January - February 1997

Cover

 
  • Implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant: An Overview

    Abolishing the nation's 61-year commitment to a federal safety net for poor families with children, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act repealed the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, which was aiding some five million families, and replaced it with the fundamentally different Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This article briefly reviews the state TANF implementation process and discusses key choices and constraints states face under TANF, with particular emphasis on areas where advocacy efforts are needed.

    By Mary R. Mannix, Henry A. Freedman, Marc Cohan, and Chris Lamb

  • Welfare Reforming the Workplace: Protecting the Employment Rights of Welfare Recipients, Immigrants, and Displaced Workers

    Workfare has taken on new dimensions with the work requirements mandated by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. This article examines the mechanics and implications of these requirements, the elimination of employment protections for workfare participants, the expansion of workfare into the private sector, and ways to maximize training opportunities in light of TANF's mechanisms for discouraging education and training in favor of immediate work.

    By Sharon Dietrich, Maurice Emsellem, and Karen Kithan Yau

  • Legal Representation and Advocacy Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

    As the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 makes drastic, fundamental changes in government programs affecting low-income persons, it has a critical effect on legal advocacy for the poor. This article sets out the framework for the advocacy that will be necessary to respond to developments and discusses what programs funded by the Legal Services Corporation can do to carry out their vital role in representing low-income clients in this new environment.

    By Alan W. Houseman

  • The Impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on Food and Nutrition Programs

    Although the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 maintains the Food Stamp Program as an entitlement, it cuts the program by over $27 billion over six years, restricts eligibility, and eliminates a number of recipient protections. The Act also cuts funding for several child nutrition programs, including the Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. This article reviews the major changes in nutrition programs, analyzes the potential impact of the changes, and suggests areas for advocacy.

    By Carrie Lewis

  • Preserving Services for Immigrants: State and Local Implementation of the New Welfare and Immigration Laws

    Immigrants are drastically affected by benefit restrictions imposed by the welfare act as well as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. These restrictions reach well beyond the traditional welfare programs to other services, including supplemental security income and food stamps. This article discusses the many choices state and local governments face in implementing the new welfare and immigration laws.

    By the National Immigration Law Center

  • The Family Law Implications of the 1996 Welfare Legislation

    The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996 contains a number of provisions of importance to family law practitioners and their clients, in particular, changes with respect to paternity establishment and enforcement of child support orders that could be extremely helpful to those who need and want child support. For clients who rely on public assistance, these changes have added importance.

    By Paula Roberts

  • The Welfare Law and Its Effects on Medicaid Recipients

    Although, on paper, the new welfare law preserves entitlement to Medicaid, coverage for several groups of poor people will be dramatically affected by the law's implementation. This article analyzes the effect of the welfare law on Medicaid, in particular, how the law affects coverage of families with children, children in foster care and children with special needs, children with disabilities, and immigrants.

    By the National Health Law Program, the National Center for Youth Law, and the National Senior Citizens Law Center

  • Changes in Supplemental Security Income Disability Program May Spell Loss of Benefits for Tens of Thousands of Children

    The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 makes several changes in the children's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, the most far-reaching being the tightening of the children's SSI disability standard. This article discusses these changes, issues raised in implementation of the Act';s new childhood disability standard, and the overall impact of other welfare program changes.

    By Thomas Yates

  • Child Care in the Wake of the Federal Welfare Act

    The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 eliminated, along with the guarantee to cash assistance, the guarantee to child care. The former child care programs have been replaced with a single Child Care and Development Block Grant.

    By Jo Ann C. Gong

  • Sizing Up the Welfare Act's Impact on Child Protection

    Families involved in the child protection system undoubtedly will feel the effects of the new welfare law. This article describes the new law's potential effects.

    By Mark Hardin

  • Using the World Wide Web to Monitor Implementation of the Welfare Act

    Advocates interested in tracking implementation of the welfare act will find an array of relevant resources available on the Internet.

    By Michelle Nicolet