“Too often, families with significant barriers are not given appropriate opportunities and adequate services to remove those barriers and allow them to become successful and independent,” Roukema continued.  “I am proposing that states and TANF recipients work together to define what barriers stand in the way of full permanent employment and create individual responsibility plans to address these barriers.  These plans will maintain our focus on the purpose of welfare -- individual responsibility.”

“In addition, states will be allowed more flexibility in determining what constitutes as a ‘hardship’ for those individuals the states exempt from the five year limit on assistance,” Roukema said.  “I am concerned about those suffering from mental illnesses or disabilities who might be left behind.  We must ensure that states are able to work with these TANF recipients and provide appropriate plans for these ‘hardship’ cases.”

“Education and training are critical paths to employment and self-sufficiency,” Roukema continued.  “Providing for the education and training of those moving into the workforce will allow them to hold sustainable quality jobs.  Our goals cannot be simplified to merely securing jobs for those moving off welfare.  Rather, we need to ensure long-term self-sufficiency through expanded educational and vocational training. My legislation will address the constraints of current law by allowing for limited vocational and educational training to be considered as acceptable work activities.”

Additional provisions in Roukema’s bill include:
--A requirement for states to assess their regional economies to identify employment opportunities in industries experiencing labor shortages as an encouragement for states to meet the needs of employers and workers. 
--An adjustment of the TANF block grant and maintenance of effort requirement for inflation.

Roukema was a leader of welfare reform in the creation of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act and is a senior member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.