The 2009 Recovery Act helped states cover the costs of providing more assistance to low-income families suffering from the ill effects of the downturn. The Fund provided $5 billion over two years for increased state or federal TANF spending for things like subsidized employment. Some 39 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and eight Tribal TANF programs created new subsidized employment programs or expand existing ones. This paper shows how states used the flexibility they were given to design and implement subsidized employment programs and what challenges they faced in getting them up and running, and provides a record of states’ experiences that could be used to inform future efforts.
