SALT AND WELFARE

SALT supports welfare reform that helps families and that does not put children and families at risk. SALT's priorities for welfare reform are the following:

First, to target resources on those who are hardest to serve-particularly women with children.

Second, to reinvest welfare savings in those TANF recipients who are the most at risk because the time-limit clock is ticking for them.

Third, to emphasize education, particularly literacy and remedial education, including English as a second language.

Fourth, to provide training (skills training) for jobs that exist---and especially training that leads to jobs.

Fifth, to support programs that serve as many people as possible-all those in poverty; not just welfare recipients. The preferred approach would be "to leave no family behind."

Sixth, to ensure programs provide flexibility in design and provide a meaningful safety net.

THEREFORE:

SALT supports the Homeless Prevention (HIP) and Homeless Assistance Budget Amendment, because it will help to assure the success of welfare reform, which has independence as its goal; not dependence.
People do not usually think of "work" and "poverty" in the same sentence; if you work, you are not supposed to be "poor." Too often, unfortunately, that is not the case.
The Budget Amendment provides a needed boost to workers who are struggling to retain their independence during their transition from welfare to work---so they won't have to return to public assistance.
Thus, the Budget Amendment is seeking the same improvements as welfare reform and will help realize genuine welfare reform.

SALT is seeing an increase in homelessness, and we know that most of these "new homeless" are "working people." No one is immune to homelessness. SALT asks you to keep in mind that although the economy is booming; it's not booming for the poor. When we look at who are affected, we find it is the children who are most at-risk-60 to70 percent of those served by welfare are children.

However, the fastest growing group of children in poverty is not welfare kids; but rather the children of year-round-working parents. These children need our help if they are to have a chance to become productive and self-reliant citizens.

SALT wants people to work; but a lot of people aren't making it--financially.

SALT asks for the support of the Virginia legislators for the Budget Amendment, because it represents fair and meaningful welfare reform. Effective outreach, support/assistance, and shelter need to be there when families need them; a more adequate safety net is needed.

The fact is that welfare recipients-now the working poor-want a better life for themselves and their children and we want all Virginia legislators to join SALT in helping them to achieve it.

Unlike lobbyists for business and other special interests, all we have to offer members of the General Assembly are our fact sheets, our position papers, and our commitment to help frame the issues in a moral context.

We're counting on our legislative friends-Delegates and Senators--to help the vulnerable poor working people of Virginia.

WHAT IS VIRGINIA TANF?

TANF, which stands for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, was created by the 1996 welfare reform law. It replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which was the old nationwide welfare system. TANF is a block grant program designed to provide temporary help to recipients while they are moving from welfare to work. This paper describes the key features of TANF as they are currently being implemented in Virginia.

Temporary

An eligible family can receive assistance for no more than 24 consecutive months. After that, they are ineligible for assistance for another 24 months, regardless of their circumstances. There is also a cumulative lifetime limit of 5 years under TANF. Once the 5-year limit has been reached, the family is permanently ineligible for further TANF assistance.

Within 30 days of applying for assistance, each adult family member must be working or actively pursuing employment, e.g., by seeking work or engaging in job training. In Virginia, the work component of TANF is called the Virginia Initiative for Employment Not Welfare (VIEW). The adult in a one-parent household must participate in work activities for at least 30 hours per week. Each adult in a two-parent household must participate in work activities for at least 35 hours per week. However, if a child in the household is under 18 months of age, one parent is exempt from the work requirement.

