This brief examines how state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs adapted policies during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to address emerging challenges.
A practical toolkit that helps human services agencies coordinate programs and benefits to better support whole families through aligned policies, processes, and service delivery.
This report describes key elements of the American Rescue Plan Act and how it would reduce the projected poverty rate for 2021. Various projections regarding the effects of the policy are described in this report.
This guide outlines how states can use TANF funds to provide direct cash assistance to families, particularly through flexible mechanisms like nonrecurrent short-term benefits (NRSTs).
The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program was launched as an effort to address the loss of access to free and reduced-price school meals due to widespread school closures at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools reopened in a shifting mix of fully virtual, hybrid, and inperson formats and families lacked consistent access to school meals, these benefits were extended through the 2020–21 school year and were highly valuable to families in buffering the full extent of food insecurity they may have faced during this uncertain time. However, the complexity of administering this program was a fundamental barrier in providing timely support to families, who ultimately went without benefits for at least half of the school year. In this report, we dive into the challenges state administrators faced in launching this new program during the 2020–21 school year and reflect on considerations for the future.
This Urban Institute report explores the impact of benefit cliffs, plateaus, and trade-offs on families receiving public assistance, examining how changes in earnings affect access to essential benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, and housing subsidies.
This Urban Institute report highlights how immigrant and mixed-status families continued to avoid safety net programs in 2023 due to lingering fears around the public charge rule.
This Urban Institute article argues that poverty is driven by structural barriers rather than individual choices and advocates for safety net programs that address systemic inequities.
The Urban Institute's report outlines actionable approaches for state governments and organizations to enhance the accessibility and retention of public benefit programs, focusing on service delivery, policy reforms, and technological advancements.
This report analyzes how proposed state cost-sharing requirements for SNAP would impact benefit access and poverty during a recession, projecting significant risks to low-income households if states are unable to maintain SNAP funding.
An analysis showing that a proposed plan to shift some cost of SNAP benefits to states could push nearly 900,000 additional people into poverty during a recession.
