This five-year project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families as part of the department’s Family Self Sufficiency & Stability Research Network (FSSRN), which supports independent researchers working to enhance family stability research at the local and state levels. The principal investigator of the project, Andrea Hetling, is one of five grantees in the FSSRN cohort and is pursuing projects independently and collaboratively with other cohort scholars. The main research question of Andrea’s project is: What challenges do low-income mothers face in achieving financial and family stability and in what ways does the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program address or fail to address those challenges? Recent project activities focused on examining how the TANF program is designed to accommodate the needs of survivors of intimate partner violence. Working closely with the Town Clock Community Development Corporation, Andrea conducted in-depth qualitative interviews and focus groups with intimate partner violence survivors, case managers, and policy stakeholders to understand experiences and barriers to program access. Additionally, research activities included a quantitative analysis of a critical state-level TANF policy component: the Family Violence Option, which allows states to grant waivers to exempt survivors of intimate partner violence from specific requirements like work requirements and time limits. Analyses of state-level data from across the United States are designed to uncover patterns of utilization and connections with policy implementation approaches.