Last week, DCFPI and many other organizations and residents testified before the new chair of the Committee on Human Services, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham. Graham said he wanted to use the hearing to learn about the key issues affecting the agencies he will now oversee. And with a new Director of Human Services on the horizon due to the departure of Clarence Carter for a post in Arizona, this year will be one of great change’and we believe also one of great opportunity.
Here are some of the issues Graham faces as he makes his TANF work plan for 2011:
New education and training services. The District’s Department of Human Services (DHS) is preparing to enhance its TANF employment program, which currently places nearly all participants in short-term job readiness services, no matter what barriers they face. This summer, it will implement a new set of offerings that emphasize placing clients in high-wage jobs, create incentives for TANF services providers to help clients move among the offered services, and require more rigorous case management to identify and work through clients’ individual barriers to success. This is a significant step in the right direction. Chairman Graham’s oversight will be helpful to make sure it is done right.
New assessments and reporting. DHS is preparing to implement a new assessment system, in concert with a piece of legislation that the Council passed in December (the TANF Educational Opportunities and Accountability Act). Without proper assessments of skill levels and barriers to employment, families cannot get the services they need. The legislation expands reporting requirements on referrals and outcomes in various services, work preparation activities, and employment. These requirements seem promising. Still, the Council should closely monitor the new assessment system, with a focus on adequate training for those conducting assessments, and regularly review data from the agency on program participation and outcomes.
New benefit reductions for TANF “˜longstayers.’ In last December’s budget-balancing plan, the Council approved a 20 percent reduction in benefits for families who have received TANF for more than 60 months in their lifetime. This change will reduce the maximum benefit for a family of three from $428 per month to $342 per month. Chairman Graham required the DC Auditor to assess the impact of these cuts on the District’s most vulnerable families. It is critical that this happen.
A new sanctions policy. At the same time, the Council adopted legislation authorizing a new system of sanctions for TANF adults who do not meet their TANF work requirements. Although not final, the new sanctions policy is expected to include a three-step process, starting with a partial benefit reduction, and ending in a full-family sanction at the third level. The Human Services agency is required to submit the sanctions policy to the Council for approval in the early Spring. All states that use sanctions include some exemptions and extensions to protect particularly vulnerable residents’those with disabilities, mental illness, or experiencing especially challenging personal circumstances’and it will be imperative that DHS carefully craft a sanctions policy that does this as well.
