WELFARE REFORM: Progress in Meeting Work-Focused TANF Goals

摘要

Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the progress of welfare reform and our related work. The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193) (PRWORA) significantly changed federal welfare policy for low-income families with children, building upon and expanding state-level reforms. It ended the federal entitlement to assistance for eligible needy families with children under Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) and created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant (TANF), designed to help needy families reduce their dependence on welfare and move toward economic independence. Under TANF, states have increased flexibility to meet four broad goals:.