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Box 9656 Some photos on this page courtesy of USDA NRCS. |
Abstract August 1999 The South, as does the rest of the country,
holds great expectations for welfare reform and the ability of Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), the revised public assistance program
replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), to help the
poor in this country become more self-sufficient. Appreciable
work requirements are embedded within the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), the legislation mandating
welfare reform. Almost daily, there are reports on the dramatic
declines in welfare caseloads across the nation since President Clinton
signed PRWORA into law in August 1996. These declines are generally
interpreted to mean that welfare-to-work strategies must be effective.
However, not enough is known about the dynamics of moving people from
welfare to work to make such assessments. And researchers certainly
do not have a good understanding of caseload reduction in the rural
South where unique social and economic conditions may affect the implementation
and success of welfare reform. This report describes recent welfare
reform efforts and identifies some of the conditions that may affect
welfare reform and the potential for the new legislation to move welfare
recipients into the workforce in the South. |
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Copyright © 2002 |