Order Code RS22246
Updated September 16, 2005
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF): Its Role in Response to the Effects of
Hurricane Katrina
Gene Falk
Specialist in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division
Summary
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides grants
to states to help them fund a wide variety of benefits and services to low-income
families with children. TANF is best known as helping fund ongoing cash welfare
benefits for families with children, but the block grant may also fund other benefits and
services such as emergency payments, child care, transportation assistance, and other
social services. Welfare programs are not usually associated with responses to natural
disasters. However, the scope of Hurricane Katrina’s displacement of families, the
strain likely to be placed on human service agencies responding to this displacement,
plus the flexibility allowed states to design programs under TANF, has made the block
grant a potential source of help to the victims of this disaster. H.R. 3672, which cleared
the Congress on September 15, 2005, would provide some additional TANF funds and
waive certain program requirements for states affected by Katrina. That same day
Senators Grassley and Baucus introduced S. 1716, which would expand upon provisions
of H.R. 3672. This report will be updated.
The TANF block grant is a fixed amount of funding paid to each state based on a
formula. States design and administer benefits and services funded by TANF and have
wide latitude in their use of block grant funds. States are required to share a portion of
the cost of TANF benefits and services by expending some of their own funds on
TANF-related benefits and services through a “maintenance of effort” requirement.1
TANF was created in the 1996 welfare reform law (P.L. 104-193), when it replaced
the New Deal program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which
helped states fund cash welfare benefits. The funding authority provided in the 1996 law
originally expired at the end of FY2002 (September 30, 2002). Since then, Congress has
1 For details on TANF grants and financing, as well as requirements the block grant places on
states, see: CRS Report RL32748, The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block
Grant: A Primer on Financing and Requirements for State Programs.
Congressional Research Service { The Library of Congress

---

CRS-2
inconclusively debated legislation to provide for a five-year reauthorization of TANF and
instead has enacted temporary extensions of the program. The latest of these extensions
is set to expire on September 30, 2005.
TANF Cash Welfare Benefit Programs
TANF is the major federal-state program providing cash assistance to needy families
with children. While federal TANF grants help fund this cash assistance, states determine
eligibility rules and benefit amounts which vary greatly among the states. There are no
federal rules regarding eligibility and benefits for ongoing cash welfare, other than the
requirement that it be paid to families with children that meet a financial test of economic
need.
Table 1 provides some basic information on cash welfare benefits in the states
affected by Hurricane Katrina and some of their neighboring states. It shows both the
maximum monthly benefit amount paid to a family of three as of January 2005 and the
average number of families that received cash assistance in December 2004. The
maximum monthly benefit is generally the amount paid to a family with no other income
sources. TANF cash assistance benefits in this region are relatively low compared with
those paid in other regions and states. For example, the comparable maximum cash
welfare grant paid in New York City in January 2005 was $691 per month and the
maximum cash welfare grant paid to a family of three in the urban areas of California was
$723 per month.
Table 1. TANF Cash Welfare Benefits and the Cash Welfare
Caseload in Selected States Affected by Hurricane Katrina
Maximum Monthly Cash
Average Monthly Number
Welfare Grant for a
of Families Receiving
State
Family of 3: January 2005
Cash Assistance:
(unless otherwise noted)
December 2004
States directly affected by Hurricane Katrina
Alabama
$215
21,119
Florida
303
66,974
Louisiana
240
17,184
Mississippi
170
17,272
Selected Neighboring States
Texas
223
98,721
Arkansas
204
8,771
(as of 1/1/04)
Georgia
280
46,336
Tennessee
185
73,236
Source: TANF cash assistance maximum benefit amounts are based on a Congressional Research Service
(CRS) survey of the states. Cash assistance caseloads are based on data from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).

---

CRS-3
TANF imposes some requirements on states with respect to families receiving cash
assistance. The purpose of the requirements is to ensure that receipt of cash welfare is
temporary and to encourage movement off the rolls and into work. TANF requires that
a specified percentage of its caseload be engaged in work or job preparation activities,
limits federally-funded assistance to five years, and requires that cash assistance recipients
cooperate with child support enforcement rules (establish paternity and assign child
support to the state).
Emergency Assistance
TANF also gives authority to states to pay “emergency assistance” benefits.
Emergency benefits are those that:
! are considered “nonrecurrent, short-term benefits;”
! are designed to deal with a specific crisis situation or episode of need;
! are not intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs; and
! will not extend beyond four months.2
Families receiving such emergency benefits are not subject to the same requirements (i.e,
work requirements and time limits) as are families that receive cash assistance. As with
cash welfare, states determine eligibility for and the scope of emergency benefits provided
to low-income families with children.
Other Benefits and Services
In addition to ongoing cash welfare and emergency aid, TANF can fund a wide range
of other social services for low-income families with children, such as child care,
transportation aid, family preservation and support services, and similar types of services.
As with ongoing cash welfare and emergency assistance, states determine eligibility and
the scope of benefits provided to needy families with children.
Legislation to Respond to the Impact of Hurricane Katrina
Welfare programs are not usually associated with responses to natural disasters.
However, the scope of Hurricane Katrina’s displacement of families, the strain likely to
be placed on human service agencies responding to this displacement, plus the flexibility
allowed states to design programs under TANF, has made the block grant a potential
source of help to the victims of this disaster. While TANF funding is flexible and
provides states with options to help needy families, there are challenges to the program
to help meet emerging needs. First, TANF is a state-based program, with each state
operating its own program under its own rules for its own residents. For example, how
will Texas provide benefits and services to displaced residents of Louisiana? Second,
TANF block grants are fixed amounts determined by formula in federal law. In the above
example, if a state such as Texas provides benefits and services to families from
Louisiana, they would have to be paid for out of Texas’ allocation of TANF funds. Third,
2 The rules for emergency assistance are not in TANF statute, but are in regulations promulgated
by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at 45 CFR 260.31.

