The American Rescue Plan Act includes a new $1 billion Pandemic Emergency Assistance fund for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The new funding will provide much-needed resources to states, tribes, and territories (referred to here as states) to help families with the lowest incomes meet their added expenses or debt due to the pandemic. With the pandemic’s economic fallout continuing to impose widespread hardship, this funding can play a critical role in helping households with children weather the storm. Hardship is particularly high among families with children, the