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Stop TANF-funded Marriage Programs

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) (also known as welfare or public assistance) is an important part of our social contract to help parents and children in poverty.  Congress must vote on whether to continue TANF every five years. TANF is due to be reauthorized in 2010. 

The Bush Administration used TANF funds to give big grants to hundreds of marriage programs around the country in 2006.  Those programs will be fighting hard to keep their grants flowing.  We must fight just as hard to put that $150 million per year back into programs that are proven to ease the pain of poverty and help families leave poverty behind.

This public petition will be delivered to elected officials during the TANF reauthorization process.

Please sign, share your experiences, and tell your friends!

Policies that aim to help children should support all the types of families in which children really live. It is wrong to use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to pay for marriage programs. Government is literally taking money away from impoverished families and giving it to programs that tell them their families are not good enough. There is no proof that marriage programs ease the burden of poverty or make low-income children better off. Marriage should be a personal choice, not a government mandate.

Please oppose the reauthorization of the TANF Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiatives.
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One more thing!   Much of the TANF marriage money was used to pay for billboards and flyers with trite messages like "marriage is good for you."  We need photos of them to show Congress how government money is being wasted.  If you see a marriage billboard or flyer in your community, please contact us and we'll arrange to take a photo and to research who paid for it.  Thank you!