Effect of TANF Concurrent Benefits on the Reunification of Children following Placement in Out-of-Home Care

The TANF Concurrent Benefits Program allows TANF cash grants to continue for families from whom a child has been removed by Children’s Administration (the “removal family”) and placed with a licensed or unlicensed caregiver (the “receiving family”). The Children’s Administration must expect that absence to be temporary (180 days or less) and that the child will be reunified with the family of removal. This study examines whether receipt of concurrent TANF benefits reduces time to reunification. We compare placement outcomes for children in out-of-home care whose removal family retained the child’s portion of the family TANF benefit while the child was in care (the “concurrent benefit group”), to children whose removal family did not retain this benefit (the “comparison group”). Analyses are conducted for a set of families matched on baseline case characteristics, to control for other potential factors that could account for differences in reunification rates. Findings conclude that receipt of concurrent TANF benefits is associated with reduced time to reunification for children placed in out of home care.