---

CRS-4
in terms of ongoing cash assistance, there are questions about applying some of the 1996
welfare reforms (work requirements and time limits) to victims of a natural disaster.
H.R. 3672, which passed the House on September 8, 2005 and the Senate on
September 15, 2005 would address some of these issues by:
! Providing extra funding for three states directly impacted by Hurricane
Katrina — Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
! Federalizing the costs of benefits paid by a host state to evacuees from
states directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina for one year. The
measures would provide 100% federal funding for such benefits, though
limited to 20% of a state’s basic block grant in the year.
! Allowing families in the three states directly impacted by Hurricane
Katrina and evacuees from those states to receive benefits free of certain
TANF requirements, such as the work requirement and time limit.
! Allowing an advance draw down of the first quarter of the FY2006
TANF block grant in September 2005;
! Allowing states to use unspent TANF funds on any benefit and service
to aid families affected by the Hurricane; and
! Waiving penalties for failure to comply with most TANF requirements
for the states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Though the Senate passed H.R. 3672 on September 15, 2005 by unanimous consent,
that same day Senate Finance Committee Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member
Baucus introduced S. 1716, which would amend provisions of H.R. 3672 by increasing
the limits and availability of the contingency fund and allowing a waiver of TANF
requirements for a broader set of benefits and services. Table 2 compares provisions of
H.R. 3672 with those of S. 1716.
Table 2. Comparison of House and Senate Versions of H.R. 3672
Provision
H.R. 3672 (as passed both
TANF Provisions of S.
the House and Senate)
1716
Additional funding
Permits Alabama, Louisiana,
Permits Alabama, Louisiana,
for states directly
and Mississippi to draw up to
and Mississippi to draw upon
impacted by
20% of their block grant from
the TANF contingency fund.
Hurricane Katrina
the TANF loan fund, with the
100% federal funding (no state
loan and its interest forgiven.
match required) up to a
maximum 70% of the TANF
block grant in a year for the 14
months August 2005-
September 2006.
Also allows these states to
draw upon the loan fund, with
the maximum loan of 40% of
the TANF block grant with the
loan and interest on the loan
forgiven.

---

CRS-5
Provision
H.R. 3672 (as passed both
TANF Provisions of S.
the House and Senate)
1716
Funding to a state
Permits states to draw from the
Permits states to draw from the
hosting evacuees
existing TANF contingency
existing TANF contingency
from directly
fund to pay benefits for
fund to pay benefits for
impacted states
evacuees from directly
evacuees from directly
impacted states. Families
impacted states.
cannot already be receiving
benefits from their home state.
100% federal funding (no
100% federal funding (no
match required) for the cost of
match requirement) for the cost
these benefits up to a
of these benefits up to a
maximum 20% of the TANF
maximum 70% of the TANF
block grant in the year.
block grant for the 14 months
August 2005-September 2005.
Application of TANF
Time limits and work
Time limits, work
requirements to
requirements do not apply to
requirements, and certain child
families affected by
such families if the benefits are
support requirements do not
Hurricane Katrina
paid as non-recurrent, short-
apply to evacuated families
term benefits to meet a
receiving “Hurricane Katrina
subsistence need.
Emergency TANF Benefits”
provided in other states.
“Hurricane Katrina Emergency
Benefits” are benefits and
services normally provided by
TANF that are designated as
emergency benefits for
evacuated families or families
in Alabama, Louisiana, or
Mississippi.
TANF Penalties
Waives TANF penalties for
Similar provision.
Alabama, Louisiana, and
Mississippi for failure to
comply with TANF
requirements. Does not waive
the penalty for failure to meet
state fiscal effort.
TANF Funding
Allows states to draw their first
No change from H.R. 3672.
quarter FY06 grant (normally
payable on October 1, 2005) in
Sept. 2005. Extends TANF
funding through the end of
Dec. 2005.
Use of Unspent
Allows states to use unspent
No change from H.R. 3672.
TANF Funds
funds for any TANF benefit or
service for a family affected by
Hurricane Katrina.
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS).

---