TANF Reauthorization Act of 2001

H.R. 3113

On October 12, 2001 Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI) introduced a bill to reauthorize and reform the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, the TANF Reauthorization Act of 2001 (H.R. 3113). A brief summary follows.

PURPOSES. While TANF’s basic structure is maintained, including work requirements and a five-year lifetime limit, the bill shifts the emphasis from reducing welfare rolls to reducing child and family poverty by: supporting caregivers; promoting education and training for jobs that pay a living wage; safeguarding access to Medicaid, food stamps, child care and other work supports; and mandating access to services to address employment barriers such as mental illness, physical disability, substance abuse, and domestic and sexual violence.

FEDERAL FUNDING. States are protected against cuts in federal funding, and state spending in excess of required levels will now qualify for a 50 percent federal match. States may qualify for additional federal funds if unemployment rates or TANF caseloads increase. The Illegitimacy Reduction bonus is replaced with a Poverty Reduction bonus; the High Performance bonus is revised to focus on jobs that pay above-poverty wages and on access to work supports; and a new Overcoming Barriers bonus is added.

WORK REQUIREMENTS. The definition of countable work is broadened to include: fulltime care for a child who is under age 6 or disabled; vocational training without the current arbitrary 12 month limit; education, including elementary and secondary education, literacy, English as a Second Language, GED, and higher education; and participation in activities designed to address domestic or sexual violence, mental illness, substance abuse, or disability. Before an individual is assigned to a work activity, the state must provide the individual the opportunity to elect to have a skills assessment. Full family sanctions are prohibited.

TIME LIMITS. The 5 year lifetime limit on assistance is maintained, but the clock is stopped while individuals are in compliance with program rules (for instance, engaged in a work activity), shorter time limits are banned, and the arbitrary 20 percent cap on hardship exceptions is repealed. Additionally, states are barred from counting months in which the state unemployment rate is 5.5 percent or higher or has increased by the lesser of 50 percent or 1.5 percentage points.

CHILD SUPPORT. Recipients would no longer be required to assign child support rights to the state or to participate against their wishes in state efforts to establish paternity or collect support. In lieu of the foregoing "sticks," there would be the carrot of a requirement for the states to pass through and disregard child support payments made to or on behalf of a TANF family, with federal financial support to defray the cost of this requirement.

CIRCUMSTANCES OF BIRTH. States would be prohibited from denying or limiting assistance to a child born into a family already receiving assistance.

IMMIGRANTS. All barriers (including waiting periods and deeming requirements) to qualified legal immigrants access to benefits are removed.

DIVERSION. States may not refuse to accept an application for assistance, nor give an individual reason to believe that the state would not unconditionally, immediately accept an application.

NONDISCRIMINATION. States must ensure equitable treatment of needy families and shall not discriminate among families based on marital status or applicant or recipient status. It is also clarified that TANF applicants and recipients are entitled to the same protections under federal and state civil rights and labor laws as other individuals.

PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY. States may not require recipients to respond to surveys conducted to obtain information for quarterly reports. States must ensure that any information an individual provides shall not be disclosed to any other person, except to the extent that the disclosure is necessary to administer the program or is consented to by the individual.

MINIMUM BENEFIT. States must ensure a minimum benefit that is no lower than the sum of the poverty level plus the amount (if any) by which the family’s housing costs exceed 30 percent of the poverty level.

INDIVIDUAL ENTITLEMENT TO CHILD CARE. States must guarantee child care to TANF recipients who are engaged in a work activity and for two years to those who leave TANF and whose income is below 250 percent of poverty.

CHARITABLE CHOICE. The current charitable choice language is repealed, except for the provisions requiring alternative providers for those who object to a religious provider, and clarifying that there is no preemption of any state provision that prohibits or restricts the expenditure of state funds in or by religious organizations. New protections are added that religious providers who accept TANF funds may not engage in religious employment discrimination with TANF funds or include sectarian worship, instruction or proselytization in a program funded by TANF.

ADDRESSING BARRIERS. States must address domestic and sexual violence, mental illness, disability and substance abuse issues by establishing standards and procedures to ensure that prior to imposition of any sanctions or penalty for non-compliance, trained caseworkers (or at the individual’s option qualified professionals) will screen individuals for such barriers. If one of these problems is identified, the state must have a system in place for referring the individual for treatment if she so desires. States must certify that they will waive any program requirement that unfairly penalizes an individual addressing one of these barriers, or makes an individual unsafe.