The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Bank Street Graduate School of Education has released its 2025/2026 TANF Cash Assistance Policy Series to help support policymakers and advocates in strengthening vital supports for families with children.
Project: Improving Family Economic Security Through Evidence-Based State Policy Reforms
TANF Policies Linked to Child and Family Well-Being Across All 50 States and DC (2025-26)
- Post author Karen Chatfield
- Project Improving Family Economic Security Through Evidence-Based State Policy Reforms;
- Publication Type Fact Sheet
- Post date May 15, 2026
Research using data from 2004 to 2016 showed that seven restrictive state TANF policies predicted increases in the incidence of child neglect and foster care placement. In this resource, NCCP provides an updated scorecard of the same policies in 2026, demonstrating which states effectively protect more children and families by re-framing each policy to expand […]
TANF Cash Assistance Maximum Benefit Amounts (2025/26)
- Post author Karen Chatfield
- Project Improving Family Economic Security Through Evidence-Based State Policy Reforms;
- Publication Type Fact Sheet
- Post date May 15, 2026
NCCP has conducted a nation-wide review of state TANF guidelines for the administration and distribution of cash assistance to families with adults and children. This resource offers comparison of the maximum amount of cash assistance provided by each state and D.C. to a family of three. It presents the maximum amount of TANF cash assistance […]
This fact sheet features a close look at recently proposed legislation to alter federal SNAP guidelines for states and households. Its provisions would: increase food insecurity for low-income families with children; and expand both states’ costs and administrative responsibilities for the program. The implementation demands alone would weigh heavily on state administrative bodies in the coming years.
Legislative Library: State Policies on TANF, SNAP, and State-Level Tax Credits, version 1.2
- Post author Karen Chatfield, Lauren Hecht, Esther Lau
- Project Improving Family Economic Security Through Evidence-Based State Policy Reforms;
- Publication Type
- Post date May 8, 2025
To download, click here: Legislative Library. (Since the Library is an Excel file, the Download PDF button on this page does not function.) The Library provides state legislation in recent years that was designed to expand or restrict families’ access to support from TANF, SNAP, and state-level tax credits. In addition, version 1.2 features a third […]
The National Center for Children in Poverty’s (NCCP) 50-State Comparison of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Policies Linked to Child and Family Protection can support the work of policymakers and advocates. Research using data from 2004 to 2016 shows that states that adopted any of seven restrictive TANF policies in those years saw increases […]
A 50-State Comparison of SNAP Policies Linked to Child and Family Protection
- Post author Karen Chatfield, Daniel Ferguson, Lauren Hecht
- Project Improving Family Economic Security Through Evidence-Based State Policy Reforms;
- Publication Type Fact Sheet
- Post date January 23, 2025
The National Center for Children in Poverty’s (NCCP) 50-State Comparison of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) Policies Linked to Child and Family Protection for the program can support the work of policymakers and advocates. In states that enacted them during the years 2004 through 2016, each of four policies included here contributed to reductions in […]
A 50-State Comparison of Restrictions on TANF Access
- Post author Karen Chatfield
- Project Improving Family Economic Security Through Evidence-Based State Policy Reforms;
- Publication Type Fact Sheet
- Post date November 14, 2024
This resource presents a comparative view of the 2024 status of five restrictive state TANF policies that affect family and child well-being across 50 states and the District of Columbia.
A 50-State Comparison of TANF Benefit Amounts (2024)
- Post author Karen Chatfield
- Project Improving Family Economic Security Through Evidence-Based State Policy Reforms;
- Publication Type Fact Sheet
- Post date November 12, 2024
NCCP has conducted a review of many of the state TANF guidelines for the administration and distribution of cash assistance to families with adults and children across 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) in 2024. On the following pages, we focus on the maximum amount of cash assistance provided by each state and […]