| As a State Senator in the Washington State Senate, I am submitting
this letter to provide my comments on the reauthorization of the TANF
program established by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996. The Department has invited public comments
about what changes the Administration should propose for this program, as
listed in the Federal Register, October 17, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 201)
p. 52773. Primarily, I strongly believe that the reauthorized TANF should
focus on poverty reduction as its long-term goal, rather than simply on an
immediate reduction in the welfare rolls. I believe one of the important
avenues to assist many families in becoming self-sufficient is in allowing
states to provide access to postsecondary education for women TANF
recipients. I support the following paragraphs that were included in the
comments submitted by the Center for Women’s Policy Studies on November
16, 2001: "In the United States, education has always been a route to
economic self-sufficiency and social mobility, as demonstrated by the
long-term success of the GI Bill, for example. In the 21st century, at
least one year of postsecondary education increasingly is essential for
all workers. And yet, TANF does not extend our nation’s commitment to
educational opportunity to women who are living in poverty with their
children. However, many women on welfare are ready, willing, and able to
benefit from postsecondary education; indeed, 53 percent of women AFDC
recipients in the years preceding TANF were high school graduates or had
earned GEDs (Center for Women Policy Studies, 1998). Data from several
studies have demonstrated that the additional earning capacity that a
postsecondary education provides can make the difference between economic
self-sufficiency and continued poverty for many women TANF recipients.
Among families headed by African American women, the poverty rate declines
from 51 percent to 21 percent with at least one year of postsecondary
education. Among families headed by Latinas, the poverty rate declines
from 41 percent to 18.5 percent with at least one year of postsecondary
education. And among families headed by white women, the poverty rate
declines from 22 percent to 13 percent with at least one year of
postsecondary education (Center for Women Policy Studies, 1998). Studies
in several states have found that postsecondary education not only
increases women’s income, it also improves their self esteem, increases
their children’s educational ambitions, and has a dramatic impact on their
quality of life. Further, the children of these newly-educated mothers are
more likely to take education seriously and aspire to go to college
themselves (Center for Women Policy Studies, 1998). Now more than ever,
TANF recipients need postsecondary education to obtain the knowledge and
skills they will require to compete for jobs that pay a living wage,
provide health and other benefits, and enable women to lift themselves and
their children out of poverty in the long term. Without some postsecondary
education, most women who leave welfare for work will earn wages far below
the federal poverty line, even after five years of working. But allowing
TANF recipients to attend college, even for a short time, will improve
their earning potential significantly. In fact, the average person who
attends a community college – even if she/he does not complete an
associate’s degree -- earns about 10 percent more than her/his
counterparts who do not have any college education (Center for Women
Policy Studies, 1998). Moreover, women who receive assistance clearly
appreciate the importance of postsecondary education in their struggle to
improve their lives and their children’s lives. The Center’s recent
qualitative research with women TANF recipients from the Washington DC
metropolitan area demonstrates their ambition and commitment to hard work.
Study participants were eager to leave TANF as quickly as possible --- but
they also wanted to leave poverty and create a stable lifetime career.
They understood that a college education was the most important strategy
to move them from welfare to economic self-sufficiency. One participant
clarified this mission and reflected what several others said: ”I’ve got
to go to college so I can get this degree, so I can get off of TANF, so I
can provide for my family and get a decent job to provide for my children”
(Wolfe and Tucker, 2001). The Center for Women Policy Studies strongly
urges the Department to respond to the leadership shown by many states by
ensuring that the reauthorized TANF program includes postsecondary
education in the list of allowable work activities. In addition, for TANF
recipients enrolled in a postsecondary education program, both their
participation in a campus work study program and a reasonable amount of
study time should be classified as work activities. Finally, federal law
should allow states to extend TANF recipients’ time limits if they are
participating in a postsecondary education program; states should be able
to “stop the clock” for TANF recipients to ensure that they do not have
their assistance withdrawn before they can achieve the long term economic
security that postsecondary education can provide and that welfare reform
should encourage. Despite the TANF program’s overwhelming focus on
immediate work participation and decreasing welfare caseloads as
indicators of success, many states have attempted to support women’s
efforts to achieve long term economic independence through pursuit of a
postsecondary education. Indeed, the Department responded to public
comments on the proposed TANF regulations, many of which came from state
legislators, by amending the final TANF regulations to give states the
flexibility to offer postsecondary education to TANF recipients. As of
November 1999, at least 19 states had considered or enacted such
strategies. Several states amended their state welfare laws to
specifically allow postsecondary education as an allowable work activity
under TANF (California, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, and Ohio,
for example). Other states created separate state programs using their
Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funds to allow TANF recipients to engage in
postsecondary education without the limitations of the federally mandated
work and time limit requirements (Maine, Texas, and Wyoming, for example).
Others encouraged a combination of postsecondary education and allowable
work activities (including Delaware, New Jersey, and Wyoming, for
instance) or operated under a federal waiver to allow college to count as
an allowable work activity (Ohio, Texas, and Vermont) (Center for Women
Policy Studies, 1999). The Center for Women Policy Studies applauds the
leadership of these states and strongly urges the Department to follow
their lead as their successful programs of welfare reform are models
worthy of emulation by other states and the federal government. The Center
for Women Policy Studies is a multiethnic and multicultural feminist
research, policy analysis and advocacy organization which brings women’s
diverse voices to important public policy debates – on women and AIDS,
violence against women and girls, welfare reform, access to health care,
educational equity, employers’ work/family and workplace diversity
policies, reproductive rights and health, and many other critical issues.
The Center has examined the role of postsecondary education in helping low
income women lift themselves out of poverty since 1988. We look forward to
working with the Department on TANF reauthorization during the coming
year. We will be pleased to contribute the research and policy analyses
that the Center, our colleagues in other research institutions, and the
state legislators with whom we work nationwide have conducted to the
Department’s deliberations." I appreciate the opportunity to add my
comments and concerns on this important matter. Sincerely, Jeanne
Kohl-Welles Washington State Senator 36th Legislative District Chair,
Senate Higher Education Committee Vice Chair, NCSL AFI/ASI Human Services
Committee |
