TANF is Still a Lifeline
TANF is the District’s only cash-based assistance program. It serves as a vital lifeline for families with little or no income, helping to pay for rent, utilities, diapers, clothes, transportation, and other essentials. Having available cash provides power, flexibility, and greater stability, especially during uncertain economic times.
Last year, Mayor Bowser proposed significant cuts to TANF. The Council rejected these changes for FY26, but without further intervention, they will go into effect in FY27 and will directly harm 15,000 children in the District. These changes include ending cost-of-living adjustments, reinstituting time limits, and increasing sanctions for not meeting work readiness requirements.
These budget cuts reflect policies that in FY2029 could leave a family of three with just $151 per month in cash income, down from a maximum benefit of $803 they receive today.
Resources
One-Pagers:
- What is TANF and What Changes are Happening in DC?
- TANF Cuts Will Cause Lasting Harm to Children
- TANF is Critical in the Face of Federal Safety Net Cuts
- TANF is a Lifeline for Parents in Low-Wage Jobs and Those Facing Job Barriers
Op-Ed: DC Must Restore TANF to Pull Children Out of Poverty (The 51st, February 2026)
Letter: Sign-On Letter from over 100 Organizations, Local Elected Officials, and Community Advocates (January 2026)
Policy Paper: TANF is a Lifeline for DC Families with Children (United Planning Organization, November 2025)
Report from 2016 TANF Working Group: Recommendations for Development of a TANF Hardship Extension Policy for Washington, DC
The TANF is Still a Lifeline Coalition
The TANF Is Still a Lifeline Coalition works to support families with children by fighting to preserve and bolster DC’s TANF program. TANF is a cash assistance program that helps families pay for rent and utilities, clothes, school supplies and other essentials for parents in poverty-wage and unstable jobs, when the economy is weak and jobs are scarce, and when parents face barriers to working consistently.
A decade ago, community members and advocates worked to stop harmful time limits on cash assistance that would have increased child poverty without improving employment outcomes and helped usher in a range of family-supporting reforms. Now, we are working to reverse policies adopted in 2025 – renewed time limits, loss of annual inflation adjustments to benefits, and increased penalties on families failing to meet program rules – that threaten to push 15,000 children deeper into poverty. If these cuts are implemented, it will increase family homelessness, child hunger, and school absenteeism, among other harms, for thousands of Black and brown children.
If you are interested in joining the TANF is Still a Lifeline Coalition, contact Leah Castelaz at LCastelaz@childrenslawcenter.org and Maria Manansala at mmanansala@dcfpi.org.