Charles D. Baker Marylou Sudders
Governor Secretary
Karyn Polito Amy Kershaw
Lieutenant Governor Commissioner
Transitional Aid to
Families with Dependent
Children Consolidated
Report
January 2020
Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance
 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE
TRANSITIONAL AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN
CONSOLIDATED REPORT
JANUARY 2020
OVERVIEW
The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) is pleased to submit this comprehensive
report on the status of the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC)
program, as required by sections 2(B) and 5 of Chapter 18 and section 3C(d) of Chapter 118 of
the Massachusetts General Laws.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE MISSION
DTA’s mission is to assist and empower low-income individuals and families to meet their basic
needs, improve their quality of life, and achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency. DTA offers
a comprehensive system of programs and supports to help individuals and families achieve
greater economic mobility, including food and nutritional assistance, economic assistance, and
employment supports. Currently, DTA serves one out of every nine people in the
Commonwealth including working families, children, elders, and people with disabilities.
TAFDC PROGRAM OVERVIEW & FY 2020 HIGHLIGHTS
TAFDC is a state and federally funded program that provides cash assistance and employment
supports to families with children and pregnant women with little or no income or assets.
TAFDC is operated under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block
grant.
The goal of TAFDC is to support families as they transition from financial hardship to stability.
Over the past three years, DTA has placed renewed emphasis on removing barriers to economic
mobility and helping families find their own best paths to success. The Department has pursued
a three-pronged approach:
1. Reforming policies that get in the way of families achieving their goals,
2. Expanding and diversifying employment support programming options for TAFDC clients
through new purchasing approaches and partnerships, and
3. Exploring new approaches to conducting DTA business and engaging with families.
With the support of the Legislature, in FY2020, the Administration implemented important
updates to TAFDC policies. These included eliminating the “family cap” rule, providing child care
for working relative caregivers, excluding one household vehicle from the asset limit for TAFDC
eligibility, and eliminating a grant reduction for homeless families. These policy changes better
support working caregivers and further align TAFDC policies with those of other means-tested
benefit programs in the state. Much of these changes also constitute a simplification of TAFDC
program rules, ensuring that families can understand their options, and can better plan for life
after TAFDC.
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In the past year, DTA has enhanced its partnership with the MassHire Career Centers to better
track employment outcomes for shared customers and expand opportunities for SNAP clients.
DTA expanded its partnership with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) to
engage parents with a disability who have historically had trouble accessing effective
employment supports. The Department also re-procured the Competitive Integrated
Employment Services (CIES) program, DTA’s largest training and employment services program.
Through this procurement, DTA significantly changed the payment structure to require and pay
for outcomes related to placement in career-path jobs that pay a living wage. Finally, eligibility
for DTA’s employment programs has been expanded to include non-custodial parents of
children on TAFDC in recognition that the health, wellbeing, and economic stability of both
parents is important for a child’s healthy development.
This year, DTA was selected to participate in the federal TANF Policy Academy for Innovative
Employment Strategies (PAIES) through the Office of Family Assistance under the federal
Administration for Children & Families. PAIES offers a series of technical assistance activities
developed to help state TANF programs design, plan, and implement innovative and
comprehensive approaches to increase employment outcomes for TANF participants through
coaching and career pathways. The goals DTA has identified for this academy are:
• Create better partnerships with families to help them set and achieve personally
meaningful goals on their path to family economic stability.
• Increase in the number of clients engaged in employment-related activities that will
lead to a career path and family-sustaining wages.
• Construct better partnerships with staff to help them set and achieve personally
meaningful career goals.
While participation will continue through April 2020, DTA has already implemented several
learnings from the Academy. Specifically, the Department has made several changes to the way
it manages its work program-required cases to focus on early engagement and “right fit”
employment programs referrals. In addition, all young parents (14 – 23 years of age) now
receive the services of a Self-Sufficiency Specialist (SSS), a specialized case manager who has
been trained in coaching techniques to better support young parents and their children as they
work on completing their education and getting on a career path.
TAFDC CASELOAD
As of December 2019, the total TAFDC caseload was 30,767, a slight increase from 29,219 in
December 2018. This increase is primarily due to the implementation of the family cap rule
change, as well as the policy changes referenced above, which are designed to support families
for additional time during which they build assets, increase earnings, and plan for life after
TAFDC. The chart below shows the TAFDC caseload over time.
