CPR:
Illinois officials Friday announced an increase in benefits for households in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Patricia Munoz manages community resource centers in northern Cook County. She says the funding boost will mean about $30-40 extra per month for families.
MUNOZ: It gives them a little bit more money for the other things that maybe the food stamps that they receive will not cover. Like toiletries, like one mother said she's going to use it for fees for her children's school, because now they're in high school.
Another
story on this from the Tribune:
Low-income families across Illinois will get a little boost in their monthly welfare checks starting next month, the first increase in six years.
More than 26,000 families in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program will see a 9 percent increase in their monthly payments, or about an extra $40 a month for a family of four.
The increase will be automatically deposited onto participants' state-issued debit cards, and also include a retroactive lump sum payment for the months of July through October.
Families of four who live in Chicago will now receive $474 a month, up from $435, and families of two will get $318 a month, up from $292. The increases will be slightly lower for families who live in smaller towns with a lower cost of living.
According to a downstate radio station
enrollment in this program is down:
A decrease in the number of people enrolled in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program will mean more money for those currently enlisted. TANF provides temporary financial assistance for poor pregnant women and families with one or more dependent children.
The majority of the funding, roughly $600 million, comes from the federal government. The state’s share amounts to just over $100 million. Carol Adams, secretary, Illinois Department of Human Services, says the 9 percent increase in grant money from the TANF will help extremely poor families in these tough economic times.
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