TANF Workers’ Responses to Battered Women and the Impact of Brief Worker Training: What Survivors Report

This article summarizes a Michigan study that surveyed battered women’s experiences with their TANF caseworkers around intimate partner violence (IPV) discussion and safety planning. Battered women were asked a series of questions surveying the experience level of the worker. Results from the report concluded that trained workers were more likely than untrained workers to discuss the women’s fear and physical harm and to help them develop a safety plan. In addition, trained workers were generally perceived as more helpful.