June 8, 2004

 

                RE: Creating Pathways to Independence in TANF for People with Disabilities

 

Dear Senator:

 

We are writing to urge your support for an amendment sponsored by Senators Smith and Jeffords to address the needs of TANF (welfare) recipients with disabilities, including individuals with substance abuse problems.  The amendment will improve the ability of states to help TANF recipients with disabilities move towards work and greater independence.  The amendment is S. AMDT. 2965.

 

The Smith-Jeffords amendment builds on current provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE) Act.  The House version of the PRIDE act allows states to count rehabilitative activities towards the work participation rate for only three months.  After three months, such activities count only if the person first engages in 24 hours of core work activities.  The current Senate version of the PRIDE Act allows states to count rehabilitative services towards the work participation rate for up to six months, as long as some core work activity is combined with the rehabilitative services in the second three-month period.   While the Senate version is a significant improvement over the House provision, six months will be inadequate for many recipients to find and sustain employment at the levels contemplated by both the House and Senate versions of the bill.  The Smith-Jeffords amendment would allow states to count participation in rehabilitative activities beyond six months, so long as the individual participates in at least one-half the required core work activity hours and would also encourage states to work collaboratively with other agencies that have expertise in identifying disabilities and developing appropriate service plans to address those disabilities.

 

The encouragement of collaboration is a critical component of the Smith-Jeffords amendment.  It is our experience that many states have used the flexibility of current law to begin developing such collaborative approaches to working with families with multiple barriers to employment and independence.  However, we are concerned that the increased participation rate requirement contemplated in both versions of the PRIDE Act will discourage states from providing such collaborative approaches.  Unless states are provided more flexibility in determining what activities count towards the participation rate, we fear states that are already providing such services will no longer be able to provide them.

 

For example, the Vermont Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, working in conjunction with the state’s TANF agency, recently assisted 109 recipients with disabilities in achieving successful employment (defined as stable employment for 90 days).  Only 14 of the 109 TANF recipients with disabilities (or 12.8 percent) achieved stable employment in six months or less.  Thus, if the House or current Senate provisions were in effect, Vermont would have risked penalties to offer these individuals rehabilitative services beyond six months and 95 of the 109 TANF recipients with disabilities would have been unlikely to receive the services they needed to become successfully employed. 

 

Similarly, drug and alcohol treatment programs that serve women with children, including women receiving TANF assistance, frequently require more than six months of services.  Successful programs often combine job training, parenting classes, education, and life skills training in their substance abuse treatment plans.  These programs also include employment as part of the treatment plan, when, and to the extent, a particular individual is ready to engage in work.  Allowing individuals time to complete treatment is critical.  An Oregon study showed that those who completed drug treatment received wages 65 percent higher than those who did not.

 

The goal should be to help parents with disabilities, including substance abuse problems, obtain whatever help they need – for however long they need, as determined by the state and local agencies working together – to help them successfully move from welfare to work.   Allowing states to receive credit for only a limited number of months of rehabilitative services will mean that some parents do not get the intensive help they need to succeed.

 

We are also quite concerned that many of the families who are unable to obtain the services they need will end up in the child welfare system.  It is the most disadvantaged families, those with barriers such as mental or physical disabilities or problems with substance abuse, that are at greatest risk of making the transition into the child welfare system. 

 

Thus, neither families nor states can afford an inflexible and ineffective approach to addressing barriers in the TANF program.  States must be permitted to count participation in activities that help parents with disabilities successfully participate in the workplace and care for their children, for as long as those activities are needed to help the family progress towards greater independence.  The amendment offered by Senators Smith and Jeffords provides the needed flexibility.  We urge you to support this important amendment as a way to strengthen this year’s TANF reauthorization legislation.

