The Issue Of Social Services

First, if the government were to make welfare eligibility stricter it would impede on the attempts of those below the poverty line trying to find a job. TANF ?can free up additional dollars for work related expenses and other basic needs and thus aid families? efforts to move from welfare to work? (Sard and Daskal). It is needed to help pay for those ?necessities that often accompany employment, such as additional clothing and food costs, child care, and transportation to and from work? (Sard and Daskal). The program does not just hand out money, but provides the aid needed to ?achieve self-sufficiency? through employment (Cohn). Without the additional money for clothing, food costs, child care, and transportation, an individual would not be able to maintain employment and abide by the TANF requirements. It is evident that TANF is necessary for those individuals that live in poverty and are seeking employment. If the requirements were to become stricter, the number of the employed and those living below the poverty line would increase simultaneously.

The effects of the 1996 welfare reform bill helped declined caseloads on the social and economic well-being of fragile families, single mothers, and children. Although, the welfare reform was documented for making several positive changes such as reducing poverty rates, lowering the out of-wedlock childbearing, and formulated a better family structure, it is undeniable that poverty remained high among single mothers and their children. The reality of the matter was that most welfare recipients experienced serious barriers to maintain a stable employment due to their lack of skills, not having anyone available to take care of their young children when they leave for work as well as not gaining long-time employment with decent pay to help foster the family. As a result, most poor women and children were faced with the instability of economic and social future as welfare eligibility exhausted their efforts of supporting their families.

In 1996 the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant was created as a way to provide assistance to needy families and to end the dependence on government benefits through encouraging job preparation, marriage with the formation of two parent families, and work. In reality, TANF has created a weakened safety net and provides less protection for individuals facing poverty. It grants less assistance than before to lessen poverty and the hardship that comes along with it. The policy has become more of a Band-Aid that is continually ripped off due to its sanctions and requirements revealing the same deeper issues that were there in the first place. Families are stuck in a hole of poverty where they cannot climb out of, and policies like TANF help to maintain it. Since the year 2000, poverty in the U.S has been on the rise, especially the increase in deep poverty. The number of families in deep poverty rose from 2.7 million to 3 million between 1996 and 2013. This is an extremely important issue that we are currently facing in our country. More time and effort needs to be spent on both the creation and reformation of policies like TANF to help combat this rising issue in our country.

Whose interests are best served by the current welfare requirements? TANF encourages states to provide assistance to those welfare recipients who are most likely to succeed at employment, ignoring individuals who are harder to place. In order to show increases in employment and wage rates, the most attention is

"The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, or the welfare reform law established the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). TANF is a block grant program designed to make dramatic reforms in the nation's welfare system."(http://www.acf.dhls.gov/HyperNews/get/opre2/wtwreg.html) This grant became effective as of July 1, 1997. This grant replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. It also replaced several other programs such as Emergency Assistance or EA program. The goal of TANF is to promote family responsibility and self- sufficiency. This program will provide this by placing welfare recipients into the workforce. Under the TANF program assistance is given to individuals for a limited time. When that time period has expired, it is the State's

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act also shifted the spotlight of welfare from family maintenance through government-supported financial assistance to family economic self-sufficiency through paid employment. This federal welfare reform policy known as TANF encourages employment and personal responsibility by mandating states to provide financial benefits to families on a temporary basis, having recipients participate in a work requirement while receiving aid, and providing incentives for recipients to transition off welfare. The programs name indicated its purpose and the social message to the recipient.

TANF which is a program that provides cash assistance to needy families. The state is permitted to drug-test these recipients. Although the states must have a “reasonable suspicion” of illicit drug use in order to perform the test. TANF and SNAP are two very closely related programs. Administrators have tried to limit assistance to only “worthy” families. The definition of a worthy family has changed over the years. In the past it was based on a families morals. As where today it is base on crime and drugs.

They hope that the recipients will work towards someday leaving the program. While this is the goal, many recipients will not attempt to find work or the job is consider too low paying for them. Therefore, they continue to be a welfare recipient or are forced out of the program. There have been many changes in the welfare system and how to deal with the poor and less fortune. If you are having a difficult time paying your medical bills, housing and most important food for yourself and your family, you are definitely not alone even in 2014. Temporary assistance for needy families TANF replaced the traditional welfare programs known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children ( AFDC) . The welfare system would be an unlikely model for anyone designing a welfare system 1996. The type and amount of aid available to individuals and dependent children varies from state to state. Failure to comply with work requirements could result in loss of benefits . Current

This paper discusses the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that was established in 1996. It examines the development and goals of the policy as well as addresses the target population that benefits from this program. A review of the agencies associated with TANF and the benefits the program provides to its clients is also given. In addition, the funding sources of TANF are addressed. Lastly, it examines the social issue this program is meant to address.

Based on the statistics of Poverty on Texas, I concluded that the poverty rate of Texas children is 7.5% points higher than the poverty rate of the total Texas population. At the age of less than 18 years old, 25% of the children in Texas are dealing with poverty. The poverty rate for Texas is 17.5% which is a huge number when it comes to this situation. There are many different causes of poverty in Texas. These include droughts and flooding’s, natural disasters, social inequality and even having to do with the government by having to afford primary healthcare, food, education, housing and essential goods. Health is a huge

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also known as TANF, is a federally-funded program that is run by states providing limited cash assistance to parent and their children who have a very low income. This program is only limited to certain people and it provides some assistances to parents who only receives a small income or no income at all and very few assets for a long period of time (familyequality.org).

This paper is over the matter of poverty in the state of Texas and the many economic issues poor Texans face, during their daily lives. It will cover the benefits that come with the major social welfare programs that attempt to positively enhance lifestyles for the poverty-stricken. Its intention is to inform you that these programs provided are put to good use and your tax money along with federal funds are not going to waste, as many citizens seem to disagree.

The range of problems facing human service clients is multi-faceted. No one person has just one problem, and there are plenty of clients to go around (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). I believe this point is well articulated by Neil Headman, assistant professor of human services at the University of Illinois at Springfield (2011), who stated “It does not matter who your client is, everyone needs help” (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011).

In 1996, the federal government came to the conclusion that the welfare system should be placed in the hands of the state governments. With this in mind, the Temporary Aid to Needy Families was established. The TANF is more governed towards getting people back into the workforce by requiring recipients to engage in job searches, and participate in community service. The previous phase of welfare was more for providing people with capital in the hopes that he/she would use it to get back on his/her feet. The TANF is still known as welfare to the public (“Government Spends”). In the new welfare program,

Throughout history, there have always been people willing to work for what they want, and those who expect things to be handed to them as if it was a natural-born right. While the welfare system does positively impact some families in need, many people take advantage of it. With this being a well known fact, the government still continues to use ten percent of the federal budget on welfare (“Budget” 1).