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2 Section 346-51.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), requires the Department of Human Services (DHS) to prepare a report on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Temporary Assistance for Other Needy Families (TAONF) programs that include:

1) A plan for expenditure of TANF funds to include, a) details of how the funds received under TANF shall be expended; and b) descriptions of the desired outcomes from the expenditure of the funds; and 2) A report about a) the continuing strategic planning process, with the assistance of the Financial Assistance Advisory Council, to involve the community in planning for the future use of TANF funds and setting annual goals and outcomes for existing and new programs receiving TANF; b) on the effectiveness and level of success in reaching the desired outcomes from the previous two fiscal years using TANF funds; and c) on any funds received and expended supplemental to the TANF block grant, the purposes for which the funds were expended; and outcomes achieved.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federal block grant program. The TANF program requirements are in accordance with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193 (“Welfare Reform”). Before the Welfare Reform, the Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program did not distinguish between citizen or non-citizen or single or two-parent households. However, the 1996 Welfare Reform limited TANF eligibility to US citizens, single or two-parent households with dependent minor children, and certain single-parent immigrant households.

Recognizing the diversity of Hawaii's families and consistent with Article IX, Section 3, of the State Constitution, the Legislature created the state-funded Temporary Assistance for Other Needy Families (TAONF) program to continue to provide financial assistance to families that were eligible for benefits through AFDC but would no longer be eligible through TANF due to their citizenship status. The state-funded TAONF program rules mirror TANF program rules and provide the same benefits and services to Hawaii's needy families with children, including mixed citizenship or non-citizenship single and two-parent households. Importantly, the general fund appropriation for TAONF also serves as a major portion of the State's Maintenance of Effort required to receive the TANF block grant.

The TANF and TAONF programs are time-limited financial assistance programs for families with dependent children under 18 years old. Families may receive no more than sixty (60) months of financial assistance benefits in their lifetime through the TANF or TAONF program. Family participation in the TANF or TAONF program depends on the household composition. When all members are US citizens, the family is eligible for federal-funded financial benefits under TANF. Families with at least one non-citizen family member are eligible for state-funded