A Tennessee anti-poverty program has been allowed to preserve a massive surplus years after it was discovered to have amassed one.
That’s according to reporting by the Tennessee Lookout on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also known as Families First in Tennessee.
The fund currently has a surplus of $717 million dollars, only $13 million less than its last reported surplus five years ago. TANF is a federal program that provides a yearly block grant to every state with the goal of lifting families and children out of poverty.
Tennessee receives $190 million dollars a year without a required deadline to use the funds.
All but $190 million dollars will be distributed in multi-year grants to community groups, to fund a newborn program at local health departments and to pay IT contractors to modernize the state Department of Human Services’ aging computer system.