Introduction
Research Questions
- To what extent are TANF agencies across the country using TANF funds to serve and support families experiencing homelessness?
- What approaches and strategies are TANF agencies using to serve these families?
- What do those findings mean for TANF policymakers and Continuum of Care leaders trying to address family homelessness?
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides cash assistance to low-income families, including those currently experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The flexibility of TANF’s block grant program offers states, Tribes, and local jurisdictions wide latitude in their ability to provide an array of supports and services to people currently or at risk of experiencing homelessness. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), in recognition of the integral role TANF can play in family stability, released Information Memorandum (TANF-ACF-IM-2013-01) “Use of TANF Funds to Serve Homeless Families and Families at Risk of Experiencing Homelessness.” That memorandum highlights the important role TANF can play in helping families experiencing homelessness, offers approaches for using TANF funding, and provides examples of existing state initiatives.
To better understand how states and localities are currently using TANF funds to support families experiencing homelessness, ACF’s Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) contracted with Abt Associates and its partner MEF Associates to conduct the study. This brief summarizes the study’s findings for each of its primary research questions.
Purpose
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a cornerstone of America’s approach to supporting self-sufficiency. Because TANF is a federal block grant program, states have considerable discretion and flexibility in determining their policies, financing, and implementation approach. TANF is an important tool that states can leverage in connecting families experiencing homelessness to the services they need, including TANF-funded services such as cash assistance and childcare support, and more traditional housing supports such as rapid re-housing programs and subsidized housing.
This brief summarizes different approaches that TANF agencies can pursue to provide housing and related assistance to families experiencing homelessness.
Key Findings and Highlights
- Local TANF agencies often focus on helping families experiencing homelessness in response to state policy guidance.
- TANF agencies should consider tradeoffs between operating a housing assistance program and providing funding to local organizations with more expertise.
- Local homeless service providers, Continuums of Care, and Public Housing Agencies are key partners in the effective implementation of programs that TANF funds to serve families experiencing homelessness.
- TANF agencies should consider fully integrating employment services and job training with any housing assistance funded by TANF. More consideration for how these housing-focused programs can benefit from existing TANF resources may help strengthen and streamline case management efforts.
- TANF agencies should consider braiding their funding with other public and private funding streams to amplify its ability to help families experiencing homelessness.
- Continuums of Care can offer expertise on supporting families experiencing homelessness by providing knowledge and training to TANF staff.
Methods
To understand state TANF agencies’ overall philosophies and policies toward addressing family homelessness and the extent to which local TANF programs are implementing these policies, the Abt team conducted a scan of TANF agency practices in 2018 and 2019. The scan included a systematic document review of 25 state TANF plans and an online survey of all state TANF administrators and a sample of three local TANF administrators in each state.
The Abt team also completed five site visits to provide more detailed, in-depth information about how TANF programs use TANF and Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funds to assist families experiencing or at risk of homelessness. In November 2018, the Abt team conducted a pilot site visit to Mercer County, New Jersey. In September and October 2020, the Abt team completed virtual site visits with four additional communities: Boulder County, Colorado; Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; and Shasta County, California.
Citation
Dunton, Lauren, Cara Sierks, Nishi Kumar, and Asaph Glosser. (2021). Supporting Families Experiencing Homelessness: Strategies and Approaches for TANF Agencies. OPRE Report No. 2022-02. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Glossary
- HUD:
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- CoC:
- Continuum of Care
- TANF:
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
- PHA:
- Public Housing Agency