IWS Documented News DAILY POSTINGS

IWS Documented News Service

_______________________________

Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach

School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies

Cornell University

16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky

New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau

________________________________________________________________________

 

Congressional Research Service (CRS)

 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Welfare Waivers

Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Policy

March 7, 2013

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42627.pdf

[full-text, 33 pages]

 

Summary

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it is willing to waive

certain federal work participation standards under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

(TANF) block grant to permit states to experiment with “alternative and innovative strategies,

policies, and procedures that are designed to improve employment outcomes for needy families.”

HHS announced this initiative on July 12, 2012.

 

The major provision that HHS would waive is the numerical performance standards that states

must meet or risk being penalized through a reduction in their TANF block grant. TANF statute

provides that 50% of all families and 90% of two-parent families included in a participation rate

are required to be engaged in work, though few states have ever faced the full standard because

this percentage is reduced for certain credits. For all years from FY2002 through FY2006 and in

FY2008 and FY2009, the majority of states had an effective (after-credit) TANF work

participation standard of 25% or less. In FY2009, 22 states had their 50% all family standards

reduced to 0% because of these credits. Additionally, many states have avoided the two-parent

standard altogether by assisting that portion of their caseload with state funds not subject to

TANF work standards.

 

To be considered engaged in work under the TANF standard, a family must either be working or

in specified welfare-to-work activities for a minimum number of hours per week. Preemployment

activities such as job search, rehabilitative activities, and education count for a

limited period of time or under limited circumstances. Though these counting rules do not apply

directly to individual recipients, they may influence how a state designs its welfare-to-work

program. States that allow participation in activities that cannot be counted (e.g., job search or

education in excess of their limits) do not receive credit for that participation and potentially risk

failing the work standard.

 

The new waivers would permit states to have welfare-to-work initiatives assessed using different

measures than the TANF work participation rate. Thus, states could test alternative welfare-towork

approaches by engaging recipients in activities currently not countable without risk of

losing block grant funds. States would have to apply for waivers, which must be approved by

HHS and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). States would also be required to monitor

performance measures and evaluate the alternative welfare-to-work program. HHS also indicated

it might waive some requirements that apply to states for verifying work activities. As of

February 27, 2013, no state had requested a waiver.

 

H.R. 890 (introduced by Representative Camp, 113th Congress) would prohibit the Secretary of

HHS from issuing any waivers of TANF work participation standards, and would rescind any

waivers granted prior to enactment. The bill was ordered reported by the House Ways and Means

Committee on March 6, 2013. In the 112th Congress, the House passed a resolution that would

have disapproved the Administration’s waiver initiative under the Congressional Review Act

(CRA). That resolution was not acted upon by the Senate.

 

The legislative authority cited by HHS to grant waivers in public assistance programs dates back

to 1962, although the new initiative would allow the first new waivers to test welfare-to-work

strategies in more than 15 years. “Waivers” have historically been important in welfare reform,

and TANF let states continue their pre-1996 waivers until their expiration. The last such waiver

expired in 2007.

 

Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1

TANF and Its Work Participation Standards .................................................................................... 1

The TANF Work Participation Standards .................................................................................. 2

Rules for Being “Engaged in Work” ................................................................................... 3

Rules for Being “Engaged in Work” and Work Requirements that Apply to

Individual Recipients ....................................................................................................... 3

The Caseload Reduction and “Excess MOE” Credits ......................................................... 3

Trends in “Effective” Work Standards ....................................................................................... 4

Trends in Work Participation Rates ........................................................................................... 5

Two-Parent Families .................................................................................................................. 6

Secretary’s Flexibility in Assessing Penalties for Failure to Meet Work Standards .................. 7

Legislative Status of TANF .............................................................................................................. 7

The Obama Administration’s Waiver Initiative ............................................................................... 7

Goals of the Waiver ................................................................................................................... 8

Application and Approval Process ............................................................................................ 8

Ongoing Performance Monitoring and Evaluation.................................................................... 8

What Will Not be Waived .......................................................................................................... 9

Implications for Welfare-to-Work Programs ............................................................................. 9

Pre-1996 Welfare Waivers ............................................................................................................... 9

Grandfathering of Pre-1996 Welfare Waivers Under TANF .......................................................... 10

The “Superwaiver” Proposal ......................................................................................................... 12

Legislation ..................................................................................................................................... 13

 

Figures

Figure 1. National Average TANF Work Participation Rate: FY2002-FY2009 .............................. 6

Figure 2. Number of States Operating TANF Under “Grandfathered” Pre-1996 Welfare

Reform Waivers: FY2000-FY2007 ............................................................................................ 11

 

Tables

Table 1. Effective TANF Work Participation Standards for All Families: FY2002-FY2009 .......... 5

Table 2. National Average TANF Work Participation Rate for FY2000 through FY2009: With and Without the Effect of “Grandfathered” Waivers ......................................................... 12

Table A-1. Effective TANF Work Participation Standards by State: FY2002-FY2009 ................. 14

Table A-2. TANF Work Participation Rates by State: Official Rates (Including Grandfathered Waivers): FY2002-FY2009 ............................................................... 16

Table A-3. TANF Work Participation Rates Excluding the Effect of “Grandfathered Waivers” by State: FY2002-FY2009 ................................................................ 18

Table A-4. Grandfathered Pre-1996 Welfare Waivers Under TANF .............................................. 20

Table A-5. Effect of Waivers on TANF Work Participation Rates: for States with Grandfathered Waivers: FY2000-FY2003 .................................................................................. 27

Table A-6. Effect of Waivers on TANF Work Participation Rates: for States withGrandfathered Waivers: FY2004-FY2006 .................................................................................. 28

 

Appendixes

Appendix. ....................................................................................................................................... 14

 

Contacts

Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 29

 

 

________________________________________________________________________

This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.