Temporary Assistance for Needy Families at 30: Centering dignity for New Jersey families

Yet moments that should feel joyful often reveal how fragile family budgets can be. When money is stretched to cover rent, groceries, and necessities, even other expenses — a gift, a backpack, a pair of shoes — can force parents into impossible trade‑offs. Decline the birthday invitation? Skip items their child needs for class? Sacrifice something else the family relies on?

These everyday decisions capture a reality that is all too familiar: when money is limited, even modest costs can become barriers to a family’s wellbeing. Forgoing school or sports supplies for their kids or saying no to that birthday party invitation is unavoidable when basic needs are unmet, but education and social connections are also essential for child development.

For families balancing bills and uncertainty, direct cash is often the difference between stability and setback. When emergencies arise, such as a missed shift or a medical bill, flexible cash support helps parents protect their family’s footing. Rather than treating cash aid as secondary to other supports, we should see it as the foundation that allows families to rebuild and move forward.

Direct cash is one of the most effective ways to reduce hardship, yet New Jersey’s safety net remains largely a patchwork of in-kind and voucher supports. The only program that consistently provides direct cash assistance to families with low-incomes and young children is the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF. TANF is an important lifeline, but its rigid structure has not kept up with today’s economic pressures.

In 2023, just 11 out of every 100 New Jersey families living in poverty received TANF. Challenges such as excessive paperwork and complicated rules often turn away families who qualify. Caseloads have fallen since the program began, and that decline held even as need rose. National research on the COVID-19 pandemic shows TANF failed to respond to rising hardship the way other safety net programs did.

TANF remains a cornerstone of that safety net all the same. When strengthened, it can provide the flexible, reliable cash assistance families need to weather crises, support their children’s growth, and build lasting economic security.

This gap between TANF’s promise and its current reach makes its upcoming anniversary especially significant. On August 22, TANF turns 30 as New Jersey’s only program offering direct cash assistance to families with the lowest incomes under the Work First New Jersey program. That milestone invites reflection and a much-needed shift in narrative. Centering dignity means recognizing direct cash assistance not as a last resort, but as the stabilizing foundation that helps families meet life’s everyday challenges with agency and respect.

Unfortunately, current debates about the program center more on fraud than on helping families. Spending public funds responsibly is a legitimate goal. But the federal government’s near-total focus on fraud, paired with new demands for data sharing, has piled burdens onto states. Those burdens trickle down to families, who face more red tape both when they apply and when they try to keep their benefits. Each additional document, verification requirement, or data check can delay assistance, increase stress, and reinforce the message that applicants are viewed with suspicion.

When public opinion is impacted and the media and public dialogue similarly focus on rooting out fraud, stigma surrounding cash assistance rises. This discourages eligible families from applying and reinforces harmful stereotypes about poverty instead of addressing its root causes.

Research shows that fraud is rare, and most improper payments stem from confusing rules or paperwork issues. When we talk about direct cash assistance, the focus should not be on suspicion, but on recipients’ capacity to make the best choices for their families. When parents have access to flexible support, they use it to meet essential needs and build stability. TANF’s future depends on shifting from narratives of doubt to a vision rooted in opportunity.

TANF’s shortcomings reveal what’s possible and what’s holding progress back. Federal inaction and new administrative demands have made it harder for states to focus on families instead of compliance. Yet even within that environment, New Jersey has room to lead. Raising benefit levels, updating eligibility rules so families have enough time to build stability, and aligning program requirements with the realities of low‑wage work and caregiving are just some of the ways the state can show what a dignity‑centered safety net looks like.

As TANF turns 30, it is time to replace misguided conversations about fraud with dialogue rooted in dignity. That shift demands a person‑centered process, and one that allows frontline staff to serve as partners rather than gatekeepers. Cash reaffirms our belief in families and changes everyday lives in ways that are easy to overlook: covering the small, regular expense that keeps a household steady, paying for the school supplies that help a child start the year with confidence, or making sure a parent does not have to choose between a utility bill and giving their child a chance to grow.

Tonanziht Aguas is a policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective, covering safety net issues and economic security policy.

Andrea Hetling is a professor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and the associate director of the Heldrich Center of Workforce Development at Rutgers University – New Brunswick.