| TO: Assistant Secretary Horn FROM: YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County
(NY) RE: TANF Reauthorization Comments DATE: November 30, 2001 The YWCA of
Rochester and Monroe County (NY) is dedicated to renewing women and
rebuilding lives. In Rochester, New York/Monroe County, the YWCA is the
place for women at a crisis or turning point in their lives to overcome
unemployment, homelessness, teenage motherhood and substance addiction. We
are on the frontline in the battle to help poor and low-income women as
they transition to true self-sufficiency. As such, we thank you for this
opportunity to comment on the reauthorization of the TANF block grant and
we urge you to consider the impact that TANF has, and will have, on the
lives of our clients. 1. Increase Emphasis on Real Poverty Reduction New
York's welfare rolls are decreasing dramatically as poor New Yorkers are
ushered from welfare to work. Although many New Yorkers successfully
transition from welfare to self-sufficiency, many more are being left
behind. Inadequate training, poor support systems and rigidly enforced
compliance mechanisms must not be permitted to disguise the reality of the
growing numbers of truly disadvantaged and disenfranchised New Yorker's,
many of who are women and children. In New York State, only 18% of
children eligible for child-care subsidies are actually being served. In
New York State, individuals with post-secondary credentials have the
highest rate of labor force participation, and a post secondary degree is
one of the most significant factors in finding growth employment
opportunities. As no more than 20% of New York's welfare recipients may
count education or training towards fulfilling the federal work
requirement, New York has a strong incentive to deny most welfare
recipients access to education for fear of losing funds. More must be done
to help prepare welfare recipients for the transition from welfare to
work. In Monroe County (NY) homelessness has increased nearly 50% since
1998 and there has been a 71% increase in the number of homeless children
under 16 during that time. These numbers are expected to grow
significantly as county residents begin facing their five-year mandatory
public assistance cut off deadlines. More needs to be done to prevent
today's welfare recipients from becoming tomorrow's homeless population.
2. Enable Poor People to Actually Become Self-Sufficient a. Increase,
don't decrease TANF funding b. Permit states flexibility in
modifying/extending time limits c. Encourage states to replace individual
sanctions with compliance incentives d. Fund Individual Development
Accounts (IDA's) e. Include education/vocational training in the
definition of "work activity" f. Increase access to educational/vocational
programs g. Increase duration of transitional public transportation passes
and after one year of successful full time-employment, phase in
transportation fees on a sliding scale h. Extend exempt training period
for education/vocation to four years i. Extend safeguards to all poor and
low income people generally, not just to families with children 3.
Encourage State Accountability a. Define "misuse of funds" for which
states can be penalized b. Clarify "good cause" required for exemption
from participation in work activities c. Increase civil legal service
funding to ensure that the rights of America's poor are protected d.
Provide loan forgiveness to all post-secondary graduates working to
provide services to the poor e. Make reduced homelessness/hunger a
performance based outcome and increase/decrease funding accordingly f.
Make decreases in welfare rolls which are unaccompanied by comparable
increases in employment rates a performance based outcome and
increase/decrease funding accordingly g. Replace the minimum wage with a
living wage Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Sincerely,
Kimberly Y. Walker, JD Member, YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County (NY)
Public Policy Committee Member, YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County (NY)
Board of Directors |
