(Washington, DC) Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced today that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance for low-income families will increase by 7.5 percent effective July 1, 2006. Currently, the monthly TANF cash assistance benefit payment for a family of three is $379. Effective July 1, 2006, the payment for a family of three will rise to $407.
“This increase is long overdue,” said Mayor Williams. “With the District in strong financial shape we need to make sure that our residents who are most in need get increases in their cash assistance payments so that they can begin to rise above the poverty level and become self-sufficient through participation in the District’s welfare to work programs,” said Mayor Williams. “We are strongly committed to helping TANF recipients find jobs. The staff at the DC Department of Human Services does a great job carrying out the welfare to work mission.”
Mayor Williams also pointed out that given the District’s successful TANF and Food Stamp employment programs, the District’s current TANF caseload of 15,614 households and has reached its lowest level since the 1996 welfare reform law went into effect.
DC Department of Human Services (DHS) Interim Director Kate Jesberg emphasized the need for an increase in TANF cash assistance. “I am very pleased that the TANF cash assistance benefit is being increased to help struggling poor and low-income families in the District,” said Kate Jesberg, Interim Director of DHS. “The cost of living in the District is extraordinarily high and has been for quite some time.”
The monthly amount of TANF payments is based on family size. Slightly more than 15,000 households in the District representing 45,000 people receive TANF cash assistance benefits. With few exceptions, TANF recipients are expected to participate in employment programs and make progress finding meaningful jobs. The TANF payment for a family of three is $379 and will increase to $407 next month. The TANF payment for a family of three in Maryland is $490, while the TANF payment for a family of three in Virginia is currently $389.
“By raising the TANF grant 7.5 percent, the District is working to get TANF cash assistance benefits to the level where they should be given the local economy,” added Jesberg.
The District has been recognized by the federal government as being outstanding in the administration of its welfare to work, Food Stamp, and reduction in out-of-wedlock birth programs. The federal government awarded the District 13 out of 14 bonuses totaling more than $168 million. The DHS Income Maintenance Administration earned the federal bonus awards for the city based on outstanding performance and the District has used the money to assist poor and low-income District residents.