Maura T. Healey Kathleen E. Walsh
Governor Secretary
Kimberley Driscoll Mary Sheehan
Lieutenant Governor Acting Commissioner
Fiscal Year 2023 Report on
Standard Budgets of Assistance
for Transitional Aid to Families
with Dependent Children
April 2023
Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance
 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE
FISCAL YEAR 2023 REPORT ON STANDARD BUDGETS OF ASSISTANCE FOR
TRANSITIONAL AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN
APRIL 2023
LEGAL BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) submits this report in accordance with G.L. c. 18, §2(B)(g) and
c. 118, §2 and the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court in Coalition for the Homeless v. Secretary of Human
Services, 400 Mass. 806 (1987).
In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Department, in order to conduct a
meaningful review under G.L. c. 18, §2(B(g)), "must issue a written report which shall either provide or permit
a comparison in dollars between standard budgets of assistance of each successive year and which shall
discuss the adequacy of [TAFDC] grant levels in comparison with the standard budget or budgets of assistance
and with changes in the consumer price index."
The amounts actually paid to TAFDC families are determined by the Legislature each year when, in line item
4403-2000 of the General Appropriation Act, the Legislature establishes the "standard of need", which
determines the eligibility level, and the "standard of payment," which determines the benefit or grant level.
The Court recognized that the Department may be confronted with a dilemma in dealing with the benefit level
authorized by the budget and its duty under c. 118, §2 to provide aid sufficient to enable then-AFDC parents
to bring up their children properly in their own homes. The Court required the Department to respond to this
dilemma as follows: "If in any year the department concludes that the funds appropriated for AFDC purposes
are insufficient to permit it to furnish that level of financial aid which §2 directs it to provide, the department
has an obligation to bring its inability to comply with the payment level described in §2 to the attention of the
Legislature and to ask that it appropriate an adequate sum or that it provide some other solution to the
dilemma.”
The Court held that the Department, in determining whether sufficient funds have been appropriated to give
financial assistance at the level required by §2, may consider the assistance provided to parents with
dependent children not only through AFDC but also through other financial assistance programs, such as the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps), fuel assistance, and
public or subsidized housing programs.
This is the thirty-seventh report on the Standard Budgets of Assistance completed by DTA. The first report,
released in August 1986, formulated three Standard Budgets of Assistance for AFDC families in FY87. The
standards were based on the components of a typical budget for a family of three at that time including
housing, utilities, food, clothing, personal care, transportation, household operation and furnishings, and
other goods and services. In each subsequent year, DTA updated those internally developed budgets from
1986 in producing this report using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a common measure of inflation. Standard
Budgets of Assistance Reports from previous years can be found on DTA’s website1.
1
https://www.mass.gov/service-details/department-of-transitional-assistance-legislative-reports
2
In order to improve the usability of this report, as of March 2022, the Department updated its methodology to
use the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) as a comparative standard in determining whether current benefit levels
are adequate. FPL is a common benchmark used by many federal and state programs, including SNAP,
Medicaid, and WIC2. While the federal poverty level does not adjust for regional variations in costs of living, it
is a widely-used standard for income and poverty and, as such, provides a common measure by which the
Legislature may assess the overall adequacy of TAFDC benefits as it makes decisions regarding TAFDC funding
in the state budget process.
THE TRANSITIONAL AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN PROGRAM
The Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) program provides financial assistance and
employment programming to families with children, and pregnant women, with little or no income.
Participants receive child care and transportation assistance to support their engagement in education,
training, or other employment related activities. Certain TAFDC participants are required to perform a work-
related activity as a condition of eligibility.
While its predecessor, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), was 50% federally funded, the 1996
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) replaced the federal reimbursement with a
federal block grant, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). States have discretion in how
they spend the TANF block grant, subject to certain federal limitations. Prior to the passage of PRWORA, the
Commonwealth passed its own welfare reform program in 1995, Section 110 of Chapter 5 of the Acts of 1995.
As part of this legislative package, the AFDC program became the TAFDC program and was modified to
promote the principles of family unity, individual responsibility, and self-reliance by structuring financial and
economic incentives and disincentives that promoted such principles. This was a radical shift of focus from
AFDC as primarily an income maintenance program to TAFDC, which was intended to move clients beyond
reliance on public benefits by developing their skills and experience and providing opportunity to increase
their economic mobility. These remain the core principles of TAFDC today.
In recent years, DTA has emphasized removing barriers to economic mobility and helping families find paths to
success. Through policy reforms, the Department has continued to better promote work, enhance the
Department’s employment support programming, and explore new approaches to meaningfully engage with
families who receive TAFDC benefits.
See Table 1 for current TAFDC benefit and eligibility levels – respectively, the standard of payment and
standard of need, as described in the state’s General Appropriations Act (GAA) – by family size. Language in
the TAFDC line item requires the benefit level to equal the eligibility level, such that an increase to one will
increase the other. Such and similar language has been in the program’s line item since 1986 (FY87). Thus, the
10% increase starting October 2022 included in the FY23 GAA increased both the benefit level and the
eligibility level, making more households eligible for benefits.
