TANF after Ten Years; Katrina after One:
What Progress for America's Poor?

August 22, 2006 marks the tenth anniversary of the passage into law of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).  The law made big policy changes:  a lifetime limit of no more than five years of assistance for most families; more stringent work requirements, far more authority to states to change policies; and federal funding that remains flat whether caseloads go up or down.  Caseloads went down dramatically – in March of 2006, there were over 8 million fewer parents and children receiving assistance than in August 1996 when TANF began, a drop of nearly two-thirds.  How to judge this massive shift?  If parents are working at decent pay with benefits and if child well-being is enhanced through adequate income, health coverage, and child care and/or early childhood education, their lives have demonstrably improved..  But this kind of success is elusive for large numbers of families leaving TANF.  An Urban Institute study found that although 71 percent of parents were employed at some point in the year after leaving TANF, only 37 percent were employed in all four quarters of that year. 

Child poverty began a most welcome decline in 1993, declining from 22.7 percent then to 16.2 percent in 2000.  Since 2000, child poverty rose every year through 2004, back up to 17.8 percent.  TANF’s proponents point to the overall decline in poverty over the past decade.  A more balanced view acknowledges that there are multiple causes of the decline in poverty through 2000.  TANF’s policy changes contributed, but no one should underestimate the significance of a very strong economy in the 1990s.  As the ten-year retrospective by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities below documents, employment rates of single mothers shot up from just below 62 percent in 1995 to 73 percent in 2000.  But by 2005, employment among single mothers had dropped back to 69 percent.  TANF changes almost certainly played a role in the increased work – but TANF without the help of an economy strong enough to reach the poor is not enough to sustain employment or to prevent a rise in poverty.  Further, a close look at the policies that contributed to improved outcomes must give prominence to increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit, increased income from child support collections and TANF aid to supplement low-paid work, more child care assistance, and more help with job preparation.  These work supports, combined with the good economy, are likely to account for much of the progress that did occur.

Looking ahead, how can we help more families to rise out of poverty?  It would be nice to think that states would have learned effective strategies to help poor parents find and keep jobs, and would continue using TANF resources to reach more families with those successful approaches.  But an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that TANF is reaching fewer and fewer poor families.  In the early 90s, 80 percent of poor and eligible families received cash assistance; by 2002, the proportion was precipitously down to 48 percent.  Instead of helping families to overcome barriers to employment, in 2003 there were one million moms and two million children with neither work nor welfare, prone to more hunger, illness, and other hardships. 

Several analyses below map out effective forms of assistance that should be made available to low-income parents so they can find and keep good jobs and nurture and protect their children.  A comprehensive set of job preparation activities, tailored to the specific needs of the adult, can improve skills, lead to useful credentials, help overcome barriers like lack of English, and culminate with effective job search.  Regrettably, the Bush Administration’s interpretation of the TANF changes newly enacted by Congress is overly rigid and does not allow a package of activities most suited to lead to work.  Working parents also need good quality and affordable child care and other supports such as transportation help, child support enforcement, and cash supplements to low earnings.  Further, parents with disabilities or caring for children with disabilities need accommodations for their special circumstances.   When these supports are in place, families can make genuine progress. That should be our goal.

On August 29, we will learn if poverty has finally stopped rising, after years of unshared prosperity.   On the same day that the Census Bureau releases poverty, income, and health insurance data for 2005, the nation will observe the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  The August 29 Census data are not expected to capture what has happened to the tens of thousands of families affected by the devastation, although linked below is a special Census survey  with estimates of employment, income, and many other characteristics of the affected Gulf Coast communities in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.  The sources below give at least a partial picture of the impact.  It is a somber one.  According to the Brookings Institution, the New Orleans metropolitan area has lost 190,000 workers.  Overall, 278,000 workers remain displaced from the hurricane-struck region, and they suffer an unemployment rate of 23 percent – depression levels. 

In 2004, poverty in the U.S. remained a very disproportionate burden on people of color.  Nearly one-quarter of all African Americans were poor, as were nearly 22 percent of Latinos.  In contrast, 8.6 percent of whites were poor.  Any serious proposals to alleviate poverty must address these disparities.

