Is TANF Truly Accessible and Helpful? Victims’ Experiences With Domestic Violence Screening Under the Family Violence Option

This study explores the experiences of domestic violence victims with their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) applications and the subsequent assessment processes in the state of Georgia, focusing on the conditions related to their disclosure of abuse and their postdisclosure experiences. This study interviewed five victims of domestic violence, four local victim advocates, and three nationally recognized experts regarding domestic violence screening in TANF programs using semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using grounded theory techniques. The findings showed that the participants perceived TANF application and assessment processes as (i) inaccessible and (ii) unhelpful, lacking special considerations for domestic violence victims. Conditions related to victims’ disclosure of abuse included (i) safety concerns, (ii) working relationships between local victim support agencies and TANF offices, (iii) a safe environment to disclose abuse, and (iv) advocacy. After disclosing their domestic violence history to their TANF caseworkers, the victims reported experiencing (i) a lack of continued assessment and support related to domestic violence and (ii) a compulsion to make final decisions regarding continuing or discontinuing their TANF applications. The current study contributes to the field of social work by providing a better understanding of how and to what extent victims of domestic violence are actually supported within the TANF system and by yielding practice and policy implications for effectively assisting the victims of domestic violence within the TANF system.

Who Represents the Needs of Domestic Violence Survivors in State Welfare Policy?

A large percentage of women receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) — known colloquially as welfare—have experienced domestic violence in their lives, with studies reporting that upwards of 50% of welfare recipients have been abused at some point. Receiving TANF benefits can provide the financial stability that is necessary for a woman to leave an abusive relationship, though some TANF provisions, such as child support reporting requirements, may also put victims of domestic violence at risk. Under TANF, states may adopt the Family Violence Option and waive many program requirements, including time limits, work requirements, and child support reporting requirements, for victims of domestic violence. Given the importance of TANF for those trying to leave, or who have left, abusive situations, this article asks: Who represents the interests of these women in the states? To answer this question, I employ a mixed methods approach, combining a quantitative analysis of the diversity of interest groups in the states with a case study of Connecticut and New Jersey. I find that feminist and domestic violence organizations do not consistently have a significant effect on the adoption of policy accommodations for survivors, but these groups are speaking out.

Using Game Theory to Understand Screening for Domestic Violence Under the TANF Family Violence Option

Universal screening for domestic violence in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is required by most states, but its implementation is questionable. This paper employs game theory to conceptualize interactions between TANF applicants and frontline eligibility caseworkers. The intended outcomes of universal screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) – granting of a good cause waiver to IPV victims – are valid only by the assumption that caseworkers perform their roles. To grant a good cause waiver, TANF applicants and caseworkers should exchange two types of information: 1) disclosure of abuse by IPV victims and 2) notification of the availability of good cause waivers by caseworkers. This paper illuminates that intended outcomes of universal screening for IPV are difficult to achieve and discusses the applicability and limitations of game theory for policy evaluation.

The Collaboration between Welfare and Advocacy Organizations: Learning from the Experiences of Domestic Violence Survivors

The intertwined relationship between poverty and violence, especially in the lives of women on welfare, has been receiving critical attention since welfare reform. The Family Violence Option (FVO), an amendment to the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996, gives states the flexibility to offer more time for battered women to seek safety. Kansas created the Orientation, Assessment, Referral, and Safety (OARS) program, in which the state's welfare system contracts services with advocacy organizations that provide on-site services for women who qualify to participate under the FVO. This study explored the interagency collaboration model used in Kansas by talking directly with domestic violence survivors about their experiences. The results from this study challenge practitioners to think differently about collaboration to meet the needs of domestic violence survivors on welfare.