Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and
March 2, 2021
Proposed COVID-19 Pandemic Economic
Gene Falk
Relief: In Brief
Specialist in Social Policy

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides grants to states,
Patrick A. Landers
territories, and American Indian tribes to help finance a wide range of benefits and services for
Analyst in Social Policy
needy families with children. On February 27, 2021, the House passed the American Rescue Plan

Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319), an omnibus budget reconciliation bill that would, among other
provisions, create a temporary $1 billion TANF fund to provide non-recurrent short-term

benefits. As of that date, the Senate had not yet moved to consider similar legislation as part of
the budget reconciliation process for FY2021.
The primary TANF funding stream, the state family assistance block grant, provides states a set dollar amount determined by
a formula established in law by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA;
P.L. 104-193). This amount is not adjusted for inflation, population shifts, or any other changes that have transpired since the
mid-1990s. States are required to expend a minimum amount of their own funds, known as the state maintenance-of-effort
(MOE) requirement, on the TANF-related population and TANF-related programs. This amount also has not changed since
the mid-1990s. In recent years, Congress has also appropriated funding to the TANF contingency fund, which was first
established in 1996 as a source of additional funding in the event of an economic downturn and provides matching grants to
states meeting certain requirements. In total, states expended $30.9 billion in federal TANF grants to states and state MOE
funds in FY2019. TANF funds can be used to provide a variety of benefits and services, including ongoing basic economic
assistance; emergency, short-term aid; work, education, and training activities; child care and other work supports; and social
services. States vary widely in how they use federal TANF grants and state MOE funds.
Under the House-passed bill, a temporary TANF grant would provide $1 billion to states, territories, and tribes to supplement
other TANF funding. Initial grants would be made to states up to a set allocation amount. The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) would be given $2 million for federal administration and to help provide technical assistance to
states, territories, and tribes. After the amount for technical as sistance is set aside, 7.5% of the remaining funds would be
provided to the territories and Indian tribes and 92.5% of the remaining funds would be allotted to the 50 states and District
of Columbia. The state funding would be initially allocated as follows: 50% would be allocated by each state’s share of the
total child population, and 50% would be allocated by each state’s share of total FY2019 TANF expenditures on basic
assistance, non-recurrent short-term benefits, and emergency assistance. States, territories, and tribes could only use this
funding for non-recurrent short-term benefits. These short-term benefits address a specific crisis situation or episode of need
and can be provided in cash or non-cash forms (e.g., payment vouchers for emergency housing or food aid). Non-recurrent
short-term benefits are not subject to a number of provisions applicable to basic assistance under TANF (e.g., time limits,
work requirements, child support requirements).

Congressional Research Service

TANF and Proposed COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Relief: In Brief

Introduction
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides grants to states,
territories, and American Indian tribes to help finance a wide range of benefits and services
related to ameliorating the effects of, and addressing the root causes of, economic disadvantage
among families with children. It is best known for providing ongoing economic assistance to
families with children, but it also funds emergency, short-term aid; child care; employment and
training programs for assistance recipients as wel as other eligible parents or youth; and social
services.
In 2020, five separate laws were enacted to address the economic fal out from the Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and provide economic relief.1 No additional funding for
TANF was provided in any of those measures, though the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) announced it would provide relief from penalties under existing law to states that
failed to meet TANF work participation standards.2
President Biden proposed $1 bil ion in additional TANF funding to help finance additional cash
assistance as part of his American Rescue Plan.3 On February 27, 2021, the House passed the
American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319), an omnibus budget reconciliation bil to the House
chamber. Title IX, Section 9201, of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 would create a $1
bil ion temporary TANF grant to supplement other TANF funding.4 As of that date, the Senate
had not yet moved to consider similar legislation as part of the budget reconciliation process for
FY2021.5
TANF Funding
TANF was created in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of
1996 (PRWORA, P.L. 104-193). Before PRWORA, economic assistance to needy families with
children was provided through a federal-state matching grant program. Under that program (Aid
to Families with Dependent Children [AFDC]), funding was not limited, and federal grants
reimbursed states for a share of their expenditures. Those expenditures were determined by, and
changed according to, the number of families receiving assistance and the benefit amounts they
received.
PRWORA converted funding for AFDC and related programs into the TANF block grant, with the
bulk of funding in the state family assistance grant. The state family assistance grant provides

