work participation and reduction of welfare caseloads. Based upon interviews with 100 low-income foster mothers who are also Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, this study examines their experiences with these policies while they balance multiple responsibilities as caregivers for abused and neglected children from the child welfare system. The implications of TANF policies for foster mothers and policy alternatives that support diverse family structures are also discussed.
TANF child-only cases in California: Barriers to self-sufficiency and well-being
Journal of Children and Poverty, 2011
Since the United States implemented Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), or 'welfare reform,' the number of assistance cases without an adult receiving aid has risen dramatically. In states like California, these child-only cases now constitute the majority of all TANF cases. Despite this increase, existing research sheds little light on the composition of child-only caseloads and the status of the adults and children in such cases. Drawing on county administrative data and interviews with 143 parents associated with child-only cases in five California counties, this paper identifies both the demographics of the child-only caseload in these sites and the major barriers to employment that parents in sanctioned and timed-out child-only cases face. These include human capital, health, and family issues, in addition to other obstacles. The data suggest that, despite functioning as one administrative entity, CalWORKs, California's TANF program, has transformed into two separate programs: a welfare-to-work program and a subsistence-level cash assistance program for some members of child-only families. Given this transformation, the paper closes by suggesting a research agenda for future child-only scholarship and argues for policy innovations to meet the needs of the expanding child-only caseload.
Families In Society, 2023
Kinship placement has been shown to be superior to foster care in increasing permanency and safety for children. Despite the many benefits of kinship placement, kinship caregivers receive less support than foster family, and this creates unique challenges. This study analyzes data from a state-wide kinship caregiver survey with 868 respondents. Caregivers reported their top three challenges and needs, which were stratified by caregiver-reported income, location of residence, and reasons for the child’s placement into kinship care. We found striking differences in reported challenges and needs based on income, region, and reason for placement. This further demonstrates the need for support for kinship families and can help develop targeted policies to alleviate challenges faced by kinship caregivers across the state.