Dispatches from the front lines : tracking former welfare recipients and direct service providers in Massachusetts

Abstract

In August of 1996, welfare policy in the United States went through the most significant transformation since the New Deal. Once a theoretical notion and popular political agenda, welfare reform came to fruition in the United States with bipartisan support. President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which made good on his promise to "change welfare as we know it". The Personal Responsibility Act mandates that welfare recipients can only receive benefits for a limited period of time, also, all nonexempt recipients must work for their benefits. Furthermore, the law gives individual states much more autonomy in creating their own welfare policy and in determining who is eligible for benefits. The federal government rewards states decreasing the number of families on welfare and for reducing the number of out-of-wedlock children born to women on welfare. The states are given the power to reduce the grant amount given to recipients who do not meet the work requirements and other regulations. Several states, like Massachusetts, have used this new found "autonomy" to create welfare reform rules that are more stringent than the regulations developed at the federal level. As clients make the transition off welfare, they encounter barriers and victories at three critical phases in the transition. Phase one is the period of time when the welfare recipient is still receiving Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) benefits, but is scheduled to lose the benefits in less than 24 months. The second phase occurs during the recipient's first year without benefits. The final phase begins at the start of the former recipient's second year without benefits and lasts until the recipient is eligible for benefits again or achieves economic self-sufficiency. The welfare recipient's survival during each of the phases is dependent her strategy or approach to the transition, her level of preparation for the workforce, the support she receives from her family and advocate organizations, and her access to jobs and child care. Organizations that provide housing support can play a pivotal role in a TAFDC recipient's transition off welfare, since these organizations have the capacity to supply affordable housing and a "safety net" during each of the phases. As the number of "former" welfare recipients increases, it is imperative that policy makers and direct service providers uncover the barriers and successes that TAFDC recipients encounter as they journey from welfare dependency to a life without benefits. Equally significant is the need for an understanding of the welfare system from the perspective of the welfare recipient. The recipient's "bottom-up" perception sheds light on the complexities of the journey from welfare to a life without TANF benefits. If used properly, this knowledge can ensure that welfare reform becomes a policy that lifts poor families out of poverty instead of sentencing them to a life of low wages.