GAO Report on Benefits and Services for Kinship Families

GAO Report on Benefits and Services for Kinship Families
by SuzanneCWLA
October 25, 2011 at 2:03 PM

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recently released a report titled, “TANF and Child Welfare Programs: Increased Data Sharing Could Improve Access to Benefits and Services.” At the request of Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Representative Geoff Davis (R-KY), the report explores the trends and composition of kinship families served through TANF child-only and child welfare benefits and services.

Child-only TANF refers to situations in which a family receives TANF cash assistance, but that assistance only calculates the needs of the children and not their caregiver. A review of federal data reveals that the majority of children receiving TANF benefits are child-only cases, and of those, one-third are children raised by nonparent caregivers. The remaining child-only cases include parents who are ineligible for TANF or on SSI. It is then reported that nonparent caregivers in TANF child-only cases are typically older, unmarried females who are likely to be unemployed and less healthy. The children they are raising tend to be older and related to the caregiver.

Based on state surveys of TANF and child welfare administrators and site visits in a handful of states, the report then discusses factors influencing the assistance and services provided to kinship families. This mainly focuses on a comparison of TANF and child welfare, their varying support levels, ways they typically work together, as well as barriers that prevent some forms of dual assistance. Generally, the lowest state foster care payment is higher than child-only TANF payments in almost all states, and families served by child welfare typically have access to more services. However, licensure and other process requirements prevent many kinship families from accessing foster care payments and services. In addition, there are many more informal kinship arrangements in which kin families are not receiving benefits or services from either. Further detail is provided on barriers to benefit and service access and provision.

The report continues to describe the varying levels of coordination between TANF and child welfare for kinship families. It concludes that the agencies could improve assistance to this population by better collaborating, particularly through enhanced data sharing and technical assistance on cooperation models. The Department of Health and Human Services agreed with this recommendation.

http://childrensmonitor.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/gao-report-on-benefits-and-services-for-kinship-families/