Final Welfare Reform Regulations Announced; Rules Will Promote Self-Sufficiency And Program Flexibility, USA

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 07 Feb 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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New regulations to strengthen welfare reform were published in the Federal Register. The changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program will help move individuals off of the welfare rolls and into the workplace by giving states the flexibility to design their own effective welfare-to-work initiatives.

"Welfare reform has played a key part in finding work opportunities for needy Americans," said HHS' Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Daniel Schneider. "These regulations will help states tailor their welfare programs to better serve those making the move from welfare to work."

The new regulations give states leeway to help families remove barriers to employment by converting the current six-week limit on counting job search and job readiness activities to an hourly equivalent. They also permit states to count participation in baccalaureate or advanced degree programs in vocational educational training, up to the 12-month lifetime limit. In addition, they hold states responsible for documenting all hours they report each month for work participation, while clarifying that daily supervision of participants does not have to involve in-person contact each day.

"The Bush Administration is committed to helping families reach self-sufficiency," said Sidonie Squier, director of HHS' Office of Family Assistance. "These new regulations will modernize welfare reform so these programs resemble a real work environment, helping participants with their transition into the work-force."

Since welfare reform became law in 1996, welfare rolls for families have declined by 62 percent, with the most recent caseload numbers showing 1,672,355 families currently on the TANF rolls. The regulations announced follow up on an interim rule announced in June 2006 after TANF was reauthorized.

To view the complete final rule, log on to here.

http://www.hhs.gov

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