Assistance

The amount of TANF assistance that a family receives depends on the size of the family, where they live, and what other income they have. A family in central Virginia consisting of a single parent with two children and no other income receives $322 per month ($3,864 per year). If the same family lived in Northern Virginia, they would receive $389 per month ($4,668 per year) because of the higher cost of living. If the parent in this typical family finds work through the VIEW program and starts earning money, the family can keep receiving TANF payments as long as the family's total income remains below the Federal poverty level, which is currently $14,150 for a family of three. For example, if the parent worked 30 hours per week at the current minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, he or she would gross $669 per month. The family's total income would therefore be $669 earned income + 322 from TANF = $991 per month in central Virginia ($11,892 per year), or $669 + $389 = $1,058 per month in Northern Virginia ($12,696 per year). What often happens, however, is that families choose not to receive further TANF assistance once a parent finds work, in order to keep (or "bank") as much of their 24-month or cumulative 5-year TANF eligibility as possible for future emergencies.

If this family had a third child, their TANF payments would increase by $64 per month in central Virginia ($768 per year), or $68 per month in Northern Virginia ($816 per year), unless the child was born more than 10 months after the family started receiving assistance. In the latter case, there would be no increase in TANF payments because of Virginia's "family cap" provision.

For Needy Families

To be eligible for assistance when they first apply for TANF, our typical family of one parent and two children cannot have income in excess of $596 per month in central Virginia, or $727 per month in Northern Virginia. They also cannot have cash or savings in excess of $1,000, or a car worth more than $1,500.

If the custodial parent is receiving child support from the non-custodial parent, she or he must assign the child support payments to the State, which then collects them directly from the non-custodial parent. Under current law, the State "passes through" up to $50 per month in child support payments to the custodial parent, with no reduction in the TANF payment. Only families are eligible for assistance under TANF. A "family" is defined as at least one parent and one child under 18 years of age. If a child is not living with either parent, the child's caretaker can apply for assistance for the child alone (a "child-only" case).

Funding and Caseload

States receive block grants from the Federal government to cover a majority of the costs of TANF. In order to receive the full amount of Federal funding to which a State is otherwise entitled, the State must show that it is spending on activities related to TANF at least 80 percent of the amount of non-Federal funds it spent in Fiscal Year (FY) 1994 on AFDC and related programs. This maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement drops to 75 percent if the State can show that at least 45 percent of the families receiving TANF benefits are meeting the work requirements described above. (In FY 2002, this minimum will increase from 45 to 50 percent.) If a State does not fulfill its MOE requirement, its Federal block grant is reduced, based on the amount of State underspending. Virginia's MOE level for the current fiscal year is $128 million. States may use TANF funding in any manner reasonably calculated to achieve the purposes of TANF. These purposes are to provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes; to reduce dependency by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

In FY 1994, 74,700 Virginia families received public assistance (AFDC), at a cost to the State of $171 million. By September 2000, caseloads had dropped by 60 percent -- only 30,000 Virginia families were receiving TANF, at a cost to the State of $88 million for cash assistance. The State spends an additional $40 million on other activities supporting TANF, for a total spending level equal to the MOE requirement of $128 million. The Federal TANF block grant to Virginia is $153 million per year, bringing total TANF-related spending (State and Federal) to $281 million this year.
The US Bishops on Children:

"As a nation we need to make children and families our first priority; to invest in their future; to combat the forces--cultural, economic, and moral--which hurt children and destroy families; to manage our economy, shape our government, and direct our institutions to support and not undermine our families."

"In an interdependent world, we need to see clearly how children pay the price for global poverty and indifference, for official corruption, for far too much debt and not enough development, for a global economy dominated by the industrial countries which further impoverishes the poor."

"There has been an unfortunate, unnecessary, and unreal polarization in the discussions of the best way to help families. Some emphasize the primary role of moral values and personal responsibility, the sacrifices to be made and the personal behaviors to be avoided, but they often ignore or de-emphasize the broader forces which hurt families, e.g., the impact of economics, discrimination, and antifamily policies. Others emphasize the social and economic forces that undermine families and the responsibility of government to meet human needs, but they often neglect the importance of basic values and personal responsibility."

