Profs. Ha, Scott & Collins Investigate State-Level Variations in Government Spending & Child Maltreatment
In a new article published in the Journal of Social Service Research, co-authors Yoonsook Ha, Judith C. Scott and Mary E. Collins of Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) explore how the U.S.’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is affecting child maltreatment – and why variations correspond to the concentration of states’ Black populations.
TANF is designed to address poverty and relies on states to distribute funding in three core areas: cash assistance, work activities, and marriage and family promotion. Using data from the federal Office of Family Assistance (OFA), the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and American Community Survey (ACS), the researchers found that while higher TANF spending is associated with lower rates of neglect, the rate of that decrease tends to be smaller in states with higher Black populations relative to state size, as does state spending.
The researchers also highlight potentially problematic allocations of TANF funding. While the program’s stated goal is to provide cash assistance and support work activities for families in poverty, only a small proportion of TANF funds are being used for cash assistance, while a significantly larger proportion is spent on other initiatives like adoption services and financial aid for university programs. The researchers say these discrepancies raise questions about the program’s efficacy and its capacity to reduce poverty, and as a result, child maltreatment.
The study is the first to examine the relationship between TANF funds, child maltreatment and racial composition at the state-level, and its findings have important implications for child abuse prevention, as well as anti-racist policy, which the researchers say is essential to addressing the gaps in TANF’s efficacy.