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NASW Practice Snapshot:
What's New at DHHS

Office of Social Work Specialty Practice

There are many changes happening at the Department of Health and Human Services. They brought Michael O. Leavitt on board as the 20th Secretary on January 26, 2005 . He will oversee a department that funds numerous health and human service programs nationwide. In his statement before the Finance Committee on January 19, he described some of his priorities: the reauthorization of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid reform, implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, global health, and medical liability reform. You can read his entire remarks by going to http://www.hhs.gov/news/speech/2005/050119.html

To read his complete biography, go to http://www.hhs.gov/about/bios/dhhssec.html

TANF is on the Move: What You Can Do to Help

Secretary Leavitt is not the only one concerned about the reauthorization of TANF. The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) is before the 109th Congress after previous attempts to reauthorize it have failed.

Issues in this year's debate are the same as when the President first announced plans to radically redesign the current TANF program by tightening work rules, increasing the number of hours TANF recipients must be engaged in work activities, increasing the percentage of a state's caseload that must participate in work activities, and providing states additional dollars to focus on marriage promotion.

The Status of TANF

On Wednesday, March 9, 2005 , the Senate Finance Committee approved the Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE) Act (S. 667) by voice vote. The PRIDE Act would reauthorize the 1996 PRWORA through fiscal year 2010. PRWORA replaced the entitlement under AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) with the TANF block grant.

No date has yet been set for the bill to be debated on the Senate floor. Prior to leaving for the spring congressional recess, Congress approved another extension for the TANF program, which will expire on June 30.

In the House, the Human Resources Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee approved its version of the PRWORA reauthorization bill, the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act (HR 240) on March 15. No date has been set for the bill's consideration by the full House Ways and Means Committee.

One of NASW's top priorities--improving services to TANF recipients with disabilities such as mental health disorders, substance abuse problems, and physical disabilities--was included in the Senate bill. The Association's advocacy, along with the efforts of its many coalition partners, resulted in the Finance Committee's approval of a provision that would give states the option of continuing to count recipients who are engaged in rehabilitation services in their participation rates for longer than six months. However, these individuals must be engaged in direct work activities for at least half the time required for non-disabled participants.

NASW's advocacy was also critical in gaining support for other provisions in the Senate bill designed to assist TANF recipients with disabilities. Three additional provisions were incorporated into the bill late last year. Those provisions include:

(1) Extend the time rehabilitation services can count as work from three to six months, as long as some level of direct work activity is included in the second three months;

(2) Allow states to count caring for a child or other adult family member with a disability as work; and

(3) Require states to attempt to contact the family prior to imposing a sanction. Studies have shown that families with disabled members are often inappropriately sanctioned.

In contrast, the House bill would limit rehabilitative services to three months and would require states to conduct drug tests on recipients who they have reason to believe have used a controlled substance. If a drug test is positive, cash assistance to the family must be stopped immediately. If future drug tests are also positive, all TANF benefits must be terminated for a period of three years.

You can read more about what NASW is doing to ensure that Congress passes a responsible TANF bill that meets the needs of low-income families by going to http://www.socialworkers.org/advocacy/updates/031105.asp

New Poverty Income Guidelines

HHS recently released their 2005 poverty guidelines which are used as the basis for determining eligibility for many state and federal programs. You can access the the guidelines by going to http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/pdf/05-3144.pdf

NASW, March 2005

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