While intended uses for the dollars are spelled out in the orders, Ashley Underwood, a Northeast Ohio native and director of the national research and advocacy group Equity Forward, said many times the dollars go toward administrative costs instead of services.
Equity Forward, which mainly focuses on reproductive rights and LGBTQ issues, is conducting research on the use of TANF dollars from state to state. While also looking at the work Ohio does to direct funding to anti-abortion groups, the group says the resources touted may not be what the funding ends up supporting.
“An overwhelming majority of these funds are being used for overhead costs, salaries and marketing of services or other programs,” Underwood told the OCJ.