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 TAFDC Caseload
July 2018 to Dec. 2019
32,000
30,000
Oct-2019
28,000 Jul-2019 31,291
Jul-2018 Oct-2018 Jan-2019 Apr-2019 Dec-2019
29,607
28,608 29,107 29,259 28,704 30,767
26,000
24,000
22,000
20,000
TAFDC BENEFIT AND GRANT LEVELS
DTA has been engaged in a multi-year effort to reform the TAFDC grant structure in order to
untangle and simplify the program’s rules. Reforms implemented in this fiscal year, along with
those in FY2018 and FY2019, have reduced the number of different payment levels from eight
to two, which are based on a client’s housing situation. With the exception of a 2.75% increase
in FY2019 to grants for clients who were not exempted from the program’s work requirement
grant levels have not been adjusted since 2000. The current grant structure is depicted in Table
1.
TABLE 1
TAFDC MONTHLY GRAN/BENEFIT LEVELS BY HOUSEHOLD SIZE
Household size Public or subsidized housing Private housing
1 $388 $428
2 $491 $531
3 $593 $633
4 $691 $731
5 $792 $832
6 $896 $936
7 $997 $1,037
8 $1,097 $1,137
9 $1,197 $1,237
10 $1,298 $1,338
Each additional household member +$105 +$105
In some cases, households receiving TAFDC may be eligible for a number of special payments in
addition to their monthly grant, including, but not limited to:
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 • An annual clothing allowance, which is was set at $350 per child for FY2020,
• A crib and layette payment up to $300 for a newborn infant, and
• A relocation benefit up to $1,000 to assist in a client’s transition to permanent housing.
TAFDC WORK PROGRAM
Clients who receive TAFDC benefits are required to participate in work-related activities as a
condition of eligibility, unless specifically exempted. Through DTA’s Employment Services
Program (ESP), the primary goal of which is to promote economic mobility through education,
training, and work, DTA case managers and Full Engagement Workers (FEWs) assist clients to
set and achieve meaningful goals on their paths to economic stability. FEWs are stationed in
each local office and play an important role in connecting DTA clients with employment and
training opportunities by helping them set goals and informing them of options. FEWs also
conduct orientations to explain opportunities such as the six-month earnings disregard and ESP
options available in their area. Case Managers help identify programs that are a good match for
a client’s goals, experience, strengths and needs and then provide a referral for them to enroll.
ESP providers then assist TAFDC clients in resolving barriers to employment, enrolling in
training, education or certification programs and finding a job. In FY2019, DTA was able to fund
ESP slots to help approximately 4,081 clients.
TAFDC clients that participate in work-related activities, including paid employment, are eligible
to receive child care and transportation supports. Based on a change in federal regulation in the
past year, parents who are enrolled in an approved employment activity are now able to keep
their child care for a full year before needing to reauthorize, thus supporting stable
employment for parents and consistent education and care for their children. Participants with
an active employment plan are also given an $80 per month stipend to assist with
transportation costs associated with getting to work or a training program.
State law requires clients who receive TAFDC benefits who meet certain criteria to be
exempted from the work program requirement, including if:
• Their youngest child is younger than two,
• They have a verified disability,
• They are in their 33rd week or third trimester of pregnancy,
• They are a teen parent attending school full time,
• They are over age sixty, or
• They are caring for a disabled household member.
Those who have a child younger than two and those who have a documented disability make
up the greatest portion of exemptions, jointly comprising 42% of the exempt caseload. While
not given an exempt status, relative caregivers who receive benefits only for children are not
subject to work program requirements.
In the TAFDC caseload there are currently 8,285 adults required to be working or participating
in a work-related activity such as education, training, or work readiness coaching. There are
23,212 clients currently exempt from the work program requirements. While exempt clients are
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not required to participate in the work program, they are encouraged to work or voluntarily
participate in any of the ESP programs. As of September 2019, approximately 16.2%, of exempt
households are volunteering to work and/or participate in ESP, despite having an exemption.
This number is up from 13.8% in September 2018. Of the exempt households that have chosen
to participate, 9.8% have a child under 2 and 1.6% have a documented disability.
EARLY RESULTS OF THE SIX-MONTH EARNINGS DISREGARD
A six-month earnings disregard was instituted through the FY2019 budget as part of the overall
reform to the TAFDC program. This initiative was designed to better promote work and allow
clients to build assets and employment experience before losing eligibility. Early results show
that this policy reform is having the intended effect of encouraging more clients to work and
allowing them to hold onto more income and assets before they transition off TAFDC. Some key
outcomes from April to October 2018 compared to April to October 2019:
• Number of clients with earned income is up to 10,169, an increase of 89%.
