Cash Transfers and Guaranteed Minimum Income Programs:
Research, Evaluation, and Policy
Prague, Czech Republic
September 9-10, 2024
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“An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Cash Transfers on Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence”
Andrea Hetling, Rutgers University
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 ushered in a new era of conditional cash benefits in the United States. The Act ended the previous entitlement program, replacing it with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a block grant program that gives states flexibility in spending and regulations. TANF also altered the experiences of program recipients, who now must comply with various rules, such as work requirements and benefit time limits.
Recognizing that survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) may experience challenges in meeting some TANF requirements and that such financial support could help families escape abuse, the Family Violence Option (FVO) was passed in 1997 as an amendment to PRWORA. The FVO requires states that adopt it to screen TANF applicants and recipients for domestic violence and offer service referrals. Further, the FVO allows for waivers from certain requirements, including time limits, cooperation with child support enforcement, and participation in work activities.
Using data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, my research investigates the utilization of two waivers during 2008-2022. In both cases, utilization is low. The FVO work waiver hovers between 0.5 and 1.0 percent of the national caseload. Utilization rates of a more general time-limit waiver fluctuate between 1.5 percent and about 4 percent. A deeper look at state-level data reveals different experiences, with some states consistently at zero for both waivers, and others in the double digits in certain years.
Such variation provides an opportunity for policy analysis, particularly considering other research that attributes low waiver usage to a mismatch of policy design, rather than implementation failure. My own preliminary qualitative research indicates that many survivors do not know about the waivers. Perhaps motivated in part by this low waiver uptake, some states have started implementing trauma-informed practices (TIP) to better meet the needs of survivors. Guidelines for practice are easily accessible, but research on implementation is limited.
This paper draws on insights from the two related projects discussed here, 1) a quantitative analysis of TANF caseload data and 2) a qualitative analysis of the experiences of IPV survivors. In addition to comparing the two analyses and presenting an emerging theory of TIP in TANF agencies, I am expanding my quantitative analysis to include measures of FVO implementation and trauma-informed practice as independent variables. The project goal is to further our understanding of the challenges (and promise) of cash transfer programs for one vulnerable group - survivors of IPV. I am able to attend the conference and welcome the opportunity for feedback and collaboration!