Catholic Charities USA Calls on the Senate Finance Committee to Strengthen the WORK Act

Catholic Charities USA
Wednesday, 26 June 2002

As the Senate Finance Committee marks up the Work, Opportunity, and Responsibility for Kids Act of 2002 today, Catholic Charities USA expressed its support for a number of provisions in the legislation, but called on the Finance Committee to adopt a amendments that will further enhance the ability of states to ensure that TANF families can move from welfare rolls to payrolls and from poverty to independence and self-sufficiency.

In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee, Catholic Charities USA stated its support for several provisions in the WORK Act that:

• maintain 30-hour overall work requirement; give states more flexibility to help mothers receive the education and training necessary to qualify for higher paying jobs;


• improve the Transitional Medicaid Assistance Program to ensure that families leaving the welfare rolls for work actually receive the transitional health care to which they are entitled;


• create a new federal fund for state programs to support healthy marriages;


• encourage states to pass through more child support directly to current or former TANF families.

Catholic Charities USA also voiced its strong support for an amendment that would allow states to exempt a limited number of full-time caretakers of disabled family members from TANF work requirements, and to exclude them from the work participation rates. "TANF mothers with disabled relatives will often face an impossible choice: comply with the TANF work requirements at the expense of providing care, or fail to comply with the work requirements and be subject to sanctions," wrote Sharon Daly, vice president for social policy for Catholic Charities USA, in a letter to committee members.

Suggested Improvements to the WORK Act

In its letter, Catholic Charities USA outlined the following suggested amendments to strengthen the WORK Act to ensure that TANF families can move from welfare rolls to payrolls and from poverty to independence and self-sufficiency.

• Restore Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) to $2.8 billion, the level promised in the 1996 welfare law. SSBG funds allow faith-based and community organizations to provide a wide range of services to the poorest and most vulnerable Americans, and help to fund programs for many families who would otherwise need TANF assistance.
• Increase mandatory spending for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) beyond the $5 billion over 5 years of additional spending provided in the WORK Act. Currently, only 1 in 7 children who are eligible for child care assistance actually receives it.
• Allow states to restore benefits to legal immigrant children and pregnant women under Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
• Prohibit states from discriminating against two-parent families in their TANF programs. A significant number of states continue to penalize marriage by making it more difficult for two-parent families to qualify for TANF assistance. For example, in 10 states and the District of Columbia, a two-parent family with a combined income below the poverty level will be denied TANF assistance if the principal wage earner is employed for more than 100 hours in a month. In 12 states and the District of Columbia, a desperate two-parent family seeking TANF support will be turned away if the principal wage earner has not been employed for at least 6 of the last 13 calendar quarters. And in 13 states and the District of Columbia, eligible two-parent families are asked to wait up to a month before receiving TANF benefits, while single-parent families are provided immediate assistance.

"These provisions create economic incentives that discourage marriage among poor individuals," wrote Daly in another letter to the committee. "As a result, many low-income couples are required to choose between cementing their relationship through marital vows and being able to support themselves and their children financially. No family should be faced with this sad dilemma."

For more information, or to contact Catholic Charities USA, see their website at: www.catholiccharitiesusa.org