• The average number of hours worked by clients has increased to 21 hours per week, up
34%.
• The average hourly wage has increased to $14 per hour, a 10% increase.
• The number of households with assets has increased 21% for a total of 1,352
households with assets.
• The dollar amount of assets per household has increased to an average of $473 per
household, up 46%.
The Department will continue to closely monitor, analyze, and report the results of this policy
reform to ensure that it is continuing to increase participation in the workforce and helping
clients exit from TAFDC.
ADDRESSING CLIFF EFFECTS — LEARN TO EARN
DTA is also a key partner in Governor Baker’s Learn to Earn Initiative (LTE), a cross-secretariat
Working Group (K-12 Education, Higher Education Child Care, SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, Housing,
Workforce Development) convened to analyze and map existing “safety net” benefit programs
and develop policies to address cliff effects and promote employment, wage growth, and
permanent exit from public benefits. The LTE Interagency Workgroup functions to solve
problems across systems, identifying internal policy, regulatory and procedural reforms at the
state level to better incentivize work for clients across systems and to promote a two-
generational approach to disrupting the multi-generational cycle of poverty.
Learn to Earn is focused on four key work streams:
• Learn to Earn Pilot Grants: Developing and testing employment and training innovations
for public benefit recipients connected directly to high demand industries that pay
family sustaining wages.
• CommonCalc: On-line tool for case managers and clients to understand the impact of
work and earnings on public benefits, and plan for economic independence.
• Policy Reforms: Individual agency reforms to enable clients to keep more of their
earnings while they pursue career advancement.
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 • Data Sharing: New data sharing agreement to capture information on a broad cohort
receiving benefits to understand the full benefits “package,” cliff issues, and gaps in
support.
EMPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIPS AND PROGRAMS
DTA is also an essential partner in Massachusetts’ implementation of the federal Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WIOA seeks to integrate states’ workforce systems to
better serve employers and jobseekers. Signed into law in 2014, WIOA reauthorized the
nation’s employment, training, adult education, and vocational rehabilitation programs for the
first time in 16 years. WIOA’s emphasis is on targeting low-income adults and youth with
limited training and skills as well as individuals with disabilities to help them overcome barriers
to economic success.
Since the passage of WIOA, DTA has worked closely with the Executive Office of Labor and
Workforce Development (EOLWD) to implement a new, more integrated system of workforce
development for DTA clients and others with significant barriers to work. The aim of this
collaboration is to:
• Develop meaningful pathways to work and economic self-sufficiency for low-income,
disabled and chronically un/underemployed individuals/families, and
• Ensure that DTA clients and families with significant barriers can access the workforce
system with the support needed to attain and sustain employment.
This partnership has allowed DTA to provide additional employment supports to TAFDC clients
through the network of MassHire Career Centers. Located throughout Massachusetts, each
MassHire Career Center offers services to DTA clients through the Work Participant Program
(WPP). Through the WPP, clients receive access to individualized career counseling and
guidance, workshops, job fairs, employer recruitment, and access to free resources to assist
with their job search and applications.
Massachusetts was recently awarded $1.6 million in SNAP Employment &Training dollars
intended to expand offerings to all SNAP clients, including at-risk Able-Bodied Adults Without
Dependents (ABAWDs), through the Work Participant Program. DTA is using these funds to
double its financial contribution to the MassHire Career Centers and increase SNAP client
participation. DTA will also be adding Full Engagement Workers (FEWs) in Transitional
Assistance Offices (TAOs) to better engage SNAP clients, including ABAWDs, in work-related
activities through both Career Centers and other employment programming.
PATHWAYS TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT
Pathways to Self-Sufficiency (PSS) is another tool DTA uses to assist clients to set economic
mobility goals. PSS is an assessment tool launched in 2016 to facilitate positive client
engagement and targeted supports that lead to employment, career pathways and long-term
economic stability. PSS is designed to identify clients’ strengths and employment challenges.
Based on the PSS assessment process, DTA works with clients to develop an individualized
employment plan to meet the specific needs and goals of each client.
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The initiative also requires a pre-benefit job search period and an orientation to explain
opportunities such as the six-month earnings disregard and Em