"The undeniable fact is that our children’s future is shaped both by the values of their parents and the policies of our nation. Families are undermined by parental irresponsibility and discrimination and poverty. Children’s lives are enriched by their parent’s sacrifices and by economic policies that help mothers and fathers meet the demand of parenthood."
      Quotations from Putting Children and Families First U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1991

Key Facts About American Children from the Children’s Defense Fund

The future of our nation depends on how we protect and nurture our children. And if we are to influence policy makers and attempt to shape policy that impacts on children, there is the need for reliable information about the condition of children. These key facts about American children were updated July 9, 1998.
1 in 2 preschoolers has a mother in the labor force.
1 in 2 will live in a single-parent family at some point in childhood.
1 in 2 never completes a single year of college.
1 in 3 is born to unmarried parents.
1 in 3 will be poor at some point childhood.
1 in 3 is a year or more behind in school.
1 in 4 is born poor.
1 in 4 is born to a mother who did not graduate from high school.
1 in 4 lives with only one parent.
1 in 5 is poor today.
1 in 5 lives in a family receiving food stamps.
1 in 5 is born to a mother who received no prenatal care in the first 3 months of pregnancy.
1 in 6 has a foreign-born mother.
1 in 7 has no health insurance.
1 in 7 lives with a working relative but is poor nonetheless.
1 in 8 is born to a teenage mother.
1 in 8 never graduates from high school.
1 in 11 lives at less than the poverty level.
1 in 12 has a disability.
1 in 13 is born at a low birthweight.
1 in 24 is born to a mother who received late or no prenatal care.
1 in 25 lives with neither parent.
1 in 132 dies before age 1.
1 in 680 is killed by gunfire before age 20.

More than 1.3 million families have lost welfare benefits since 1993--a drop of 27 percent. Former welfare recipients who find jobs typically earn less than $10,000 a year. In 1996, 11.3 million children through age 18 had no health insurance--the highest number ever recorded by the Census Bureau. Thirty-two states require no prior training for child care teachers. They are among the lowest-paid workers in America, earning on average only $12,058 per year, and receiving no benefits or paid leave. In 1996, 3.1 million children were reported abused or neglected, and the reports were substantiated for at least 969,000. An average of 14 children die each day from gunfire in America, approximately 1 every 100 minutes.

Moments for Virginia Children

Every 9 minutes a child was reported abused or neglected.
Every 50 minutes a baby was born to a teenage mother.
Every hour a baby was born at low birthweight.
Every 12 hours a baby died during the first year of life.
Every 3 days a child or youth was killed by a gun.

From: Children’s Defense Fund, The State of America’s Children Yearbook, 1998.

Report Casts Doubt on Welfare Reform in Virginia

Virginia's welfare reform initiative may not provide former welfare recipients with the economic independence promised by its backers, according to a report released in March by the Virginia Welfare Monitoring System. Rather than assisting low-income Virginians earn a sufficient salary to raise them out of poverty, the report forecasts welfare reform, may push many former welfare recipients deeper into poverty and force them to turn to private charities to make ends meet.

The report, "The Promise & The Reality: The Outlook for Virginians Leaving Welfare" written by Patricia McGrath Morris, the former chief of staff for Undersecretary of Food Nutrition and Consumer Services from 1993 to 1996 made its findings based on surveys of people attending soup kitchens and food pantries throughout Virginia.

The study found that the people who were employed were at greatest risk of not receiving essential social services. Only one-fourth of those employed had health insurance while every recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is eligible to obtain free health insurance. One-third of families unemployed within the last six months cited lack of affordable child care as a major reason while a working TANF recipient receives child care assistance. Seventeen percent of those working found themselves homeless during the last six months, a 50 percent higher rate than the unemployed or those on TANF or Food Stamps.

"In effect," said Morris, "all that welfare reform will achieve is a cut in the rolls and shift people from the ranks of welfare to the ranks of the working poor." The report urges state leaders to adopt a series of policies that make work pay such as an expansion of children's health insurance, more affordable housing and quality child care.