1 For more information, see CRS Report R46460, Fiscal Policy and Recovery from the COVID-19 Recession.
2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family
Assistance, Questions and Answers about TANF and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID -19) Pandem ic, T ANF-
ACF-PI-2020-01, March 2020, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/policy-guidance/tanf-acf-pi-2020-01-questions-and-
answers-about -tanf-and-coronavirus-disease.
3 T he White House, “ President Biden Announces American Rescue Plan,” January 20, 2021, at
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2021/01/20/president -biden-announces-american-rescue-plan/.
4 T he provision creating the T ANF pandemic emergency assistance was ordered to be sent to the House Budget
Committee from the House Committee on Ways and Means on February 10, 2021. T he House Budget Committee
included this legislative language in its reported version of H.R. 1319.
5 For information on budget reconciliation, see CRS Report R44058, The Budget Reconciliation Process: Stages of
Consideration. For information on the budget resolution for FY2021, which contains reconciliation directives, see CRS
Report R46675, S.Con.Res. 5: The Budget Resolution for FY2021 .
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states a set dollar amount determined by a formula established in the law. It does not change
according to the number of families receiving assistance or benefit amounts. Additional y, the
funding levels for the state family assistance grant provided by PRWORA have not been
increased for inflation, population, or other changes that have transpired since the mid-1990s. The
state family assistance grant totaled $16.5 bil ion in FY2019. In addition to expending federal
TANF grants, TANF requires states to make expenditures from their own funds on TANF or
TANF-related programs. This requirement, known as the state maintenance-of-effort (MOE)
requirement, is also a set amount that has not been adjusted for changes since the mid-1990s.6
How TANF Funds Are Used
Figure 1 shows how the $30.9 bil ion in federal TANF grants to states and state MOE funds was
expended, or transferred to other block grant programs, in FY2019. Ongoing basic economic
assistance was the most common use, but it only represented 21% ($6.5 bil ion) of total spending.
Other common uses included child care, work and training programs, refundable tax credits, pre-
kindergarten programs, programs to provide services to children who have been abused and
neglected or are at risk of abuse or neglect, emergency and short-term benefits, and other services
(youth, responsible fatherhood, and healthy marriage promotion activities).
States have broad discretion within TANF, and their use of federal TANF grants and state MOE
funds varies considerably. For example, the share of total expenditures devoted to basic assistance
ranged from a low of 3.6% (Indiana) to a high of 69.3% (Kentucky) in FY2019. Work, education,
and training expenditures varied from a low of 0.2% (Arizona) to a high of 26.9% (California).
Eight states and the District of Columbia reported no TANF expenditures on child welfare, while
three states (Arizona, Georgia, and North Dakota) al ocated more than half their federal TANF
grant and state MOE funds to this purpose.7

6 For additional details on T ANF financing, see CRS Report RL32748, The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) Block Grant: A Prim er on TANF Financing and Federal Requirem ents.
7 For data on FY2019 T ANF expenditures by category and state, see T able B-1 and T able B-2 in CRS Report
RL32760, The Tem porary Assistance for Needy Fam ilies (TANF) Block Grant: Responses to Frequently Asked
Questions.
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TANF and Proposed COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Relief: In Brief

Figure 1. Uses of TANF Funds by Spending Category, FY2019
(Dol ars in bil ions)

Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), based on data posted to the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) website on October 22, 2020.
Notes: Categories may not add to total because of rounding. Excludes TANF funds used in the territories and in
tribal TANF programs.
TANF and Economic Downturns
To provide states with additional funding in the event of an economic downturn, PRWORA
established a $2 bil ion TANF contingency fund. This fund provides matching grants to states if
they meet certain requirements related to extra state spending, high and increasing
unemployment, or high and increasing caseloads in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP). The contingency fund al ows grants to be used for any TANF benefit or
service.
The original $2 bil ion appropriation to the TANF contingency fund was exhausted during the
period of high unemployment associated with the 2007-2009 recession. Since then, Congress has
funded the contingency fund with annual appropriations. The FY2021 appropriation to the
contingency fund is $608 mil ion, an amount expected to be exhausted in spring 2021.8
In 2009, facing the exhaustion of the contingency fund and other concerns about its eligibility
criteria and uses, Congress established the Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L. 111-5).9 The ECF was a $5 bil ion fund to help
states, territories, and tribes finance increased expenditures for basic assistance, non-recurrent
short-term aid, and subsidized employment. The ECF expired on September 30, 2010. It was not
reauthorized, nor has it received additional funding.

8 As of February 3, 2021, states received cumulative FY2021 contingency fund grants of $384.9 million from the
FY2021 appropriation of $608 million. Grants are being made at a rate of $77 million per month. At this rate, the
FY2021 appropriation to the cont ingency fund will be exhausted in May 2021.
9 For a discussion of the 2009 T ANF Emergency Contingency Fund, see CRS Report R41078, The TANF Emergency
Contingency Fund.
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Proposed TANF Pandemic Emergency Assistance
The House-passed bil would create a temporary TANF grant. It would provide $1 bil ion to help
states, territories, and tribes finance non-recurrent short-term benefits. The legislation would
make eligible for funds the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI),
and Indian tribes.10 American Samoa and CNMI do not operate regular TANF programs. Their
funds would be directed to the agency that administers most of the local human services programs
in those territories.
Funding Allocation
Under the House-passed legislation, initial grants would be made to states up to a set al ocation
amount. HHS would be given $2 mil ion for federal administration and to help provide technical
assistance to states, territories, and tribes. After the amount for technical assistance is set aside,
7.5% of the remaining funds would be provided to the territories and Indian tribes and 92.5% of
the remaining funds would be al otted to the 50 states and the District of Columbia.11
Funds to the 50 states and District of Columbia ($923.150 mil ion) would be al ocated as follows:
 50% of funds would be al ocated based on each state’s total child (under age 18)
population as a percentage of the total child population of the 50 states and
District of Columbia; and
 50% of funds would be al ocated based on each state’s FY2019 expenditures on
basic assistance, non-recurrent short-term benefits, and emergency assistance as a
percentage of the total expenditures for these categories in the 50 states and
District of Columbia.12
Under the proposed grant, monies that are not used by a state would be real ocated to other states.
Thus, after the real ocation of unused funds, the actual amounts received by some states might
differ from the estimated al otments.
Table 1 provides the Congressional Research Service’s estimates of the initial al ocation of the
proposed TANF grant. These estimates are provided solely to assist in comparisons of the relative
impact of funding levels and alternative formulas in the legislative process. The data used in
providing the al ocation estimates are discussed in the note to Table 1.13 Should HHS use
different data, the al ocations to the states would likely also differ.
The table shows these estimates relative to the TANF state family assistance grant. Its final
column shows how much pandemic emergency assistance grants would increase TANF funding
above the amount provided by the state family assistance grant.

10 T he funds provided to Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands would be excluded from the statutory (Section
1108 of the Social Security Act) limits on public assistance funding provided to these jurisdictions.
11 Funding to territories and tribes would be allocated as the HHS Secretary deems appropriate based on the needs of
the territory or tribe involved.
12 Non-recurrent short-term benefits and emergency assistance comprise most of the CRS-tabulated category
“Emergency and Short-T erm Benefits” shown in Figure 1.
13 T his table is a revision of allocation estimates shown in an earlier version of this report. T he previous version had
allocated 50% of funds based on FY2019 expenditures t hat included “ emergency services” in addition to emergency
assistance.
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TANF and Proposed COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Relief: In Brief

