TANF and the Broader Safety Net

This research brief summarizes what we know about the connections between TANF and other large safety net programs. TANF recipients typically represent a small share of the enrollment for other safety net programs, but other programs may provide sufficient support to help a family leave TANF or to avoid TANF altogether. In fact, early supporters of the TANF legislation claimed that there food, housing, child care, and health care costs. Some focus on services to collect child support and facilitate job search and training. Safety net programs can be entitlements, whose funding increases to meet the need, while others have a fixed amount of funding typically set through an appropriations process. Benefit levels vary tremendously across programs. Program administration can be federal, state, or local, with tremendous variation across states and even across local areas within states.