Welfare Case

The United States have always had a problem with ensuring that all of its citizen basic needs were met. During the New Deal Era President Roosevelt proposed providing cash assistance to widows and children without fathers. However, President Roosevelt idea was defeated because of opposition. The Great Depression of the 1930s made it clear that government intervention was essential to help many individuals and families to cope with various overwhelming problems. In the 1960’s under President Johnson, United States passed a social policy for assisting most women and children with monetary benefits. The initial welfare programs sponsored by the federal government was called Aid to Dependent Children, ADC, and was later changed to Aide to Families and Dependent Children, AFDC in 1962.The programs were part of the Social Security Act of 1935 signed into effect by President Johnson. Johnson was the first president the voice of the people into action. The programs were formulated as a way to help resolve the economic problems that followed the Great Depression.

The perceived excessive number of people receiving welfare cash benefits, public sentiment, myths about welfare, a strong economy, and other needs for change helped to create the Personal Responsibility and Reconciliation Act. The PRWORA was signed into effect on August 22, 1996 by President Bill Clinton. This enactment changed the welfare program significantly. Under the PRWORA, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families changed the entire concepts of the previous AFDC program. Statistically the TANF Policy has been achieved at providing temporary assistance to families and removing from the Welfare roles, however families are still living below the poverty line. Throughout, the following pages are an in depth look at the federally funded and state administrate TANF Policy (Powers, 1999).

The four purposes of TANF set by federal law are to 1) provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; 2) end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; 3) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and 4) encourage the formation and maintenance of two parent families.

TANF ended the federal entitlement to public assistance. One of the biggest changes in the system was switching from “an open ended match to fixed block grants as the federal funding mechanism for state run welfare programs for families with children. Families are now given a 60 month/ 5 year lifetime time limit on receiving governmental assistance. This 60 month/ 5 year time limit is universal from state to state with only a few exceptions. These exceptions are deemed by the state and few take into account future needs. This rule applies to the family as a unit