When Tennessee became a state in 1796, the administration of
“poor relief” became a county duty and was placed in a court
system which extended into the most remote sections of each
county. In 1827, new legislation allowed the counties to
establish almshouses to provide for the poor and any other
persons who could not care for themselves because of disability
or incompetence. In 1925, the Welfare Division in the state
Department of Institutions was created. The Tennessee State
Relief Administration was organized in 1933 and later changed
into the Tennessee Welfare Commission. It further evolved into
the Department of Institutions and Public Welfare and then the
Department of Public Welfare. In May 1975, the agency’s name
changed to the Department of Human Services. In September 1996,
the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, created
through the Social Security Act of 1935, was replaced with a new
federal welfare reform program, Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF). Tennessee’s TANF progra