House examines training under TANF.

House Ways and Means Committee Examines Role of Training under TANF

On April 22, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support held a hearing to examine the education and training policies under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The hearing highlighted the key role that workforce development programs can play in helping TANF recipients get and keep family-sustaining jobs, and identified challenges facing these individuals under current policy.

The hearing opened with testimony from Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), who began her own college career while she was receiving assistance under TANF’s predecessor, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Rep. Moore offered a range of recommendations to ensure that TANF provides meaningful access to training and education services—particularly for women in the workforce and individuals living with disabilities—urging the committee to lift restrictions on states limiting the number of individuals participating in education and training programs, and extending the length of time individuals can participate in training under TANF from 12 to 24 months.

Rep. Moore was followed by Jacklynn Young, a current TANF recipient in Lacey, WA, who provided moving testimony on the ways restrictive TANF policies impact her ability to juggle work and parenting requirements with her pursuit of postsecondary education. Additional witnesses offered recommendations on updating TANF policies to respond to changing labor market conditions and improved training methods, and highlighted effective approaches to serving TANF recipients on the state and local levels.