Below are resources – articles and reports, events, websites, and important advocacy steps – that provide background information on the state of poor families after TANF and Katrina and to look at policy strategies and solutions for addressing poverty in the richest nation in the world. 

ANALYSES:

TANF Over Ten Years:

It's Not Welfare Anymore, Margy Waller and Shawn Fremstad, The American Prospect Online Edition, August 22, 2006.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is 10 years old today. You can call it many things, but don't call it welfare.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=11907

Welfare reform, 10 years later, Rachel Gragg and Margy Waller, The Boston Globe, August 22, 2006
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/08/22/welfare_reform_10_years_later/

A Decade After Welfare Overhaul, a Fundamental Shift in Policy and Perception, Robert Pear and Erik Eckholm, New York Times, August 21, 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/washington/21welfare.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

TANF AT 10
Program Results are More Mixed Than Often Understood, Sharon Parrott and Arloc Sherman, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 17, 2006.
The report shows that the results of the TANF program are more mixed than is often understood.  Most notably, while some TANF policies - in combination with a strong economy and improved work supports such as the EITC and child care assistance - helped increase employment rates of single mothers and reduce poverty in the 1990s, policies, procedures and messages that have restricted poor families' access to cash assistance have led to a significant rise in the number of jobless single mothers   who are getting no help from TANF or other programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
http://www.cbpp.org/8-17-06tanf.pdf

Ten Years after Welfare Reform, It’s Time to Make Work Work for Families, Evelyn Ganzglass, Center for Law and Social Policy, August 17, 2006.
http://www.clasp.org/publications/10yearsafterwrpressreleasebkground08_16_06.pdf
 
Looking Forward, Looking Back: Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of Welfare Reform, Nancy K. Cauthen, National Center for Children in Poverty, August 2006.
August 22, 2006 marks the 10-year anniversary of welfare reform. NCCP's Deputy Director, Nancy K. Cauthen, takes the occasion to reflect on both the history and future of assistance for low-income families and children.
http://www.nccp.org/pub_lfb.html

A Decade of Welfare Reform: Facts and Figures, The Urban Institute, July 26, 2006.
The first decade of the landmark welfare reform legislation is examined here through the experiences of low-income families.
http://www.urban.org/publications/900980.html

Welfare Reforms Shortcoming, Washington Post, 7/24/06
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Welfare+Reform+Shortcoming&btnG=Google+Search

Getting On, Staying On, and Getting Off Welfare: The Complexity of State-by-State Policy Choices, Linda Giannarellli and Gretchen Rowe, New Federalism, The Urban Institute, July 2006.
Virtually any statement about welfare is no longer universally true across the country.  The complexity of current TANF policies highlights the challenges facing the states as they strive to comply with the new requirements.  http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/311349_A70.pdf

Ten Years of Leaving Foster Children Behind
The Long Decline in Federal Support for Abused and Neglected Children, John Sciamanna, Child Welfare League of America, July 2006.
July 16 marked the 10-year anniversary of the decision by Congress to tie eligibility for Title IV-E federal foster care assistance to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the former cash-assistance programs.  Over the past decade, the number of children eligible for federal foster care assistance has decreased at an alarming rate.
http://www.cwla.org/advocacy/childreninfostercarereport.pdf

The Impact of Food Insecurity on the Development of Young Low-Income Black and Latino Children.
Protecting the Health and Nutrition of Young Children of Color:  The Impact of Nutrition Assistance and Income Support Programs.
Children’s Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program (C-SNAP), prepared for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute, May, 2006.  http://www.jointcenter.org/publications1/publication-PDFs/YMOC/ImpactFoodInsec.pdf

Welfare Reform, Success or Failure?
It Worked With Mixed Results, Mark Greenberg, Center for Law and Social Policy, and Ron Haskins, Center on Children and Families at Brookings Institution, Policy & Practice, March 2006.
This is a point - counterpoint article on 10 years of TANF.
http://www.aphsa.org/Publications/Doc/PP/0603ART1.pdf#search=%22greenberg%20tanf%20haskins%20aphsa%22

