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POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

Michigan’s Tighter TANF Time Limits on Hold, for Now

Earlier this week I wrote about recent cutbacks in state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, including a tightening of Michigan’s time limit that ended benefits for nearly 12,000 families.  Since then, a federal judge has temporarily halted the benefit cutoff for these families.  Constitutional requirements grounded in notions of basic fairness — that the state notify families why they are no longer eligible and inform them that they can appeal the cutoff —“were not met or even close to met,” the judge stated.

Unfortunately, benefits will end for many families after the state provides a legally sufficient notice, so the reprieve for these families may only be a few weeks.

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