NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — Democratic lawmakers demand answers after a report from the fiscally conservative Beacon Center. The report found the state over the past several years-has sat on $730 million dollars in federal funds to aid the poor.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program or Families First here in Tennessee is a workforce development and employment program. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, The Families First program emphasizes work, training, and personal responsibility.
It is temporary and has a primary focus on gaining self-sufficiency through employment. The Families First program helps participants reach this goal by providing temporary cash assistance, transportation, child care assistance, educational supports, job training, employment activities, and other support services.
Democrats say the funds are intended to help lift parents out of poverty, something they said isn't happening.
"We can service these people, we can break the cycle in some of these communities, if we lend a helping hand; but neglect is not going to do it, turning a blind out and sitting on $700 million is not solving any problems," Rep. Bo Mitchell.
Mitchell and Representative Mike Stewart held a press conference asking Governor Bill Lee and his administration to use the TANF money for what the funding is designed for.
"Step up and do it, let’s help families, let’s try to break poverty so it’s not continuous to the next generation; let’s get these parents the child care that they need so they can go to work," said Stewart.
We reached out to Lee's office for comment but haven't received anything at this time.
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Human Services did send us a statement, below:
"The Department of Human Services has chosen to take a fiscally responsible and strategic approach to invest these funds in ways that strengthen Tennessee families while maintaining appropriate reserves in the event of an economic downtown.
It's important to remember these TANF funds do have limitations. The federal government requires that these funds must be used in accordance with the program’s four goals including:
• Providing assistance to needy families with children so that they can live in their own homes or the homes of relatives;
• Ending dependence of needy parents on government benefits through work, job preparation, and marriage;
• Reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and
• Promoting the formation and maintenance of two-parent families."
