 
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Region IV State TANF Web Sites |
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Alabama |
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Florida |
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/ess/ http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/ess/tanf.shtml |
Georgia |
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Kentucky |
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Mississippi |
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North Carolina |
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South Carolina |
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Tennessee |
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Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
On August 22, 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) was signed into law. PRWORA dramatically changed the nation's welfare system into one that required work in exchange for time-limited assistance. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program replaced the former AFDC and JOBS programs. In TANF, states and territories operate the programs; Tribes have the option to run their own TANF programs. States, territories, and tribes each receive a block grant allocation. States are required to maintain their own spending on welfare at 80 percent or more of FY 1994 levels. The total federal block grant is $16.5 billion each year. States, territories, and tribes determine eligibility and benefit levels and services provided to needy families, and there is no longer a federal entitlement.
On February 8, 2006, President Bush signed into law, legislation that reauthorized the TANF program of 1996 through FY 2010. The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 requires States to engage more TANF cases in productive work activities leading to self-sufficiency. The “maintenance of effort” requirement is retained so States can continue their contributions to children and families. The five-year cumulative lifetime limit for federal TANF cash assistance is retained and States will continue to be allowed to exempt up to 20 percent of their cases from the limit. DRA retains funding at $16.5 billion per year for the block grant and maintains State flexibility and most provisions of PWRORA.
Supplemental grants of $319 million are authorized annually to States that experience high population growth or had historically low funding through FY 2008. The high-performance bonus, out-of-wedlock bonus and the loan fund were eliminated. The $2 billion contingency fund is reauthorized to help States during a recession through 2008.
The new law retains the same 50 percent all-family and 90 percent two-parent work participation requirement for States as before. The caseload reduction credit was recalibrated to FY 2005.
The reauthorization includes $150 million to support programs designed to help couples form and sustain healthy marriages. Up to $50 million of this amount may be used for programs designed to encourage responsible fatherhood.
Interim final regulations were issued June 28, 2006, to address eligible work activities and uniform reporting and accountability measures. HHS defined what constitutes work, created uniform methods for reporting hours of work, determined documentation needed to verify reported hours, determined when certain parents should be counted in the State work participation calculation, and established work verification procedures and internal controls.
Welfare to Work Tax Credit
The balanced budget on August 5, 1997, created a $3 billion Welfare to Work Jobs Challenge fund. This program helped states and local communities move long-term welfare recipients into lasting, unsubsidized jobs. A Welfare to Work Tax Credit also gave employers an added incentive to hire long-term welfare recipients by providing a credit equal to 35 percent of the first $10,000 in wages in the first year of employment, and 50 percent of the first $10,000 in the second year, for new hires who have received welfare for an extended period.
On December 20, 2006, the President signed into law the Tax-Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (P. L. 109-432). This legislation merges the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit into the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and extends the WOTC program, with a number of significant changes and provisions, for a two-year period through December 31, 2007. This reauthorization is retroactive to January 1, 2006, and the amendments apply to new hires that begin work for an employer on or after January 1, 2007. The consolidated Work Opportunity Tax Credit for hiring can be as much as $9,000 for each long-term family assistance recipient hired over a two-year period.
The consolidated WOTC applies only to new employees hired on or after January 1, 2007 and before January 1, 2008. There are nine target groups of which the new employee must belong to one. Among them are:
- A member of a family that is receiving or recently received TANF for at least 18 consecutive months ending on the hiring date;
- A member of a family that is receiving or recently received TANF benefits for any 9-month period during the 18-month period ending on the hiring date.
More detailed information on the Work Opportunity Tax credit is available at: http://www.doleta.gov/business/Incentives/opptax/
Refugee Assistance
Refugee assistance programs were established by the 1980 Immigration and Nationality Act in order to assist refugees and Cuban and Haitian entrants to become employed, economically self-sufficient, and assimilated into our society as soon as possible after arrival in the United States. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has responsibility for the domestic program of refugee resettlement services which includes cash and medical assistance to arriving refugees and a broad range of social services for refugees in the U.S. for less than five years. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at HHS provides funding for refugee services programs through state governments as well as through non-profit organizations, such as voluntary agencies, to help offset the costs of resettlement. Increasing refugee employment and reducing welfare dependency is a major emphasis of the program.
In FY 2006, a projected $575 million was made available for grants for refugee assistance and services in the form of cash and medical assistance, social services, preventive health services, the voluntary agency matching grant program, and the targeted assistance grant program. This is an increase from FY 2005 when a projected amount of $484 million was made available for these services. Information related to the refugee resettlement program and how to contact HHS about refugee assistance issues is available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/.
Repatriation Assistance
Repatriation assistance provides temporary assistance to United States citizens and their dependents who are identified by the Department of State as needing to return from a foreign country to the U.S. but who do not have the resources to do so. This financial assistance is repayable to the U.S. government. If an American citizen in a foreign country becomes ill, is without funds or needs to be returned to the U.S. because of a threatening situation, needed services will be provided. For situations involving the evacuation of a group of Americans from a foreign country, HHS may be requested to establish reception sites as well as provide individual assistance. ACF operates both individual and group repatriation programs through agreements with State agencies.
A national emergency repatriation plan is also established by HHS in coordination with other involved Federal agencies, voluntary organizations and States to implement large-scale repatriation operations in the event of a national security emergency.
Funds are provided by discretionary grants to States.