New TANF Rules. A Librarian at the Kitchen Table. No. 378.

The Bush administration has announced regulations to put new pressure on states to move more welfare recipients toward self-sufficiency, in part by substantially tightening the definition of what qualifies as work and job training under federal law.

TANF Interim Final Rules, issued by the Administration for Children and Families on June 28, instruct states on how to implement the welfare reform reauthorization provisions contained in the Deficit Reduction Act. The Administration for Children and Families new rules are highlighted on the American Public Human Services website.

A major focus of the regulations is on new uniform national requirements for how states document that a recipient has actually worked the hours reported, as well as internal controls that states must have in place to verify that information. States will not be allowed to use the long-standing practice of “exception reporting,” under which a service provider contacts the state when a recipient is not meeting the requirements, rather than regular reporting of a person meeting the requirements. The regulations also require that most of the allowable activities be supervised on a daily basis in addition to daily, weekly, or biweekly documentation. However, private-sector employers will only have to provide documentation every six months. States may accept pay stubs, timecards, sign-in/out sheets, and rosters with recorded work.