Table 1. Estimated Initial Allocations for a Proposed Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) Grant to Provide Pandemic Emergency Assistance
Pandemic
Emergency
Pandemic
Assistance as
SFAG
Emergency
a Percentage
Payable to
Assistance
of SFAG
the State
Allocation
Payable to
State
(millions of $) (millions of $)
the State
Alabama
$93.007
$10.181
10.9%
Alaska
44.397
3.370
7.6
Arizona
199.407
14.536
7.3
Arkansas
56.546
4.717
8.3
California
3,635.563
203.700
5.6
Colorado
135.608
13.522
10.0
Connecticut
265.908
7.088
2.7
Delaware
32.184
2.070
6.4
District of Columbia
92.304
14.731
16.0
Florida
560.484
35.451
6.3
Georgia
329.650
21.994
6.7
Hawai
98.578
4.211
4.3
Idaho
30.307
3.410
11.3
Il inois
583.126
20.423
3.5
Indiana
206.117
10.678
5.2
Iowa
130.558
6.361
4.9
Kansas
101.478
5.133
5.1
Kentucky
180.689
17.408
9.6
Louisiana
163.431
7.908
4.8
Maine
76.847
3.862
5.0
Maryland
228.342
17.756
7.8
Massachusetts
457.855
27.840
6.1
Michigan
772.794
19.000
2.5
Minnesota
259.569
14.322
5.5
Mississippi
86.481
4.744
5.5
Missouri
216.335
14.519
6.7
Montana
37.889
2.738
7.2
Nebraska
56.627
4.446
7.9
Nevada
43.762
6.798
15.5
New Hampshire
38.394
4.131
10.8
New Jersey
402.702
17.244
4.3
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TANF and Proposed COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Relief: In Brief

Pandemic
Emergency
Pandemic
Assistance as
SFAG
Emergency
a Percentage
Payable to
Assistance
of SFAG
the State
Allocation
Payable to
State
(millions of $) (millions of $)
the State
New Mexico
109.920
6.391
5.8
New York
2,434.869
127.154
5.2
North Carolina
300.438
16.802
5.6
North Dakota
26.313
1.371
5.2
Ohio
725.566
33.945
4.7
Oklahoma
144.793
7.125
4.9
Oregon
165.835
12.235
7.4
Pennsylvania
717.125
26.456
3.7
Rhode Island
94.292
4.362
4.6
South Carolina
99.638
10.145
10.2
South Dakota
21.207
2.294
10.8
Tennessee
190.892
12.972
6.8
Texas
484.652
49.467
10.2
Utah
75.356
7.333
9.7
Vermont
47.197
1.622
3.4
Virginia
157.763
15.749
10.0
Washington
379.058
22.749
6.0
West Virginia
109.813
4.613
4.2
Wisconsin
312.846
14.534
4.6
Wyoming
18.429
1.536
8.3
Subtotal, 50 States and District of Columbia
16,232.943
923.150
5.7
Territories and Tribal Set-Aside
277.497
74.850
27.0

Technical Assistance
2.000
Totals
16,510.439
1,000.000
6.1
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimates based on data from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Notes: These estimates are based on specific sources of information. If the HHS uses different data, the
al ocations to the states would likely also differ. The “state family assistance grant” shown in the table for the 50
states and the District of Columbia reflects the state family assistance grant minus the amount used for tribal
TANF grants in FY2019 (the last year for which actual data are available) and are taken from HHS,
Administration for Children and Families, FY2021 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees. The
expenditure information used to calculate pandemic emergency assistance estimates is from the FY2019
expenditure data reported to HHS under Section 411 of the Social Security Act and posted to the HHS website
on October 22, 2020. The expenditure categories are based on form ACF-196-R, and the expenditures used
were the sum of the fol owing reported categories: (1) basic assistance, (2) non-recurrent short-term benefits,
and (3) emergency assistance authorized solely under prior law. (Prior law refers to the legal context before
PRWORA was enacted.) The child population data used to calculate Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund
estimates are the state resident population estimates for July 1, 2019, released in June 2020.
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TANF and Proposed COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Relief: In Brief

