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Part II: Program Description and Performance Analysis
| 6.3 | TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES: CHILD WELL-BEING |
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND CONTEXT:
The purposes of TANF are to provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes; to reduce dependency by promoting job readiness, work and marriage; to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. TANF is authorized under title IV-A of the Social Security Act, as amended by PRWORA. (A detailed discussion of TANF has been provided under Strategic Goal 1.)
ACF uses TANF resources to develop strategies aimed at promoting healthy marriages and family formation. For example, a majority of states has eliminated restrictions on two-parent families’ eligibility for welfare, such as the requirements under the previous AFDC program that one parent be either incapacitated or unemployed. Several states have undertaken efforts to promote healthy marriages ranging from pilot programs to statewide initiatives. ACF is providing technical assistance and conducting research projects to further knowledge about how strengthening marriage can promote child well-being.
Under the President’s welfare reauthorization proposal, child well-being would become an explicit goal of TANF and funding would be available to support demonstration and research projects aimed at improving child well-being through the promotion of healthy marriages and family formation.
PROGRAM PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
| Performance Measures | Targets | Actual Performance | Reference (page # in printed document) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PROGRAM GOAL: Enhance child well-being by promoting healthy marriages and family formation and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies. | |||
| 6.3a. Increase in the number of children in a state living in married couple households as a percentage of all children in the state living in households. [O] (Developmental) | FY
05: 70% FY 04: NA |
FY
05: FY 04: Baseline (Note: CY 2002 rate was 69.75%) |
|
| (Former Measure: The number of states implementing initiatives to promote healthy marriages ) | FY 04: Replaced | ||
| Full costs associated with this effort are included in the TANF section, Strategic Goal I. | |||
Summary of Program Performance
ACF has established this new objective to track the effects of the relationship between family structure and child well-being. Research indicates that children who grow up in healthy, married, two-parent households have a more solid foundation for success. They are less likely to experience poverty, engage in high-risk behavior, or suffer from emotional or developmental problems. Over time, these children have higher levels of educational attainment, employment opportunity and earning potential. In contrast, children who grow up in non-married households or without their father present, are more likely to live in poverty, drop out or fail out of school, engage in at-risk behavior and suffer emotional or psychological problems necessitating treatment. The FY 2005 target has been projected based on a preliminary baseline estimate.
Data Sources: Annual supplemental Census survey data provides reliable state estimates for this measure. ACF will continue to work with states and other partners in developing or enhancing data collections systems to capture marriage-related information and facilitate future research.
Measure by Measure Presentation of Performance
PROGRAM GOAL: Enhance child well-being by promoting healthy marriages and family formation and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
| FY 2005 Plan | |
| 6.3a | Increase in the number of children in a state
living in married couple households as a percentage of all children
in the state living in households (New - Developmental). Data Source: Census Data |
Because we lacked data on healthy marriages and family formation, we initially proposed a developmental process measure for this goal: the number of states implementing initiatives to promote healthy marriages. Using expanded sampling by the Census Bureau allows us to measure the extent to which children are living in married couple households. Through this measure, we will indirectly track state TANF efforts in this area.
ACF does not have a mechanism that specifically tracks spending for this measure, but ACF does collect information that incorporates spending in this area that can be used as a proxy for this measure. States report quarterly on their Federal TANF and state MOE expenditures on the TANF ACF-196 Financial Report form. This form does not contain an item for reporting Federal TANF or state MOE expenditures on children living with their married parents or on “marriage programs.” The expenditure item most closely connected to the needs is item 6i (expenditures on non-assistance in ways that are reasonably calculated to accomplish the TANF goal of encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families).
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