Education as a Priority

TANF REAUTHORIZATION

I am a single parent, a full time student, and a TANF client. I am in the process of finishing the lower division prerequisites toward a nursing major. I will achieve a career as a licensed registered nurse with a four-year college degree. These prerequisites are concurrent with every nursing program. The lower division or first portion of the program requires 24 months to accomplish yet the upper division courses or remainder of this program consists of an additional 24 months. Therefore the complete minimum amount necessary to graduate from a nursing program is a total of 48 months. Apparently the temporary aid for needy families current statues time limitations for the “welfare-to- work” contract time allotment is eighteen to twenty four months. More time is required for me to finish my welfare-to-work agreement.

There is a crucial need for registered nurses throughout California. The projected top five career includes Nursing. Everyday a greater gap is produced between lower class and middle class citizens. Needless to say, two parent household domains that have each obtained a minimum job wage salary have achieved poverty level standards of living.

All single parent households who have obtained yearly salaries at minimally low wage incomes are also suffering impoverished conditions. Fact low-wage minimum jobs continue to promote conditions related to poverty.

The views I support include the following. Access to education, time limit elimination and in lieu poverty reduction omit the focal point of TANF. TANF indiscriminately enforces to exercise caseload reduction and instead an important factor it avoids to concentrate upon is eliminating poverty. Presently, TANF must include the immediate long-term effects this bears upon its clients and their families’ future. The distributions of monetary allotments for each state are subjective and ideally dependent upon caps in equivalence to client caseload reductions. The state has only reduced the time amount clients are on TANF. Although the decrease of unemployment continues at a steady pace the only slots filled are low-wage. The farce is that the rolls decrease; these families reapply. Congruently as the economy and the standard of living increases it also reflects an increase of poverty. Higher education is priority and must be addressed as welfare- to-work activity omitting the time-limit standard.

A quality lifestyle achieves self-sufficiency and is imperative to a higher education because at a minimum every career demands it. However, the elimination of time limits also offers a broader scope of opportunities that would also include clients who have learning disabilities to pursue college educations.

For example the medical field is a crucial sector to society. The top five job demands includes Registered Nurses. California is experiencing a shortage of 5,000 registered nurses. The elimination of time limits would resolve this issue. This segment alone would resolve several existent issues; this would also allow many TANF clients a self-sufficient career. This eliminates the increase of TANF applicants. This is an emergency that must be addressed by society otherwise it will suffer the serious consequences.

Low wage dead end jobs are more costly and increase enrollments of clients. The consequences these members of society will perpetually continue to suffer are the effects of impoverishment of disparity. However the perspective TANF personifies with the mass media and the public is “ TANF has decreased the registry of clients in the program due to the Welfare-to-Work policy.” The misconstrued information fails to acknowledge any accountability that in exchange for minimum wage jobs the rolls have decreased while the sacrifices outweigh the outcomes.

I refuse to accept the current function TANF promotes. The United States Department of Human and Health Services increases the perils of poverty by penalizing its citizens, for choosing higher education as a priority for the well being of their families. It is prevalent for the citizens and society to actively support us in our position as we voice our reality and personal experiences with the public. TANF with its misconstrued information must revert its efforts to reducing poverty in America. It is imperative to society that TANF reconstruct its policies confronting it real issues: time limits, access to education, “Welfare-to-Work”.

There fore the “status quoi” must support our suggestions for TANF re-authorization. TANF must address these issues and reconsider the direct impacts caseload reduction promotes. Caseload reduction reflects the numbers of families that have temporarily left TANF. It is prevalent that for all parties involved the final result of caseload reduction is poverty. TANF policies and regulations hinder poverty. Therefore, continuing to accept percentiles that promote reductions of enrolles ignores the final unresolved issue. It is time to change poverty reduction.