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TANF
From Why welfare reform fails its recession test By Peter Edelman and Barbara Ehrenreich , Sunday, December 6, 2009, Washington post
With these hard times, many people are losing their jobs, their homes, their cars and most think – they can rely on welfare- even if it is a last resort. Unbeknownst to them, even welfare is of little to no help.
"applying for welfare is a lot like being booked for a crime." There may be a mug shot, fingerprinting and lengthy interrogations as to the true paternity of one's children. Word gets around, and, even in the face of destitution, many people will not undergo such indignities.
When President Clinton signed the welfare reform in 1996, welfare went from bad to worse.
We all are well aware of the flaws within the system. However, no one was prepared for the deep chasm in the system without safety nets.
Welfare is neither enough to get people out of poverty, nor do they help applicants get or keep jobs, even though that is one of their main priorities. With the welfare reform of 1996 Clinton ended the legal right to cash assistance and imposed a 5 year limit to recipients. It also gave states complete discretion on how to administer benefits. As a result, welfare rolls were slashed 2/3 nationally in a few years.
While people are still entitled to unemployment, their benefits amount to less than ½ half their former wages.
As for food stamps - “the average benefit still isn't enough to meet people's basic nutritional needs, the program now serves 36 million people”
The case load for TANF (welfare) is about 5 million people, it's still just a little over a third of what it was 15 years ago, before welfare reform.”
“Why the huge difference between unemployment insurance and food stamp usage and welfare caseloads? People have a legal right to food stamps if they meet the statutory requirements, but since 1996 there has been no legal right to cash assistance.”
“According to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the number of homeless Americans is up by 61% since the recession began in December 2007.”
“The number of people living in poverty increased by 2.5 million during the first year of the recession”
“The government reported recently that nearly 50 million Americans are experiencing what it delicately calls "food insecurity."
“…advocates of welfare reform seemed to consider poverty a voluntary condition, one curable with a quick kick in the pants and the opportunity to work for minimum wage.”
Research showed that one in five former recipients ultimately became disconnected from any means of support: They no longer had welfare, but they didn't have jobs. They hadn't married or moved in with a partner or family, and they weren't getting disability benefits. And so, after a decline in the late 1990s, the number of people living in extreme poverty (with an income less than half the poverty line, or below about $9,100 for a family of three) shot up by more than a third, from 12.6 million in 2000 to 17.1 million in 2008.
Many observers welcomed these huge declines as proof that welfare reform was working. They didn't bother to follow these families as they moved into ever more crowded living situations, pieced together patchworks of part-time jobs or left their children alone while they went to work.
The current crisis shows even more vividly that TANF is essentially irrelevant in large parts of the country.
At the end of last year, Wyoming had 281 families on its rolls -- about 550 people. Idaho had 1,600 families, Oklahoma had 8,639, and Arkansas had 8,664. The share of poor families receiving TANF was 4 percent in Wyoming, 5 percent in Idaho, 9 percent in Illinois, 9 percent in Louisiana and 9 percent in Texas. Caseloads fell in 20 states during 2008. – How is that possible when so many people are LOSING their jobs?
Benefits are tiny, too, with 30 states paying a maximum benefit that's less than 30 percent of the federal poverty line. Mississippi skimps by offering its TANF recipients $170 a month for a family of three, about 9 percent of the poverty line and barely enough to cover the utility bills
Fourteen states said they had not changed any of their TANF policies or practices in response to higher unemployment.
42 states have rules that discourage enrollment, Two techniques used to reduce welfare rolls:
"diversion" -- essentially telling someone: "You look able-bodied. Go out and look for a job."
· requiring an extensive job search, even when there are obviously no jobs to be found.
· For a person without a car or access to public transportation, a requirement to apply for dozens of jobs before an application for welfare will even be considered, as some states and counties mandate, can be a deal-breaker.
"sanctioning"
· kicking people off the rolls because they were late to a work assignment (no excuses accepted, whether for sick children, late buses or car trouble)
· or didn't show up for an appointment at the welfare office (no dispensation for failure to receive notice of an appointment or inability to understand English).
· In some states multiple infractions of this sort can result in lifetime disqualification.
Nov 11, 2008
Hi, I am the married mother of 3 in Canby, Or. I have been married to my husband for 20 years and he has been out of work almost a year due to a severe anxiety disorder and other health issues. I have been the sole supporter of our family and on October 16 I was fired from my job of 5 years as an assistant director in a childcare center becuase I made 1 human error and almost fed a bottle to a baby that did not belong to him. The huge corporation I worked for has a very black and white attitude and it made no difference that I never was written up before. Anyhow, I have been looking for work and I am apparently overqualified or under-educated. (I worked myself up from the ranks) I passed my test to get into nursing school in May, my lifelong dream but that may not happen if I can't figure out how to get employment now. I am terrified about not having anything for my children on Christmas and obviously bills. I was hoping to get unemployment to have time to help my husband sort through and gather info to get his disability case started. (Upon recommendation from his Dr.) Today I was denied and I am feeling like a leper. I have sent out over 30 resumes, gone to countless interviews and am scouring job sites and classifieds daily. I was told I cannot receive TANF if I was fired. Any thoughts there?
Thanks for listening!
Jul 27, 2007
I am 22 years old and have a beautiful 2 1/2 year old daughter that is the light of my life and another little angel on the way in November. I am a musician & singing is the one thing that makes me feel good when all else fails. I am a very happy, free-spritited person that can make something good out of all of the bad things that have happened to me. I have had many jobs that range from Bartender to waitress to cashier to factory worker. I need a better job. And am currently unemployed due to my high-risk pregnancy. I am currently a single mother w/no promising place to live. I left my boyfriend shortly after i found out i was pregnant because he beat me up and put me in the hospital. So, For the past 6 months, i have jumped from the Genesis shelter, to friends & families homes. And i need a stable environment for me and my children. Next month i will be going back to school to get my GED and i want to have a place to live while i do this. I am currently living on TANF and it just doesnt pay the bills, let alone pay for a place to live. So i have been searching for programs, grants, and sponsors on the internet religiously to find a way to pay for housing while going back to school, and im not having much luck. I am a good person who has just fallen into some bad luck here for the past year and im having a real hard time gettin back on my feet. I just need some help.
