PUBLIC BENEFITS: TANF


The center focuses on health care access, immigrants' access to services, food and nutrition, the state's eligibility and enrollment system, and TANF.

Recent TANF Publications

Welfare Reform Statements Miss the Mark: Austin Business Journal (09/22/2006)
Diane Rath, chair of the Texas Workforce Commission, is misguided in her statement that welfare reform has been “one of the most successful social reforms of the last 50 years” (Austin Business Journal, Sept. 8-14). We agree that it is preferable for families to work"especially since families on welfare receive an average of less than $150 a month in cash assistance. However, in Texas, work alone is rarely enough to pull a former welfare family out of poverty.

TANF at 10: Was Welfare Reform a Success in Texas? (08/22/2006)
Ten years ago today, Congress overhauled the nation’s welfare system with the promise of helping poor families become self-sufficient by replacing welfare with work. Known as “welfare reform,” the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant replaced the entitlement program Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Caseloads have fallen 75% in Texas over the last decade, but has welfare reform been a success?

Problems Enrolling in Public Benefits? (04/19/2006)
Texas is using a new system to sign up for or renew Food Stamps, Children’s Medicaid/CHIP, and TANF. Some people may be having problems getting benefits using the new system, or you may be helping someone who is having a problem signing up. CPPP is not a state or federal agency and we cannot sign you up for benefits, but we can tell you who to report your problem to...

TANF Reauthorization--Texas' Choice: The High Road or the Low Road? (04/18/2006)
As part of budget reconciliation, Congress recently reauthorized Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) after numerous short-term extensions. The reauthorization makes several programmatic changes while providing a minimal increase in child care funding. TANF reauthorization provides an opportunity for states to upgrade their TANF work-based programs to deliver better workforce services, engage more recipients in education and training, and improve outcomes. The question is what Texas can do to help families acquire skills and attain self-sufficiency.

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