Welfare

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 is a comprehensive bipartisan welfare reform plan that
dramatically changes the nation's welfare system into one that requires
work in exchange for time-limited assistance. The Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program replaces the former
AFDC and JOBS programs. In TANF, states and territories operate
programs; under the new law, Tribes have the option to run their own
TANF programs. States, territories, and tribes each receive a block
grant allocation; states have a maintenance of effort requirement. The
total federal block grant is $16.5 billion each year through fiscal year
(FY) 2002. The block grant covers benefits, administrative expenses,
and services. States, territories, and tribes determine eligibility and
benefit levels and services provided to needy families, and there is no
longer a federal entitlement.

Under TANF, states are required to make an initial assessment of
recipients' skills. With few exceptions, recipients must work after two
years on assistance,. Twenty-five percent of all families in each state
must be engaged in work activities or have left the rolls in FY 1997,
rising to 50 percent in FY 2002. Single parents must participate for at
least 20 hours per week the first year, increasing to at least 30 hours
per week by FY 2000. Two-parent families must work 35 hours per
week by July 1, 1997.

To count toward state work requirements, recipients will be required to
participate in unsubsidized or subsidized employment, on-the-job
training, work experience, community service, 12 months of vocational
training, or to provide child care services to individuals who are
participating in community service. Up to 6 weeks of job search (no
more than 4 consecutive weeks) can count toward the work
requirement. Single parents with a child under 6 who cannot find child
care cannot be penalized for failure to meet the work requirements.

Families who have received assistance for five cumulative years (or less
at state option) will be ineligible for cash aid under the new welfare law.

The new law requires states to maintain their own spending on welfare
at 80 percent or more of FY 1994 levels. States must also maintain
spending at 100 percent of FY 1994 levels to access a $2 billion
contingency fund designed to assist states affected by high population
growth or economic downturn.

Through FY 2003, $1 billion will be available for performance bonuses
to reward states for moving welfare recipients into jobs.

Under the new law, unmarried minor parents will be required to live
with a responsible adult or in an adult-supervised setting and participate
in educational and training activities in order to receive assistance.

The new law also guarantees that women on welfare continue to
receive health coverage for their families, including at least one year of
transitional Medicaid when they leave welfare for work.

Welfare to Work Challenge

The balanced budget on August 5, 1997 included the total funding
requested to create a $3 billion Welfare to Work Jobs Challenge fund.
This program will help states and local communities move long-term
welfare recipients into lasting, unsubsidized jobs. A Welfare to Work
Tax Credit will give 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.

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. Federal funds are provided to states and 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.

For FY 2000, $453 million is 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. In FY 2001,
$432 million for these services. In FY 1998, over 90,000 refugees,
entrants, and Amerasians were admitted to the U.S. for resettlement.

Repatriation

The Repatriation Program assists US citizens and dependents who are
returned to the US by the State Department. If an American citizen in a
foreign country becomes ill, is without funds, or needs to be returned to
the US because of a threatening situation in a foreign country,
necessary services and loans are provided through this program. An
Emergency Repatriation Plan is also established by HHS in
coordination with federal agencies, voluntary organizations, and states
to implement large scale repatriation operations in the event of a
national security emergency.