Giving Compass' Take:

• Urban Institute discusses the importance of updating the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for the 21st century so that reducing child poverty is a top priority.

• This article puts the onus on state-level lawmakers in making adjustments to the program, but nonprofits and foundations should also look at how initiatives to help lift families up from poverty most directly affect children.

• Here's how growing up in poverty rewires a child's brain.

I recently testified before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources about the need to strengthen the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The discussion illuminated areas for potential bipartisan agreement on TANF’s problems and the need to improve the program to better serve families striving for a better future for their children.

As I have often said in talking to practitioners, policy experts, and philanthropists, the F in TANF stands for families. And we know how important families are for our children’s future: even modest increases in income during children’s development is associated with a 17 percent increase in children’s future earnings.

Many people do not realize that only 1.4 million families with children receive income support from TANF, even though 8 million families with children live in poverty.

  • When TANF was enacted, 68 of every 100 families with children in poverty received income support from the program. In 2016, only 23 of every 100 families with children in poverty did so.
  • More than 70 percent of people receiving income support from TANF are children. Most are younger than 12, and the largest share is children younger than 6. Yet children are often left out of conversations about TANF.
  • Half of TANF cases are child-only cases, meaning no financial support is provided for parents, grandparents, or other adults caring for these children.
  • Comparing TANF with antipoverty programs like Medicaid (which covers nearly 46 million children) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (which helps nearly 1 in 4 children each month), it is clear that TANF reaches very few children who could benefit from income support.

Read the full article about reducing child poverty through TANF by Nisha G. Patel at Urban Institute.