Changing TANF

New Goals and Outcomes for Temporary Assistance: State Choices in the Decade after Enactment, Margy Waller and Shawn Fremstad, The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, August 2006.
This brief provides an overview of officials’ decisions for allocation of Temporary Assistance funds in 1998, 2001, and 2004 both at the national level and in the three states studied (OH, PA, WI), discussing some of the policy and political implications.
http://brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060816_tanf.pdf

Resilient and Reaching for More
Challenges and Benefits of Higher Education for Welfare Participants and Their Children, Avis A. Jones-DeWeever and Barbara Gault, Institute for Women's Policy Research, 2006.
This report examines both the challenges and pay-offs associated with acquiring higher education under the tight constraints of welfare reform.
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/D466.pdf

Welfare Changes A Burden to States
Work Rules Also Threaten Study, Health Programs, Amy Goldstein, Washington Post, August 7, 2006.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/06/AR2006080600879.html

Work-Plus: Boosting the Bottom Line for Low-Wage Working Parents, Family Strengthening Policy Center, an initiative of the National Human Services Assembly, Policy Brief No.15, July 2006.
This brief presents a “work-plus” strategy of employment-focused services and work supports that help low-wage parents secure and keep good jobs and gain economic independence.  The brief includes case studies, resources, and recommendations for policy makers, employers, and community-based family service agencies. 
http://www.nassembly.org/fspc/practice/documents/Brief15.pdf

Implementing the TANF Changes in the Deficit Reduction Act:  “Win-Win” Solutions for Families and States, Sharon Parrott, Liz Schott, and Eileen Sweeney, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Allegra Baider, Evelyn Ganzglass, Mark Greenberg, Elisa Minoff, and Vicki Turetsky, Center for Law and Social Policy, May 9, 2006 (107 pages).  http://www.clasp.org/publications/tanfguide.pdf

Taking the High Road:  How States Should Meet TANF’s New Participation Standards, Shawn Fremstad and Jason Walsh, The Workforce Alliance, February 28, 2006, http://www.workforcealliance.org/atf/cf/{93353952-1DF1-473A-B105-7713F4529EBB}/TWA-TANF_High_Road-FINAL.pdf

Recovering from Katrina:  One Year Later

Extensive Low Income Housing Needs Remain for Evacuees and for the Gulf Coast
National and Gulf Coast Organizations endorse, and present to Congress, a set of solutions to meet the housing needs of evacuees.
National Low Income Housing Coalition, September 5, 2006.
http://www.nlihc.org/news/090706.pdf

Displaced in America
Health Status Among Internally Displaced Persons in Louisiana and Mississippi Travel Trailer Parks: A Global Perspective
International Medical Corps, August 2006.
http://www.imcworldwide.org/pdf/IMC_Katrina_1_year.pdf

Life After Hurricane Katrina: A Brief on the Chicagoland Katrina Relief Initiative
The Hearland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, August 2006.
http://www.heartlandalliance.org/pressroom/documents/HurricanKatrinareportfinal.pdf

Meeting Housing Needs Arising Out Of Hurricane Katrina: A Status Report One Year Later , HouseDemocrats.gov
The House Democrats issue report on the Administration's housing policy, August 24, 2006.
http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/FSCKatrina.pdf

The Katrina Aftermath, One Year Later, BlackAmericaWeb.com.
This five-part series explores the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina one year after it struck the Gulf Coast. 
Part One: Race and the New Orleans Economy, Jackie Jones, August 22, 2006.
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/oneyearlater/katrinapart1823
Part Two: The Crisis in Housing, Michael H. Cottman, August 23, 2006. 
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/oneyearlater/katrinapart2824

GulfGov Reports: One Year Later, Principal Author, Karen Rowley, Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, August 22, 2006.
This is the first report in this three-year study of the effects of the 2005 hurricanes in communities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  The 22 sites covered in this report are cities and counties (parishes) that experienced varied levels of destruction and economic effects following the twin disasters of Katrina and Rita.  The sample includes communities that experienced severe damage and concomitant population decline and others that experienced population and economic growth because of the influx of household and business evacuees.
http://www.rockinst.org/GulfGov/media/GulfGov1stReport_FINAL.pdf

