Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)

Improving Program Performance by Creating a More Qualified, Stable, Professional Workforce

THE PROPOSAL

To improve overall program performance and the well-being of children and families, the reauthorization of the 1996 welfare law must include provisions to help states improve the quality, stability, and professionalism of the TANF workforce.

One proposal, supported by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), National Partnership for Women & Families, National Urban League, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), would:

• Require states to outline in their state plans how they intend to ensure a professional workforce with the resources, skills, and expertise necessary to successfully carry out the program, including referring participants to other appropriate programs and services, screening participants for serious barriers to employment, and delivering services free from racial, ethnic or cultural discrimination.
• Create a new competitive grant program to strengthen the capacity of TANF agencies to provide high quality services. Grants could be used to implement policies to maintain a stable, skilled and professional workforce, including staff training; design model case management practices; and redesign the delivery of services to maximize efficiency and public satisfaction.
• Create a new bonus program to reward state performance. Eligible states would be those that maximize the effectiveness of the TANF workforce and deliver high quality public services. Measurements would include the percentage of staff receiving training, turnover rates, staff-to-participant ratios, use of information technology, and participants' knowledge of program rules.
• Amend data collection and reporting requirements. The Secretary of HHS would be required to develop a uniform set of data elements in collecting individual case record information and the use of sampling in state reports on program activity would be eliminated.
• Require the Secretary of HHS to evaluate innovative approaches to service delivery, including best practices in staffing, training, workloads, and intra-agency and inter-agency collaboration.