Understanding Relations between State-Level Variation in TANF Spending and Substantiated Child Maltreatment in the USA

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in the USA is designed to address poverty. Because of the link to poverty, it may indirectly affect child maltreatment outcomes. However, TANF spending by states, which differs by the state’s racial composition, may moderate the effects. This study explores the relationship between states’ TANF spending and child maltreatment outcomes with the states’ Black population concentration as a moderator. The analysis used state-level data including TANF administrative data from the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), child maltreatment data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and population data from the American Community Survey (ACS). The sample includes 50 states and District of Columbia from 2015 to 2017 (n = 153). The results from the multivariate regression models show that both TANF spending on family and marriage promotion and TANF spending on work activities were associated with decreases in neglect (7.5% decrease, p<.01 and 11% reduction, p<.05, respectively), but the size of the decreases depended on the states’ Black population concentration. Findings suggest that TANF spending is linked to child maltreatment rates with consideration of states’ Black population. This article has implications for anti-racist poverty policy and child abuse prevention.