One Year After Katrina
The State of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Southern Exposure and the Institute for Southern Studies, Special Report, Volume XXXIV, No. 2, 2006.
Drawing on over 250 statistical indicators and in-depth reports on issues from housing and education to jobs and hurricane readiness, the report finds that "Gulf Coast rebuilding continues at a glacial pace -- and the region won't be able to come back unless national leaders confront fundamental barriers to renewal."
http://www.reconstructionwatch.org/images/One_Year_After.pdf

Special Edition of the Katrina Index: A One-Year Review of Key Indictors of Recovery in Post-Storm New Orleans, May Liu, Matt Fellowes, and Mia Mabanta, The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, August 2006.
This report review findings for dozens of key social and economic indicators on the progress of recovery in the New Orleans region since the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
http://www.brook.edu/metro/pubs/200512_KatrinaIndex.htm

The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: Multiple Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery
Part II. Gender, Race, and Class in the Labor Market, Erica Williams, Olga Sorokina, Avis Jones-De-Weever, and Heidi Hartman, Institute for Women's Policy Research, August 2006.
The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: Multiple Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery
Part I. Poverty, Race, Gender and Class, Barbara Gault, Heidi Hartmann, Avis Jones-DeWeever, Misha Werschkul, and Erica Williams, Institute for Women's Policy Research, October 2005.
This two-part series addresses the multiple disadvantages experienced by women, particularly women of color, in the areas hit by Katrina and Rita and in the areas in which many are now living.
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/D465.pdf and http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/D464.pdf

The Hutchinson Report: One Year After Katrina, All That Talk About Poverty Was Just That – Talk, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, August 11, 2006.
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/stateof/hutchinson811

An Advocate's Guide to the Disaster Food Stamp Program, Food Research and Action Center, July 2006.
This paper explains how the Disaster Food Stamp Program works and what advocates, elected officials, and service providers can do to help met nutritional needs before, during and after a disaster.
http://www.frac.org/pdf/dfspguide06.pdf

Orleans Parish, Louisiana, Child Care Assessment, Shores, E. F., Grace, C., Barbaro, E., Barbaro, M., & Moore, J. (2006). Orleans Parish, Louisiana, Child Care Assessment; Final report. (Mississippi State University Early Childhood Report No. 2). Mississippi State, MS: Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute.
http://www.earlychildhood.msstate.edu/reports.htm

2005 Gulf Coast Area Data Profiles, American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau.  June 7, 2006.  Shows demographics, income, employment, and housing data for communities in the region affected by the 2005 hurricanes, comparing the first eight months of the year (pre-storm) to the final three months after the storms hit.  http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Profiles/gulf_coast/about.htm

Poverty Analyses and Antipoverty Proposals

CWLA Testimony at the Hearing on the Economic and Societal Costs of Poverty
Before the House of Representatives, Ways and Means Committee, January 24, 2007
http://www.chn.org/pdf/2007/CWLATestimony.PDF

The Economic Costs of Poverty:
Subsequent Effects of Children Growing Up Poor
Harry Holzer, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Greg J. Duncan, and Jens Ludwig, Center for American Progress, Jan 24, 2007.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/01/poverty_report.html

Poverty In America:
Economic Research Shows Adverse Impacts on Health Status and Other Social Conditions as well as the Economic Growth Rate
GAO-07-344, January 2007
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07344.pdf

Homeland Insecurity . . . American Children at Risk
Michael R. Petit, Every Child Matters Education Fund, December, 2006.
http://www.everychildmatters.org/homelandinsecurity/index.html

Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good
Catholic Charities 2006 Policy Paper, November, 2006.
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/poverty/downloads/policy06.pdf

Poverty's Changing Faces
Bradley R. Schiller, Washington Post, Op-Ed, September 19, 2006.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091800996_pf.html

The State of Working Massachusetts 2006: As the Economy Moves Forward, Wages Fall Back
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, September 3, 2006.
http://www.massbudget.org/State_of_Working_Massachusetts_2006.pdf

Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity
Steven Greenhouse and David Leonhardt, New York Times, August 28, 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=th&adxnnlx=1156770325-iqtNUIEW730S2ywUFZaJAA&pagewanted=print

