Illinois' TANF Grant: Inadequate for Too Long

By Margie Stapleton

Despite strong support from the Illinois House, a long overdue and much needed increase in the cash grants Illinois pays to families in its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program remains uncertain. 

The Illinois House passed HB 949, the Supporting and Caring for Children through Economic Self Sufficiency Act, otherwise known as the Success Act, during a regular General Assembly hearing this April. As it stands, the legislation mandates a 15% increase in grants to be effective immediately. Despite early bipartisan support, evinced by a vote in favor of 96-to-17 in the House, the bill did not progress in the Senate. Why? The stalled budget. According to Illinois Department of Human Services estimates, the grant increase would cost the state $19 million and new monies have yet to be allocated. While the cost is not insignificant, the price of not increasing TANF is ever more substantial.

Consider the following facts:

• Illinois cash grants for families with minor children have fallen from 79.0% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) in 1973 to 27.6% FPL in 2007.
• In dollar terms, a family of three received a maximum cash grant of $237 per month in 1973. In 2007, a three-person family receives only $396 per month.
• While the cash grants were increased every few years between 1973 and 1994, they have been increased only once since 1994—a 5% increase in 2002.
• Although housing is considered “affordable” if rent and utilities cost no more than 30% of income, rents exceed the entire TANF grant in almost all areas of Illinois, while fewer than half of TANF families even receive rent subsidies.
• Unable to obtain and maintain stable housing because they cannot afford the rent, TANF families move frequently, double-up with other families in overcrowded conditions, live in substandard housing, or end up in homeless shelters. These disruptions threaten children’s progress in school and parents’ progress toward self-sufficiency through training or work.
• Illinois TANF grants are substantially lower than six of the seven neighboring Midwestern states and lower, often by hundreds of dollars per month, than the TANF grants in states with similar median incomes.
• In August 2006, the IDHS Social Services Advisory Committee recommended a staggered increase in TANF grants to the fifteen percent goal over three fiscal years. Such increases would come close to recapturing the loss in TANF grant value due to inflation since 1990. The grants would rise to approximately 32% of the federal poverty level in FY 2008, 36% of the federal poverty level in FY 2009, and 40% of the federal poverty level in FY 2010.

Illinois TANF grant amounts are not based on the Federal Poverty Level.  The chart below compares the state TANF or, for years before 1997, the AFDC grant for a family of three in the Chicago metropolitan area, with the Federal Poverty Level for a three-person household.  The years shown indicate when the TANF (or AFDC) grant was increased and the FPL for that year.

Year	FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL FOR THREE PERSON HOUSEHOLD/PER YEAR	AFDC/TANF GRANT FOR THREE PERSON HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR/PER MONTH	GRANT AS PERCENTAGE OF FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL
1973	$3600	$2844/    $237	79.0%
1974	$3810	$2988/   $249	78.4%
1975	$4230	$3132/    $261	74.0%
1978	$5180	$3288/    $274	63.4%
1979	$5600	$3456/    $288	61.7%
1981	$7070	$3624/    $302	51.2%
1985	$8850	$4092/    $341	46.2%
1987	$9300	$4104/    $342	44.1%
1990	$10,560	$4404/    $367	41.7%
1994	$12,320	$4524/    $377	36.7%
2002	$15,020	$4752/    $396	31.6%

Since the last grant increase in 2002, Illinois TANF grants have further declined as compared to the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

Year	FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL FOR THREE PERSON HOUSEHOLD	TANF GRANT FOR THREE PERSON HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR/PER MONTH	GRANT AS PERCENTAGE OF FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL
2003	$15,260	$4,752/  $396	31.1%
2004	$15,670	$4,752/  $396	30.3%
2005	$16,090	$4,752/  $396	29.5%
2006	$16,600	$4,752/  $396	28.6%
2007	$17,170	$4,752/  $396	27.6%

Budget talks have slowed the progress of this bill, but now there is a greater opportunity to strengthen our commitment to TANF reform in Illinois. Please contact your Illinois state Senator, Representative, and Governor Blagojevich and urge a continued commitment to a 15% increase in the TANF grants in the state’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget. 

For more information, please contact Margaret Stapleton at the Shriver Center, 312.368.3327.