Making TANF Work for Families in Need

Fact Sheet - June 4, 2002

TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) reauthorization must adhere to fundamental principles of equality, fairness and social justice. Achieving this goal depends on identifying effective strategies that offer welfare clients the best chance to find and keep stable jobs, provide support to themselves and their families, and achieve some level of economic independence. The House majority bills that will be considered on the floor should be rejected because they will do more harm than good.

Provide Families With Real Work Supports Not Unworkable Requirements

Work is key to economic security, but proposals to raise TANF hourly work requirements to 40 hours and work participation rates to 70% are unrealistic, unnecessary, and unresponsive to the real needs of families. Requiring welfare clients to work more hours while ignoring the practical implications, such as increased need for child care or education and training, will only hurt families.
Increased work requirements will place new pressures on states to meet higher work participation rates without increasing funding for supports clients need to stay in jobs. It particularly hurts many minority clients who already face problems accessing services.
Instead, TANF reauthorization should focus on providing work supports for families such as ? increased funding for child care, particularly during off hours; the ability to take off time to handle family/medical needs; access to transportation; and better health care.

Promote Real Work Not Workfare

Current proposals to impose increased work requirements on states and oblige immediate work will also have the unfortunate effect of reducing state flexibility to respond to client needs. Removing flexibility and, instead, requiring states to push clients quickly into jobs may force many states to create new workfare programs that are largely ineffective.

A Washington state study that found workfare only resulted in a $45 increase in quarterly earnings of participants, while jobs skills training raised quarterly earnings by $456 and publicly funded jobs raised such earnings by $792.

Welfare clients do not need make work, they need real work that pays a living wage, and states need flexibility to create programs that help prepare clients for jobs. Investing in strategies to help minority clients find decent jobs is particularly important ? reports show that minority clients leaving welfare often earn lower wages than white clients.

Ensuring Fair Treatment In Welfare Programs

Too little attention has been focused on examining welfare implementation from a civil rights perspective, but it is critical to ensure that welfare programs operate fairly, and that all families in need have access to vital benefits. Thus, TANF reauthorization must:

strengthen data collection and accountability to note problems facing racial and ethnic communities ? such as lack of transportation or higher sanction rates;
improve training for caseworkers to ensure rules are communicated effectively, and that clients understand their rights and obligations;
require more vigorous enforcement of antidiscrimination and workplace laws at both the federal and state level to ensure that programs are administered fairly and that all clients have equal access to the full range of programs and services;
ensure improved access to services for clients with specific barriers, such as language barriers or disabilities; and
ensure that legal immigrants have access to vital benefits that are essential for families struggling to make ends meet.