The Impact of Undercounting in the Current Population Survey, John Schmitt and Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, August 2006.
An analysis of the nation's most important labor-market survey concludes that official estimates of the number of Americans living in poverty and without health insurance may significantly underestimate the true number of poor and uninsured. According to the study, conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the measurement problems with the Current Population Survey (CPS) have been growing, making it difficult to assess changes in economic well being over time.
http://www.cepr.net/publications/cps_declining_coverage_2006_08.pdf

The Catch-Up Economy, Jared Bernstein, Economic Policy Institute, August 22, 2006.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/08/22/the_catchup_economy.php

The New Poor
Regional Trends in Child Poverty Since 2000, Ayana Douglas-Hall and Heather Koball, National Center for Children in Poverty, August 2006.
In 2004, approximately 18 percent of all children in the United States lived in poverty. Over the last five years, child poverty has risen substantially, increasing by 12 percent. After hitting a low of 12.1 million children in 2000, more than 1.4 million children have been added to the poverty rolls, becoming members of this country’s “new poor.” Children who grow up in poverty experience significant hardships that can have lasting effects well into adulthood.
http://nccp.org/media/npr06_text.pdf

Concentrated Poverty in New Orleans and Other American Cities, Bruce Katz,
The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 4, 2006.
As the metropolis struggles to recover, national attention has naturally focused on the significant environmental challenges bedeviling the rebuilding effort. Can the region become a paragon of high-quality, sustainable development given its vulnerable location?
http://www.brook.edu/views/op-ed/katz/20060804.htm

Racial Division and Concentrated Poverty in U.S. Cities, Bruce Katz, Speech to the Urban Age Conference, July 7, 2006.
In this presentation, Bruce Katz provides an overview of current patterns of racial and ethnic separation in the United States, using the Chicago, Washington DC, and New Orleans metros as case studies.
http://www.brook.edu/metro/speeches/20060707_urbanage.htm

Task Force on Work, Poverty and Opportunity, Bruce Katz, Speech to the United Sates Conference of Mayors, June 2, 2006.
Before the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Bruce Katz argues that in order for America to make progress toward alleviating poverty and growing a strong and resilient urban middle class, a primary concern must be places of concentrated poverty, neighborhoods where 40 percent or more of the residents are poor.
http://www.brook.edu/views/speeches/katz/20060602.pdf

The War on Poverty and Subsequent Federal Programs: What Worked, What Didn't Work, and Why?  Lessons for Future Programs, Peter Edelman, Clearinghouse Review, May-June 2006.
The poverty program of the 1960s offers many lessons from which twenty-first-century advocates should draw in contemplating how to plan a new, and even more vigorous “war on poverty.”
http://www.chn.org/pdf/2006/edelman.pdf

A Plan to End Child Poverty
Britain’s Initiative Has Helped 700,000 Kids.  Why Don’t We Have a Goal, Too?
Jared Bernstein and Mark Greenberg, Washington Post, April 3, 2006.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040201091.html

WEBSITES:

Alliance for Healthy Homes: http://www.afhh.org/
Catholic Charities USA - Hurricane Recovery: http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/HurricaneRecovery05/
Center for Economic Policy Research: http://www.cepr.net/
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP):  http://www.clasp.org
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:  http://www.cbpp.org
Children’s Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program (C-SNAP): http://dcc2.bumc.bu.edu/csnappublic/
Economic Policy Institute: http://www.epinet.org/
Food Research and Action Center: http://www.frac.org/
GulfGov Reports: http://www.rockinst.org/gulfgov
Institute for Women's Policy Research: http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
Katrina Information Network: http://www.katrinaaction.org/
KatrinaWatch: http://www.publicintegrity.org/katrina/
National Center for Children in Poverty: http://www.nccp.org
National Human Services Assembly’s Family Strengthening Policy Center:  http://www.nassembly.org/fspc/
National Low Income Housing Coalition:  http://www.nlihc.org
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law: http://www.povertylaw.org/The Civil Rights Coalition for the 21st Century: http://www.civilrights.org/
The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program: http://www.brook.edu/metro/
The Inclusionist (website and blog focused on progressive antipoverty policies):  http://www.inclusionist.org/
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government: http://www.rockinst.org
The Urban Institute: http://www.urban.org/
The Workforce Alliance:  http://www.workforcealliance.org
U.S. Census Bureau:  http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html