Popple5 c7[2]

CHAPTER 7
Fighting Poverty:
Temporary Assistance
to Needy Families
The Policy-Based Profession
An Introduction to
Social Welfare Policy Analysis
for Social Workers
Fifth Edition
Philip R. Popple & Leslie Leighninger
Slides by Heather Kanenberg, University of Houston, Clear Lake

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Welfare Reform: Hot Button Issue
• Clinton’s promise to “end welfare as we know
it”
• August 22, 1996, H.R. 3734, The Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was signed
• Changed the fundamental structure of public
assistance; replaced AFDC with TANF


Welfare Reform: AFDC & TANF
• Consistently, beneficiaries are women and
their children
• While other welfare programs were
transitioning to federal level regulation; AFDC
was run through a federal/state partnership
leaving states with significant influence on the
program structure
• AFDC & TANF were constructed to serve the
poorest of the poor


Welfare Reform: TANF
• Structural oppression built into the program, as
society worked to separate programs for the
‘deserving poor’ from those for the ‘undeserving’.
• Systematic separation of programs used by men and
whites from those used by women and persons of
color
• Stigmatization of role of women as caregiver and
mother
• Social Insurance versus Welfare – the
institutionalization of oppression


Welfare Reform: AFDC to TANF
• Shifting from the concept of public assistance
as a right of citizenship for all who are needy
to a program that is temporary and for those
who meet the strictest of qualifications
• Presupposes that there are jobs available for all
who are looking
• Welfare became “Workfare”


Welfare Reform: Historical
Analysis
• Throughout the 19th and early 20th Century the
problem of poverty was dealt with through
local volunteer organizations and groups
• Outdoor Relief was not popular
• With the turn of the century came social
changes: urbanization, industrialization, and
immigration – thus social problems intensified


Analysis
• Child abandonment, widows, poverty, persons
with disabilities, the unemployed, etc.
• All influenced the development of welfare
programs on the state level (first: Kansas in
1908)
• White House Conference on Children – led to
strong support for “Mothers Pensions” across
the states


Welfare Reform: Historical Analysis
• The Great Depression: Mothers Pensions and
state level oversight was not enough
• ADC – Aid to Dependent Children
• AFDC – Aid to Families with Dependent
Children
– AFDC Architects never envisioned the concept of
unwed mothers as the primary recipients of the
program.
• Themes of Deserving and Undeserving still
threaded throughout the programs

Analysis
• Strategies for Reform over the decades:
– Social Service Strategies
– Institutional Strategies
– Human Capitol Strategies
– Job Creation & Subsidization Strategies
– Child Support Strategies


Analysis
• Recent reform attempts: Family Support Act under
Regan was an attempt to quiet calls for change;
Claims were that it did not do enough to reform
welfare
• PRWORA: Dramatic changes to the structure of the
program and benefits; thoughts by the Clinton
Administration were to sign the bill then immediately
begin reforming the problematic areas however,
there’s not enough political will to reform the
program

Social Analysis: Problem Description
• Two problems at the heart of public assistance:
– Child Poverty – solved by providing benefits and
cash to poor children
– Adult Dependency – solved by reducing or
eliminating benefits thereby forcing people to
support themselves
• How do we resolve the contradiction?


Welfare Reform: Social Analysis
• Population: stereotype of the typical recipient.
– What are the characteristics of the typical recipient
in your state?
• Size: assumption that the numbers of
recipients is astronomical and growing
exponentially.
– The reality is that in 2006 only 1.8 percent of the
population was receiving benefits under TANF.
– The year 2002 brought the lowest caseloads since
1960.

• Costs:
– Expenditures on the part of the federal government
declining
– Benefits to recipients declining: 2003 a family
with two children received $365 per months
(average)
• Race:
– No significant changes between AFDC and TANF
– 64% of recipients are minority group members

• Family Size: Stereotypes of numbers of
children versus reality
• Age of Mothers: Average age is 30
• Schooling: nearly half of all TANF recipients
never finished High school
• Spells: What does the data really tell us;
complex to calculate and interpretations
depend upon which data you review

• Time Limits: significant difference between
AFDC and TANF
– No more than 60 Months
– No more than 2 years at one time
– Some extension possibilities and alternative
programs; they rest on the state determination and
provision


• Values & Welfare Reform
– The US as Land of Opportunity
– Individualism
– Work
– Traditional Nuclear Family
– Sense of Community
• Competing and conflicting values exacerbate
the debates over welfare reforms


Welfare Reform: Economic Analysis
• Macroeconomics:
– Cost: The federal share of TANF was less than
1% of the 2009 budget. States contributions have
declined since 1996. The program is not a
significant contributor to deficits at the state or
federal level
– TANF spending is not increasing; has actually
declined since 1996


Welfare Reform: Economic Analysis
• Microeconomics:
– TANF was structured with goal of preventing the
program from being a work disincentive.
Therefore the program forces labor market
participation
– Program forces recipients reliance on unreported
funds to help fill the deficits each month; creates a
problem for parents
– Concerns regarding the programs impact on family
structure and unwed births


Welfare Reform: Evaluation
• Series of critical questions must be asked of
the program to determine its efficacy and
efficiency
• What do we want to know? What constitutes
success? Differences in responses from
politicians versus recipients!


Welfare Reform: Evaluation
• Impact of Reform on Rolls: 60% decrease in
recipients between 1996 and 2006; 40% for
reasons other than getting a job!
• Wages of those no longer on the rolls
• Upward mobility of recipients & Job
permanency
• Impact to the wellbeing of children


Welfare Reform: Conclusion
• National economic recession brings potential
problems for TANF (increasing caseloads,
demand, and extensions of services, etc.)
• Cycle of social need and programmatic
responses to need
• Focus on Poverty and the Social Conditions
that lead to the need for public assistance


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