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Executive Summary

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides a fixed block grant of about $16.5 billion to states, territories (Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico), and Washington, DC (hereafter “states”). Additionally, federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Native organizations may elect to operate their own TANF programs. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) created TANF, repealing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and related programs.

TANF provisions in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023

To provide supplemental guidance to 477 tribes regarding the newly established Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund.

To transmit a form and instructions for requesting allotment from the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund.

To provide initial guidance regarding the newly established Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund.

Tribal TANF Caseload Data for Fiscal Year 2017

As a consequence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the United States is experiencing a nationwide emergency, implicating both public health and the economy. Secretary Azar declared a nationwide public health emergency on January 31, 2020, and President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) has heard from several grantees expressing concerns about the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the Tribal TANF program and is fielding many questions about how Tribal TANF can help support people affected by it. Its top priority is the public health and safety of all those operating its programs and receiving its services. Increased need in many tribal nations for basic assistance and other financial benefits may arise as a result of the pandemic. With that in mind, this program instruction (PI) builds on TANF-ACF-PI-2020-01 (Questions and answers about TANF and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic), found at /ofa/resource/tanf-acf-pi-2020-01, which addressed questions and answers about how state and tribal grantees might use TANF to help those in need and TANF’s administrative flexibilities for both states and tribes. This program instruction addresses frequently asked questions about the flexibilities available to tribes and the requirements for providing non-recurrent, short-term (NRST) benefits to those in need as a result of COVID-19.

National Tribal TANF Characteristics Data

Fiscal Year(s) (FY) 2008 to 2015
March 19, 2019

National Tribal TANF characteristics data for Fiscal Year(s) (FY) 2008 to 2015.

Tribal TANF Caseload Data for Fiscal Year 2015