Federal safety-net programs like the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are critical programs that help reduce poverty and hardship for families nationwide. The programs are especially dire in Mississippi for obvious reasons – it’s the poorest state in the nation. SNAP and TANF help to reduce the extent and severity of poverty, lessen hardship and hunger, promote equity, protect the overall economy, improve health outcomes, improve child outcomes, and more.

Although programs like these have lifted thousands out of poverty and sustained families for years, the effectiveness of these programs has weakened substantially over time, especially during the massive state welfare fraud scandal. Between 2016 and 2019, tens of millions of dollars meant for the country’s poorest were given to wealthy, well-to-do people through the Mississippi Department of Human Services. Sadly, it’s a hurtful blemish on the state, a testament to how the well-off feel about low-income people.

SNAP and TANF should be priority discussions during this year’s current legislative session. Lawmakers should focus on making these federal programs more impactful via federal and state legislative and administrative reforms. They can never fix the damage created by the deceit, but they can implement enough support to make the programs adequate going forward.

In 2022, 413,700 Mississippians received SNAP benefits. SNAP lifted 103,000 people above the poverty line in Mississippi, including 47,000 children, per year between 2014 and 2018, on average. Mississippi needs more assistance for its marginalized communities.

Increased SNAP benefit levels could:

• Help further reduce food insecurity
• Fully meet the nutritional needs of eligible families
• Improve households’ options to purchase more nutritious foods
• Decrease the consumption of fast food
• Help households afford more nutritious meals throughout the month

TANF cash assistance helps parents and caretakers meet their family’s most basic needs while they gain work skills and find jobs. Before increasing TANF benefits in 2020, Mississippi provided the lowest cash assistance benefits for more than 50 years. The monthly payment increase went from $170 to $260, a $90 increase for a family of three with no other income. The state is now at the nation’s fourth lowest benefit level.

Mississippi legislators can improve access to TANF with the following suggestions:

• Lift income thresholds and asset limits for applicants.
• Remove barriers to access for those seeking cash assistance.
• Stop implementing punitive policies such as sanctions and time limits that take away benefits from families even when they still need assistance.
• Redesign work programs to help TANF participants gain the education, skills, and work experience that will allow them to find and maintain quality jobs that can lift their families above the poverty line.

Improving TANF will require action from the federal and state governments. Because states have broad flexibility over TANF, they can improve their programs and reduce racial disparities. States like Mississippi should reinvest TANF funds into essential assistance and other areas to meet families’ basic needs.