Grandparenting
In Brief: The Effect of State TANF Choices on Grandparent-Headed Households
Research Report
Faith Mullen, AARP Public Policy Institute
Monique Einhorn, AARP Public Policy Institute
October 2000
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Table of Contents: Methodology | Key Findings | Conclusions
A growing number of grandparents find themselves raising grandchildren and facing new financial burdens. Public benefits, including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), can ease this burden. In 1996 Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRA). The PRA repealed Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and replaced it with TANF. Much of the responsibility for the design and administration of the TANF program rests with states, but most states have not yet developed TANF policies that address the particular circumstances of grandparent-headed households. States have substantial discretion in how they implement their TANF block grants. Consequently there is wide variation among state TANF programs.
This In Brief summarizes key findings from a recent AARP study that examines how the states, in implementing TANF, may have crafted policies that are not tailored to the unique needs of grandparent-headed households.1 This study looks at four of those policies: benefit amounts, time limits, work requirements, and child support enforcement. This study offers policymakers and advocates the opportunity to see how other states have addressed these issues and to identify policies that may better serve the needs of grandparent-headed households.
Methodology
The data were obtained through telephone interviews conducted from November 1998 to February 1999 with State TANF administrators or their representatives. Responses were received from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Key Findings:
Benefit Amounts
Regardless of their own income and assets, grandparents in every state can obtain "child-only" TANF benefits on behalf of their grandchildren. In most states, grandparents with low incomes and limited resources can receive additional cash benefits by choosing to be part of the so-called "assistance unit." Yet some grandparents may choose to forgo the additional cash assistance because being part of the assistance unit will likely subject them to time limits, work requirements, and child support enforcement cooperation requirements.
The maximum TANF benefit varies dramatically from state to state. Since states are no longer required to provide long-term cash assistance to eligible families, a number of states have increased their short-term cash assistance benefits. Even though cash assistance has increased in some states, there is still a significant gap between monthly benefit levels and the amount it would take to bring a family up to the federal poverty level.
Top of PageTime Limits
States are not permitted to use federal TANF dollars to provide assistance to a family that includes an adult who has received TANF assistance for 60 months. States may use state dollars to provide assistance to these families. Also, states may exempt up to 20 percent of their TANF recipients from this time limit on the basis of hardship. The majority of states have not identified the criteria they would apply to determine hardship, particularly criteria they would apply to grandparents.
Grandparents who are part of the assistance unit can avoid the lifetime loss of benefits for their grandchildren by removing themselves from the TANF grant anytime up to receiving 59 months of benefits. Parents do not have this option. In some states, grandparents who receive benefits for 60 months are barred from obtaining child-only benefits on behalf of their grandchildren.
Work Requirements
Grandparents who are part of the assistance unit and not otherwise exempt are required to engage in work activities once the state determines the grandparent is ready to work and, in any event, no later than 24 months after beginning to receive assistance. States must sanction beneficiaries who do not work and do not have good-cause exemptions. States have great discretion is determining what activities qualify as work and what sanctions to apply to grandparents who fail to meet these requirements.
Child Support Enforcement
The PRA requires parents who apply for or receive TANF benefits to cooperate in child support enforcement activities. States have enormous discretion in defining "cooperation," but generally the term includes providing information about the absent parent that will help a state agency obtain child support payments. There is no federal requirement that states require cooperation from grandparents. In those states that require cooperation from grandparents, a grandparent who fails to cooperate, as defined by the state, can be sanctioned with the loss of up to 100 percent of the household's TANF benefits. For some grandparents, providing information about an absent parent and initiating support enforcement activities can anger a parent and destabilize informal custody arrangements or even jeopardize the safety of the grandparent or grandchild.
Conclusions
To date, states have largely neglected the question of how welfare reform policies affect grandparent-headed households. Policies and procedures relating to benefit levels, time limits, work requirements, and child support enforcement may have unintended consequences for grandparents. Now that states have had time to make basic decisions about how to implement the PRA, they should ensure that their policies also serve grandparents and the grandchildren in their care.
Footnote
1 The Effect of State TANF Choices on Grandparent-Headed Households, Faith Mullen and Monique Einhorn, AARP Public Policy Institute Paper #2000-18 (November 2000).
Written by Faith Mullen and Monique Einhorn, AARP Public Policy Institute
October 2000
©2000 AARP
May be copied only for noncommercial purposes and with attribution; permission required for all other purposes.
Public Policy Institute, AARP, 601 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20049
Pub ID: INB25