Advocates Can Help People Affected by Changes in Welfare Law


One year after the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) was reauthorized by the Deficit Reduction Act, additional complications arise for TANF applicants and recipients with disabilities, according to the January–February 2007 Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy. By defining work activities more narrowly, the new TANF provisions make it more difficult for persons with disabilities to meet work requirements. Advocates are now poised to help such clients by using the American Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.  

“Given the nature of the TANF changes and the high prevalence of disabilities among parents receiving TANF benefits,” writes Cary LaCheen, “the new statute and regulations have a number of implications for families receiving TANF with either a parent or child with a disability.” The lead article in the latest issue of Clearinghouse Review (out later this month), “New Provisions of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program: Implications for Clients with Disabilities and Advocacy Opportunities,” by LaCheen, discusses how these changes will affect legal advocates and their clients. The article identifies opportunities for policy advocacy on behalf of individual clients so that they can obtain and maintain TANF benefits. 

Published by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, the January–February 2007 Clearinghouse Review also features the following articles by advocates and attorneys across the country:

  • “The Violence Against Women Act Now Ensures Legal Services for Immigrant Victims” by Amanda Baran
  • “Fairer Housing for People with Disabilities: Securing an In-Place Tenant’s Right to Reasonable Accommodation” by Liam Garland
  • “Immigration Relief for Survivors of Domestic Abuse, Sexual Assault, Human Trafficking, and Other Crimes: A Violence Against Women Act 2005 Update” by Joanne Lin, Leslye Orloff, and Ericka Echavarria
  • “Portable Justice, Global Workers, and the United States” by Cathleen Caron
  • “The Big Skim: How Tax Refund Anticipation Loans Drain Over a Billion Dollars from Workers’ Tax Refunds” by Chi Chi Wu

For information on how to subscribe to Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy and other Shriver Center publications, please visit our website.

Published bimonthly by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy is an advocate’s best resource for information on developments in poverty law. Each issue of the Review features in-depth, analytical articles, written by experts in their fields, on topics of interest to poor people’s and public interest lawyers. Substantive areas covered include civil rights, family law, disability, domestic violence, housing, elder law, employment, health, and welfare reform. The Review also occasionally features notes on cases being litigated by legal aid advocates across the country.