 

Sincerely,

 

National Organizations

 

Alliance for Children and Families

American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry

American Art Therapy Association

American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)

American Counseling Association

American Dance Therapy Association

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees

American Friends Service Committee

American Group Psychotherapy Association

American Humane Association

American Mental Health Counselors Association

American Network of Community Options and Resources

American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children

American Society of Addiction Medicine

Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

Brain Injury Association of America

Catholic Charities

Center for Law and Social Policy

Center for Women Policy Studies

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Child Care Law Center

Child Welfare League of America

Children's Defense Fund

Church Women United

Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE)

Coalition on Human Needs

Council for Exceptional Children

Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Family Violence Prevention Fund

Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health

Helen Keller National Center

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Legal Action Center

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

National Alliance to End Homelessness

North American Council on Adoptable Children

National Association for Children of Alcoholics

National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities

National Association of Drug Court Professionals

National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems

National Association of School Psychologists

National Association of Social Workers

National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors

National Center for Youth Law

National Child Abuse Coalition

National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers, Inc.

National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness

National Council of Jewish Women

National Council of La Raza

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence

National Education Association

National Foster Care Coalition

National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty

National Low Income Housing Coalition

National Mental Health Association

National Partnership for Women and Families

National Priorities Project

National Puerto Rican Coalition

National Respite Coalition

National Women's Law Center

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

North American Council on Adoptable Children

Presbyterian Church (USA)

RESNA

RESULTS

State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS)

The Arc of the U.S.

The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC)

The Center for Community Change

The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)

The Rebecca Project for Human Rights

Therapeutic Communities of America

Title II Community AIDS National Network (TIICANN)

Union for Reform Judaism

United Cerebral Palsy

United Spinal Association

Voices for America's Children

Welfare Law Center

YWCA USA

 

State Organizations

 

Alabama:

Mental Health Association in Southwest Alabama

National Association of Social Workers, Alabama Chapter

United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham

 

Alaska:

National Association of Social Workers, Alaska Chapter

 

Arizona:

Arizona’s Children Association

Arizona Council of Human Service Providers

National Association of Social Workers, Arizona Chapter

William E. Morris Institute for Justice

 

Arkansas:

National Association of Social Workers, Arizona Chapter

 

California:

California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives

California Institute for Mental Health

California Mental Health Directors Association

Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth

National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter

Mental Health Association in San Diego County

Mental Health Association of Greater Los Angeles

Tarzana Treatment Centers

The Sycamores

United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate

United Cerebral Palsy of Orange County

 

Colorado:

9 to 5 Colorado

National Association of Social Workers, Colorado Chapter

 

Connecticut:

Arc/Connecticut

National Association of Social Workers, Connecticut Chapter

 

Delaware:

Mental Health Association of Delaware

National Association of Social Workers, Delaware Chapter

The Arc of Delaware

 

District of Columbia:

Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems

National Association of Social Workers, Metro DC Chapter

 

Florida:

Family Resources, Inc.

Miami Coalition for the Homeless, Inc.

National Association of Social Workers, Florida Chapter

 

Georgia:

National Association of Social Workers, Georgia Chapter

 

Guam:

National Association of Social Workers, Guam Chapter

 

Hawaii:

National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter

The Hawaii Coalition for Health

United Cerebral Palsy of Hawaii

 

Idaho:

National Association of Social Workers, Idaho Chapter

 

Illinois:

Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association

Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health

National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter

Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

The Arc of Illinois

United Cerebral Palsy of Southern Illinois

United Cerebral Palsy of Will County

 

Indiana:

National Association of Social Workers, Indiana Chapter

Mental Health Association in Indiana

Mental Health Association in Marion County

 

Iowa:

Iowa Substance Abuse Program Directors’ Association

Mental Health Association of Dubuque County

National Association of Social Workers, Iowa Chapter

 

Kansas:

Kansas Association for Persons in Supported Employment

National Association of Social Workers, Kansas Chapter

Social Justice Office, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth

The Farm, Inc.

United Cerebral Palsy of Kansas

 

Kentucky:

Kentucky Task Force on Hunger

Mental Health Association of Kentucky

National Association of Social Workers, Kentucky Chapter

Office of Kentucky Legal Services Programs

United Way of Northern Kentucky

 

Louisiana:

Agenda for Children

National Association of Social Workers, Louisiana Chapter

 

Maine:

Hardy Girls Healthy Women, Inc.

