Since news broke in 2017 that the Mississippi Department of Human Services had reported approving just 1.4% of TANF applications in 2016 -- and as low as five applications in April of 2017 -- the number of reported approved applications increased to a high of 491 out of 2,028 in August of 2017. Since then, approved applications have dropped again, to a low of 48 in June of 2020. The most recent data from March of 2022 shows the agency approved 109 applications out of 1,212 that month.