Human Services News

From Center for Law and Social Policy:

In January 2006, after over three years of short-term extensions, Congress reauthorized the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant as part of the consolidated Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA).

The legislative language that was incorporated into the DRA did not reflect the bipartisan welfare reauthorization bill that had been passed by the Senate Finance Committee, or even the bill that had been passed by the House Republicans.1 Many members of Congress did not have the opportunity to read the bill---let alone to debate and amend it---before they were required to vote on it.

Instead of rewarding states for their efforts to help welfare recipients achieve selfsufficiency, the new law acted as if the past decade of welfare reform had never happened.

It substantially increased effective work requirements, while providing only a minimal increase in funding for child care.

In the interim final rule issued this summer to implement the DRA changes, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) made these flaws even worse.

ACF issued narrow definitions of the countable work activities, which unnecessarily restrict state flexibility to use work-related activities that have been shown to be effective in helping families enter employment and get better jobs.

The regulations also put arbitrary restrictions on the educational programs that can count as vocational educational training, even beyond the existing statutory limits on the duration that participation in such activities can count.

The structure of the program creates strong incentives to cut welfare caseloads and to sanction off the families with the greatest barriers to employment.

When a state provides a required accommodation to an individual with a disability and the individual participates to the full extent that he or she is able, the state should receive full credit toward the participation rate.

Without sufficient new funds, states may be forced to make substantial cuts to their child care assistance programs and will face strong pressures to cut child care funding for other low-income working families outside of the welfare program, leaving many families without access to affordable and stable child care.

There is strong evidence that education leading to a credential---whether a training certificate or a postsecondary degree---is an effective pathway to higher earnings.

These activities should be available thereafter as non-core hours thereafter for all participants who need them, whether or not they have a high school diploma.

Rewarding states for promoting employment, not for cutting caseloads.

By setting a new base year for the caseload reduction credit, the DRA encourages states to further cut their already historically low welfare caseloads.

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