Use of Funds
States, territories, and tribes may use funds provided under the House-passed legislation only for
non-recurrent short-term benefits and the administrative costs of providing them. Non-recurrent
short-term benefits are defined in OMB-approved Form ACF-196R.14 This form’s instructions
define the benefits as short-term benefits being made:
To families in the form of cash, vouchers, subsidies, or similar form of payment to deal
with a specific crisis situation or episode of need and excluded from the definition of
assistance on that basis. This category includes [state] expenditures such as emergency
assistance and diversion payments, emergency housing and short-term homelessness
assistance, emergency food aid, short-term utilities payments, burial assistance, clothing
allowances, and back-to-school payments.15
In FY2019, states spent more than $955 mil ion in total on non-recurrent short-term benefits
using federal TANF and state MOE funding. Non-recurrent short-term benefits are sometimes
provided in lieu of basic assistance, though states may provide such benefits to recipients in
addition to ongoing basic assistance. As with ongoing basic assistance, states determine whether a
family qualifies as financial y needy and the amount of non-recurrent short-term assistance.
The exclusion of non-recurrent short-term benefits from the definition of assistance means these
benefits are not subject to a number of provisions applicable to basic assistance under TANF. For
example,
 the federal TANF time limit on assistance does not apply to non-recurrent short-
term benefits (the time limit general y bars states from using federal TANF funds
to provide assistance to a family containing an adult who has already received
five years of assistance);
 recipients of non-recurrent short-term benefits do not count toward the federal
TANF work requirement, under which states must assess, engage, sanction, and
meet numerical work activity participation rates for families receiving assistance;
 recipients of non-recurrent short-term benefits are not required to cooperate with
child support enforcement and assign (i.e., legal y turn over) their child support
to the state, as is general y required for families receiving TANF assistance;
 TANF prohibitions on providing assistance to unwed teenaged parents who are
not living in an adult-supervised setting, teenagers who have not completed high
school and are not making satisfactory progress toward doing so, individuals who
have been convicted of a felony drug offense, and fugitive felons and parole
violators do not apply to non-recurrent short-term benefits; however, lawful
permanent residents who entered the United States within the past five years,
nonimmigrants, and unauthorized aliens are ineligible for these and other TANF
benefits; and
 states are not required to provide the federal government with certain information
on recipients of non-recurrent short-term benefits, including caseload counts and
recipient-level information, such as demographics, work activity hours, and
financial circumstances, on families receiving assistance.

14 T here is also a regulatory definition of non-recurrent short-term benefits at 45 C.F.R. §260.31(b)(1). T hat definition
is similar, but not identical, to the definition on the ACF-196R. T he legislation specifies that the definition on the ACF-
196R be used to administer the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund.
15 Diversion in this context typically refers to a lump-sum payment offered to families in lieu of ongoing basic T ANF
assistance.
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TANF and Proposed COVID-19 Pandemic Economic Relief: In Brief

States would be limited to using no more than 15% of the al ocations from the proposed grant for
administrative costs. Tribes and territories would be exempt from this limit.
Other Rules Related to the Pandemic Emergency Assistance
To receive their full al otment of funds, states and tribes would be required to inform HHS
whether they intend to use their full al otments. States would be required to expend grants from
their initial al ocation by September 30, 2022. Funds received through the al otment of unused
funds would have to be spent within a year. The House-passed legislation includes language
requiring that the pandemic emergency assistance funds be used to supplement, not supplant,
existing federal and state funds used to provide TANF benefits and services. HHS is authorized to
collect data on expenditures made from the funds.

Author Information

Gene Falk
Patrick A. Landers
Specialist in Social Policy
Analyst in Social Policy

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
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under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
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Congressional Research Service
R46692 · VERSION 2 · UPDATED
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