Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Legislation headed to the governor would expand eligibility for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program for the first time in three decades.

Applications to a federal program that provides financial assistance to families are rarely approved in Indiana. State senators almost unanimously passed a bill to bolster the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program Monday.

As the legislative session came to a close, lawmakers chose not to expand a program aimed at helping the state's most impoverished families.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, is a program where the federal government gives states money to help extremely low-income families. However, states get to make the rules on who is eligible.

Under current Indiana standards, a family of three would have to make almost 90 percent less than current federal poverty guidelines to be eligible. Even then, theyd receive just $288 in assistance each month.

Normally, about 1 in 5 people have state assistance. Applications have increased 75 percent since mid-March, state officials reported Monday.

A state senator wants to expand the number of people who are eligible for welfare.