With the ten year anniversary of welfare reform and the Reauthorization of TANF in February 2006, this article outlines States' current regulations prior to implementing the changes under Reauthorization. Under the new regulations, most States will have to greatly increase the work participation among their caseloads to avoid financial penalties. Authors review the current plans of state TANF policies for the ways a family can get on welfare, stay on, and leave assistance.

This brief from the National Center for Children in Poverty reviews the last ten years of welfare reform and provides policy challenges upcoming for the future. While there have been "undeniable successes," the author reviews important factors for moving forward, such as increasing earnings, addressing clients with multiple barriers, and focusing on outcomes for children.

From the Brookings Institution, this article reviews the nationwide spending decisions for TANF block grants, with a focus on Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Results indicate that all three States spent more funds on providing services and other benefits than on the actual cash assistance.

Between 1996 and May 2006, the TANF caseload has decreased 75%, leaving 65,000 families on the welfare caseload as of May 2006. While Texas has experienced a high rate of caseload decline, statistics show that many families have left welfare for reasons other than employment, including sanctioning due to noncompliance.

From the School of Social Work at the University of California–Berkley, this resource offers different perspectives of poverty throughout social science disciplines, including Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, and Anthropology. Additionally, this paper provides views of poverty held by students entering and exiting graduate social work programs, and provides an overview of staff training around welfare reform at a local social service agency.

This brief, from the Heritage Institute, outlines the objectives of the TANF program and progress towards meeting its goals. In the past ten years of welfare reform, authors argue that the legislation was a success in reducing welfare dependence and increasing employment; reducing child poverty; and reducing out-of-wedlock childbearing and strengthening marriage.

The welfare reform of 1996 granted states more flexibility in spending for TANF by receiving block grant funding. This policy brief from the National Poverty Center reviews TANF spending, and found that state spending on public welfare programs increased from 19.4 percent in 1980 to 26.9 percent in 2003, which is attributed to medical vendor payments for Medicaid.

From Mathematica Policy Research, this report outlines the implementation of the TANF in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and provides the different approaches across the States. Authors examine how the approaches have affected caseload declines, as well as the employment among their caseloads.

This report, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, provides strategies for implementing state-funded TANF programs to better serve the families on the caseload. Authors offer information on why a solely state-funded program is beneficial as well as a target population for such services.

This article reviews how the three states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have fared under the 1996 welfare reform. Researchers from Mathematica Policy Research, provide information on how the policy changes have affected the TANF population with regards to short and long term outcomes.