# Cuts to Basic Cash Assistance Are Hurting Kentucky’s Poorest Kids and Their Parents **Published:** 2026-07-28T13:07:04.000Z **Source:** [KY Center for Economic Policy](https://kypolicy.org/ktap-cash-assistance-cuts-kentucky/) **Republished from:** [KY Center for Economic Policy](https://kypolicy.org/ktap-cash-assistance-cuts-kentucky/) (CC BY-ND 4.0) **Canonical:** https://kypolicy.org/ktap-cash-assistance-cuts-kentucky/ By Adam K. Raymond, [KY Center for Economic Policy](https://kypolicy.org) · July 28, 2026 The Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP) is the state’s only program that provides basic cash assistance to children in low-income families. After decades of frozen benefit amounts and income eligibility limits, the program received [much-needed improvements](https://kypolicy.org/kentuckys-basic-cash-assistance-program-just-got-a-much-needed-update/) in 2023. Those improvements helped thousands more participants and doubled the amount of assistance each received. However, a $32 million budget shortfall within the child welfare program in the fall of 2025 led officials within the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), which administers public assistance programs and child welfare, to seek out flexible funds in order to fill the gap. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, which is the source of funding for KTAP, is where they turned, leaving less available for KTAP. Ultimately, [KTAP benefits were cut by a third](https://www.weku.org/the-commonwealth/2025-09-26/ktap-cash-benefits-and-transportation-supports-are-being-reduced), and the transportation benefit needy families can receive was cut in half. This cut came with a request to the General Assembly to address the funding shortfall so the cuts could eventually be reversed. The result, however, is that between October 2025 (the month before cuts were made) and June 2026, the average monthly benefit amount fell from an average of $190.91 per person to $128.16 per person. The average monthly cash benefit for an entire household is now just $292.99.[1](https://kypolicy.org/ktap-cash-assistance-cuts-kentucky/#easy-footnote-bottom-1-27065) What’s more, participation in the program has also fallen off significantly despite the program’s eligibility rules remaining in place (a family of three, for example, must earn less than [$14,000 per year](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/921/002/016/) to qualify). From October 2025 to June 2026, participation fell 21% overall. KTAP serves children and in some cases their parents if household income is low enough. Since October 2025, child participation has fallen 19.6% while adult population has fallen 25.1%.  It is not clear why participation is declining so rapidly, but the many administrative requirements aren’t helping. Adults participating in the program must meet a work requirement, which is one reason the program includes a transportation benefit to get to and from work. Prior to October, the benefit was $300 per month, which participants could use for gas, oil changes, bus fare, or any other transportation-related cost. The cuts in November resulted in a $150 monthly benefit, which may have made it more difficult for participants to stay in the workforce. Additionally, participating in KTAP comes with many requirements (work reporting, paperwork, child support cooperation, etc.) and the reduction in the value of the benefit may have made the program less attractive in light of the burden it places on already stretched households. It is also the case that participation rates in public assistance have been falling in recent years across the board. While KTAP was cut to make up for budget shortfalls, reducing our only source of basic cash assistance for families well below the poverty line may create larger costs down the road. A long history of research indicates a [strong](https://www.cbpp.org/research/income-security/research-reinforces-providing-cash-to-families-in-poverty-reduces-risk-of) [relationship](https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/increasing-families-incomes-helps-meet-childrens-needs-and-reduces) between basic cash support and involvement in the child welfare system. In fact, [one s](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5336326/)[t](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5336326/)[udy](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5336326/) demonstrated that consistency in basic cash assistance resulted in a higher likelihood of reunification with parents from whom children were separated, a far less costly outcome for the state. Additionally, cash assistance in childhood [can be associated with higher earnings](https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/simulating-long-term-impact-cash-assistance-children-future-earnings) later in life, reducing the cost burden to the state and increasing revenue through income and sales taxes in the future. While DCBS officials noted they needed $32 million to fully fund foster care and restore the TANF funds they used by cutting KTAP, the 2026 General Assembly cut the department even more deeply. Across the next two-year budget, DCBS will suffer a [13.2%](https://kypolicy.org/dcbs-cuts-in-kentucky-state-budget/) cut, or $171.5 million. While the governor has taken extraordinary steps to mitigate the impact of these cuts in FY 2027, there will still be deep cuts in the next fiscal year. Until the General Assembly intentionally fully funds programs that serve Kentucky’s most vulnerable children, raiding TANF — and therefore basic cash assistance — will continue to be a temptation for cash-strapped officials. The post [Cuts to Basic Cash Assistance Are Hurting Kentucky’s Poorest Kids and Their Parents](https://kypolicy.org/ktap-cash-assistance-cuts-kentucky/) appeared first on [Kentucky Center for Economic Policy](https://kypolicy.org). ## Sources - [KY Center for Economic Policy](https://kypolicy.org/ktap-cash-assistance-cuts-kentucky/)