House hearing on TANF/welfare reform this Thursday 3/11in DC - stories from parents and children needed
Diana Spatz
This Thursday, March 11th, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee in charge of reauthorizing TANF/welfare reform will be having a hearing to evaluate the effectiveness of TANF in helping families in these hard economic times.
If you’re a parent or child who has been affected by TANF/welfare reform, this is your chance to be heard. If you write a statement about your experience in the TANF/welfare system, you can submit it to the committee online, and it will be included in the official record of this hearing.
Below is the official announcement about the hearing, with a link to the committee’s announcement. Also included are the instructions for how to submit your testimony online – the deadline to do so is Thursday, March 25th.
Diana Spatz
Executive Director
LIFETIME: Low-Income Families’
Empowerment through Education
-----Original Message-----
McDermott Announces Hearing on TANF's Role in Providing Assistance to Struggling Families
March 4, 2010
Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to evaluate the role of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in providing assistance to families with little or no income. The hearing will take place on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. in B-318 Rayburn House Office Building. In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled to appear may submit a written statement for consideration by the Subcommittee and for inclusion in the record of the hearing.
Full details at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=11035
________________________________
BACKGROUND:
The TANF block grant provides fixed-funding to the States for several purposes including to “provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives.” In 2008 (the most recent data available), fewer than one out of every four poor children received cash assistance through the TANF program, a steep drop compared to the percentage receiving such aid in the mid 1990s. TANF caseloads (nationwide) climbed modestly last fiscal year in response to the worst recession in many decades, but this small rise significantly lagged the increased participation in other programs designed to respond to rising need, such as food stamps and unemployment benefits.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides up to $5 billion to help States respond to rising TANF caseloads and to establish and/or expand subsidized employment programs. Funding for this TANF emergency contingency fund currently expires on September 30th.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman McDermott stated, “During this time of great hardship, it is more important than ever to have a safety net that truly protects struggling families. However, our Nation’s primary program providing financial assistance to very low-income families – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families – doesn’t provide assistance to over three-quarters of America’s poor children. That’s not temporary assistance – it’s no help at all for the vast majority of our most vulnerable children and families. We need to work on both immediate steps and longer-term solutions to ensure a helping hand for those who need it most.”
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will focus on the role of the TANF program in providing assistance to families with very low incomes.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms. From the Committee homepage, http://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “Hearings”. Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.” Once you have followed the online instructions, submit all requested information. ATTACH your submission as a Word or WordPerfect document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by close of business Thursday, March 25, 2010. Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings. For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-1721 or (202) 225-3625.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee. The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines. Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments. Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons, and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears. A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone, and fax numbers of each witness.
Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://waysandmeans.house.gov.
Maria Luz Torre
I think it is best to have written testimony submitted by Thursday March 11 to be included in the records of the hearing happening that day, although they did say mention that deadline for written submission is March 25.
Maria Luz Torre
Parent Voices Organizer (SF)
445 Church St, SF, CA 94114
(415) 343-3383, (415)392-2399 fax
www.parentvoices.org
Laurianne Reardon
| I received a message from Dawn L. and she indicated you will be all going to Sacramento, March 18. I am interested in participating to this event. Here is my number if you can pass this on to her. (510) 565-9644 cell (925) 249-9331 home I emailed this to her several times and it came back as mail demon. --- On Sat, 3/6/10, Diana Spatz <dsp...@geds-to-phds.org> wrote: |
|
Vivian Hain
| Hi Laurianne, I no longer work for LIFETIME as of 01/25/10. Please contact Dawn for more information regarding Sacramento. Thank you, Vivian L. Hain --- On Tue, 3/9/10, Laurianne Reardon <reard...@yahoo.com> wrote: |
Diana Spatz
FYI per the highlighted text in my email below you have until March 25th to submit your statements.
Diana
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Subject: RE: House hearing on TANF/welfare reform this Thursday 3/11in
DC - stories from parents and children needed
Hi
folks,
I just called D.C., and although the hearing has already adjourned we're
allowed to still submit comment as they'll still be compiling.
Please pass it on.
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/singlepages.aspx?NewsID=10951
Best wishes. -cw
CC: cw4...@hotmail.com; bay-area-califor...@googlegroups.com;
CCC-CA...@LISTSERV.CCCNEXT.NET; thursda...@yahoogroups.com;
cap-ba...@googlegroups.com; chico...@sbcglobal.net;
andreac...@mujeresunidas.net; lit...@hotmail.com
Subject: House hearing on TANF/welfare reform this Thursday 3/11in DC - stories
from parents and children needed
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