TANF Program Expires Eliminating Jobs and Housing Assistance

September 29th, 2010 Brock Hailes Leave a comment Go to comments

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program expired on Thursday, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. According to the center, the expiration of this stimulus-subsidized employment program will leave tens of thousands without jobs and other forms of assistance.

What is TANF?

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) was a program developed to provide assistance and work opportunities to needy families by granting states, territories and tribes federal funds. While the work opportunities were usually time-limited and other assistance (cash grants, housing assistance, food programs, etc.) was usually temporary, it was all helpful in not just keeping families in need on their feet, but keeping the unemployment rate below 10 percent.

Program Comes to an End

Thirty-seven states had been granted $5 billion to provide assistance to families in their communities. About $1 billion of that money was used to subsidize employment while the remaining money went to housing assistance and other forms of aid.

While the stimulus program won praise in July for successfully providing opportunities for thousands–and lawmakers pushed fora $2.5 billionextension to the end of the year–it expired on Sept. 30.

Among aid lost was a subsidized child care program and boost for Head Start. As for the jobs lost, about half were summer jobs for youth and the other half went to disadvantaged parents.

States Pushing Ahead

Despite the loss of federal funds, many states have said they will push ahead with offering housing assistance and even some jobs. However, some have had to eliminate their aid with the loss of the money because they simply don’t have the backup funds to do so. As a result, many workers received a notice that they don’t need to report to work anymore.

This means the likelihood of the unemployment rate edging back up towards 10 percent is very real. But of course, this pales in comparison to the thousands who could be forced to drain their bank accounts or find other public assistance to put food on the table.

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