Involvement of TANF Applicant Families with Child Welfare Services

Few studies examine the relationship between welfare and child welfare populations in the wake of welfare reform. This article compares child welfare services involvement between 1996 Aid to Families with Dependent Children entrants and 1999 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) applicants in Wisconsin. Results suggest that there is considerable overlap between welfare applicant and child welfare populations, that this overlap has increased significantly since welfare reform, and that, as state TANF caseloads decline, they may be increasingly composed of families that face significant problems in balancing the demands of work and parenting.