Senate Must Pass Its TANF Bill

The House-passed bill is detrimental to families who are working hard to leave Maine’s welfare system.

As social work professionals, my colleagues and I are often in a unique position to observe the hardships that economically challenged families face.

Social workers in Maine and nationally have raised deep concerns about President Bush’s proposed changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives that parallels the administration’s proposals. A much more humane version of welfare reauthorization has recently been passed by the Senate Finance Committee. This bill is far better designed than the House-passed version to give states the flexibility they need to design programs that will work to help low income families gain economic security.

It rejects the one-size-fits-all solutions for low-income parents proposed by the administration in favor of the more effective programs addressing family’s individual needs that have been so successful in Maine. It also takes a more thoughtful approach to work participation than the House-passed bill, maintaining the current 30-hour per week participation requirement that recognizes the many challenges faced by single parents and allows them more opportunity to successfully balance their work and parenting responsibilities.

More than half of Maine’s TANF families face illnesses or disabilities severe enough to limit the type or amount of work that they can do. Many of these people are caring for children with disabilities; several others are struggling to overcome the effects of domestic violence. The Senate Finance Committee’s bill takes these barriers to employment into consideration. The full Senate should adopt the Senate Finance Committee’s more realistic approach to working and parenting when it votes on this bill. A disappointing aspect of the Finance Committee bill is its failure to provide sufficient funds to address the long waiting lists for subsidized child care for low wage working parents - over 30,000 Maine children are on waiting lists throughout the state right now. We hope that Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins will vote for more child care funds when the bill reaches the Senate floor. In writing this letter today, I’m hoping that Sun Journal readers will encourage them to do so.

Maine has been a national leader in adopting both an effective and compassionate approach to welfare reform. Caring for these families now, and giving them the tools they need to help them become self-sufficient, will yield long-term benefits for them, their children, and their communities in the future. Maine and other states need the flexibility to design programs that will work to help these families achieve self-sufficiency. An excellent example of this type of policy was recently introduced by Sen. Snowe - a bill aimed at providing post-secondary education opportunities for low-income people working their way out of the welfare system. Sen. Snowe’s bill [S. 2552], titled “Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act of 2002,” will give states the option to use federal dollars under TANF to provide assistance to individuals participating in post-secondary or longer-duration vocational education.

Maine people can be proud that Sen. Snowe’s proposed legislation was modeled after Maine’s “Parents as Scholars Program” initially introduced by then Maine Senate Majority Leader, Chellie Pingree. This innovative program provides eligible TANF recipients in Maine with support services while they attend a two- or four-year post-secondary degree program. Support services address a wide range of needs and are designed to provide participants with the support critical to their success in school, such as child care and transportation.

“Parents as Scholars” graduates earn a median wage of $11.71 per hour after graduating, compared to a $7.50 median hourly wage of welfare leavers in Maine who have not obtained a post-secondary degree. Nearly 90 percent of working “Parents as Scholars” graduates have already exited TANF, and indicators are strong that they have left welfare permanently. One online source states that “Parents as Scholars” graduates performed very well in college - their median grade point average was 3.4 - and an overwhelming majority of participants reported that they gained confidence, self-respect, and a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Social workers are committed to promoting social policies that respect the dignity of people and enhance their access to supports necessary to meet their basic needs and improve their opportunities for economic security. Our lawmakers are in a unique position to pass legislation aimed at reducing poverty and promoting economic security - to go beyond the current debate for welfare reform - and advancing well-documented programs that reduce poverty and promote economic self-sufficiency across the life span.