TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, is a federal assistance program started in 1997 that succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) and provides cash assistance to needy American families through HHS.
US states receive federal funds through TANF that they can give to programs and organizations that do the following:
1. Provide assistance to families in need so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives.
2. End needy parents’ reliance on government benefits by promoting job, job, and marriage preparation.
3. Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
4. Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.
Many states provide TANF funds to pregnancy assistance organizations because they help meet some or all of TANF’s prescribed goals.
But in October the Biden Administration released a proposed HHS rule change that would have prevented states from providing federal funding to pregnancy centers.
In a Proposed Rule Amendment, “Strengthening Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) as a Safety Net and Jobs Program,” released on Oct. 2, 2023, HHS is targeting pregnancy centers and alternatives to abortion (A2A) programs, threatening to deprive them of funds allocated through states.
It appears that the proposed change would give HHS the power to determine which organizations can receive funds at its own discretion, voiding that authority from the states.
The Proposed Rule Change targets pregnancy centers in Goal Three and completely ignores the work done by pregnancy assistance organizations in other areas, arguing that because pregnancy centers help women after they become pregnant rather than having a sole focus on pregnancy prevention, which centers should not be eligible for TANF funds.
The proposed change to the Third Goal:
“Programs that only or primarily provide pregnancy counseling to women after they become pregnant probably do not meet the reasonable human standard because the link to preventing and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies is weak or absent, and therefore not the goal is achieved. three. States that provide funding for these types of programs, including through entities sometimes known as crisis pregnancy centers or pregnancy resource centers, must be able to demonstrate that spending actually achieves the purpose of TANFthat prior expenditures by the state or other entity for the same or a substantially similar program or activity have actually accomplished the purpose of TANF, or that there is academic or other research indicating that the expenditure may reasonably be expected to accomplish the purpose of TANF” [emphasis added].
The HHS does not cite any evidence that pregnancy centers are illegally using Federal funds for non-TANF purposes.
A public comment The period on the proposed rule change is in effect until Dec. 1, and it is unknown if citizen comments will affect any changes to the proposed rule change.
Pregnancy Help News and Heartbeat International is monitoring the proposed rule change and will report and respond accordingly to inform and help sustain the pregnancy assistance community.
PHN Editor’s Note: Heartbeat International handles Pregnancy Help News.
LAN Editor’s Note: This article was published on Pregnancy Help News and reprinted here with permission.