2
https://www.hhs.gov/answers/hhs-administrative/what-programs-use-the-poverty-guidelines/index.html
3
 TABLE 1
TAFDC BENEFIT & ELIGIBILITY LEVELS
(EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2022)
Household size Public or subsidized Private housing
housing (w/rent allowance)
1 $513 $553
2 $648 $688
3 $783 $823
4 $912 $952
5 $1,045 $1,085
6 $1,183 $1,223
7 $1,316 $1,356
8 $1,448 $1,488
9 $1,580 $1,620
10 $1,714 $1,754
Each additional household member +$139 +$139
TAFDC BENEFITS & FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL
The Federal Poverty Level is published each year by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and
is used to determine eligibility for various income-based public programs. Originally developed in 1965, the
FPL is meant to illustrate the minimum amount of income that people need to purchase food and other
necessities. The FPL is adjusted for inflation each year using the CPI. The standards set by the FPL are used as a
benchmark for eligibility for federal benefits. In Massachusetts, MassHealth, Emergency Shelter Assistance,
and SNAP all use a percentage or multiplier of the FPL to determine program eligibility limits. For example,
SNAP program eligibility is generally set at 200% of FPL in Massachusetts.
See Table 2 for a comparison of TAFDC benefit and eligibility levels compared to the FPL.
TABLE 2
COMPARISON OF TAFDC GRANT AMOUNTS* TO THE 2023 FPL
HH Size 2023 FPL TAFDC Grant Grant as % of FPL Amt. below FPL
1 14,580 $6,156 42% ($8,424)
2 19,720 $7,776 39% ($11,944)
3 24,860 $9,396 38% ($15,464)
4 30,000 $10,944 36% ($19,056)
5 35,140 $12,540 36% ($22,600)
6 40,280 $14,196 35% ($26,084)
7 45,420 $15,792 35% ($29,628)
8 50,560 $17,376 34% ($33,184)
* Not including rent or clothing allowances
4
See Table 3 for a comparison of TAFDC benefit levels and FPL over time for a family of three.
TABLE 3
RELATIVE INCREASES TO FPL* AND AFDC/TAFDC BENEFITS SINCE FY89
147%
Increase in FPL (FY89 base year)
Increase in TAFDC Benefits (FY89 base year)
45%
FY93
FY02
FY10
FY19
FY89
FY90
FY91
FY92
FY94
FY95
FY96
FY97
FY98
FY99
FY00
FY01
FY03
FY04
FY05
FY06
FY07
FY08
FY09
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
FY18
FY20
FY21
FY22
FY23
* Source: HHS, Prior HHS Poverty Guidelines and Federal Register References
OTHER TAFDC BENEFITS AVAILABLE TO TAFDC FAMILIES
In addition to the “cash” benefit grant, TAFDC families are eligible to receive a number of other cash benefits or
special payments from DTA:
RENT ALLOWANCE. A rent allowance is available to families receiving TAFDC who live in private, unsubsidized
housing. The rent allowance is currently $40 per month or $480 annually and is received in addition to a family's
regular TAFDC grant. Approximately 43% of all families received the rent allowance each month they received
TAFDC in FY22.
CLOTHING ALLOWANCE. Each child who received TAFDC in September 2022 received a clothing allowance of
$400. A typical family of three is comprised of a single mother and two children, and therefore received a clothing
allowance payment totaling $800 in FY23.
$50 CHILD SUPPORT DISREGARD PAYMENT. The Department returns the first $50 of current child support
collected by the Department of Revenue on behalf of the TAFDC family to the family without reducing their grant.
In FY22, approximately 12% of the TAFDC caseload received a $50 child support disregard payment in any given
month. On an annual basis, a family may receive up to $600 in child support disregard payments. The actual value
of child support disregard payments differs, depending on whether a recipient is receiving SNAP benefits. Under
federal regulations, clients receiving SNAP benefits have their SNAP benefits reduced when they receive a child
support disregard payment. For every $10 in child support received, a family will lose about $3 in SNAP benefits.
Thus, for a family receiving SNAP, the annual value of child support disregard payments is about $420.
5
INFANT ALLOWANCE. Families with an infant under six months are eligible for a $300 payment to purchase items
for a newborn such as a crib or layette. In FY22, there were a total of 2,403 Crib and Layette payments made to
TAFDC clients.
RELOCATION BENEFITS. A relocation benefit of up to $1,000 may be provided to secure permanent housing for a
family that has been in a family shelter, a shelter for domestic violence, or a teen structured living program for a
period of 60 days or more. The relocation benefit is for expenses directly related to the family’s inability to secure
permanent housing and may be used for expenses including advance rent, security deposit