OFA published a new Information Memorandum (IM) regarding state flexibility to use TANF to support child care, including transfers to CCDF, and to provide assistance to married, two-parent families with an at-home parental caregiver.
The purpose of the IM is to remind states that TANF provides flexibility to support children being cared for in their own homes and to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families; to encourage states to consider transferring the maximum amount of TANF funds authorized by law to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF); and to clarify that states may provide TANF assistance to married, two-parent families in which one parent remains home as a caregiver, subject to the TANF time-limit and work rules that apply to assistance, while retaining discretion to define needy standards and set benefit levels.