Maine Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods

Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs

Maine Center for Economic Policy

Maine Equal Justice

Maine Women’s Policy Center & Maine Women’s Lobby

National Association of Social Workers, Maine Chapter

Sweetser ACT Team

The Coalition for Family Success in Maine

 

Maryland:

Maryland Association for Persons Supported Employment (APSE)

National Association of Social Workers, Maryland Chapter

Public Justice Center

 

Massachusetts:

Cape Cod Neighborhood Support Coalition

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corporations of Massachusetts

Minute Man Arc for Human Services

National Association of Social Workers, Massachusetts Chapter

Pathways for Children

The Arc of Cape Cod, Inc.

The Arc of Greater Fall River

The Arc of Massachusetts

The Arc of Northern Bristol County

 

Michigan:

Center for Civil Justice

Michigan Association of Persons in Supported Employment

National Association of Social Workers, Michigan Chapter

 

Minnesota:

Affirmative Options Coalition

Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance

Minnesota AIDS project

National Association of Social Workers, Minnesota Chapter

The Arc of Minnesota

United Cerebral Palsy of Minnesota

 

Mississippi:

Institute for Disability Studies, Mississippi's University Center for

Excellence

National Association of Social Workers, Mississippi Chapter

 

Missouri:

Missouri Addiction Services Providers Association

National Association of Social Workers, Missouri Chapter

 

Montana:

National Association of Social Workers, Montana Chapter

 

Nebraska:

National Association of Social Workers, Nebraska Chapter

Nebraska Appleseed Center

Voices for Children in Nebraska

 

Nevada:

National Association of Social Workers, Nevada Chapter

Nevada Association of State Drug Abuse Programs

United Cerebral Palsy of Northern Nevada

 

New Hampshire:

Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire

National Association of Social Workers, New Hampshire Chapter

 

New Jersey:

Association for Children of New Jersey

Mental Health Association in New Jersey

Mental Health Association of Atlantic County

Mental Health Association of Essex County

Mental Health Association of Hudson County

Mental Health Association of Monmouth County

Mental Health Association of Morris County

Mental Health Association of Ocean County

Mental Health Association of Passaic County

Mental Health Association Southwestern New Jersey

Mental Health Association New Jersey – Trenton Office

Mental Health Association of Union County

National Association of Social Workers, New Jersey Chapter

New Jersey Association for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse

 

New Mexico:

National Association of Social Workers, New Mexico Chapter

New Mexico Voices for Children

 

New York:

National Association of Social Workers, New York City Chapter

National Association of Social Workers, New York State Chapter

New York State Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, Inc.

Mental Health Association of Nassau County, Inc.

 

North Carolina:

National Association of Social Workers, North Carolina Chapter

National Mental Health Association in Orange County

North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center

 

North Dakota:

National Association of Social Workers, North Dakota Chapter

 

Ohio:

Have a Heart Ohio

Lighthouse Youth Services

National Association of Social Workers, Ohio Chapter

Ohio Council of Behavioral Healthcare Providers

The Center of Community Solutions

(formerly known as the Federation for Community Planning)

United Way of Greater Cincinnati

 

Oklahoma:

National Association of Social Workers, Oklahoma Chapter

Oklahoma Substance Abuse Services Alliance

 

Oregon:

National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Chapter

Oregon Food Bank

Oregon Law Center

United Cerebral Palsy of Oregon and SW Washington

 

Pennsylvania:

Community Legal Services

Drug & Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania

Family Services of Western Pennsylvania

Jewish Employment and Vocational Services

Maternity Care Coalition

National Association of Social Workers, Pennsylvania Chapter

PathWaysPA

Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY)

The Advocacy Alliance

United Cerebral Palsy of Pennsylvania

Women’s Law Project

 

Puerto Rico:

National Association of Social Workers, Puerto Rico Chapter

 

Rhode Island:

Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island

National Association of Social Workers, Rhode Island Chapter

Rhode Island Kids Count

 

South Carolina:

National Association of Social Workers, South Carolina Chapter

 

South Dakota:

National Association of Social Workers, South Dakota Chapter

 

Tennessee:

Family & Children’s Services

MANNA

National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee Chapter

Renewal House

Tennessee Citizen Action

Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth

Tennessee Disability Coalition

Tennessee Health Care Campaign

Tennessee Justice Center

Tennessee Voices for Children

The Arc of Tennessee