Families with Disabilities Position Paper

Utah Reauthorization Project

P. O. Box 270090 Fruitland, UT 84027-0090
(435) 548-2630 FAX (435) 548-2438 wrw@ubtanet.com
www.slcap.org/UREAP/ureap.htm

Reauthorization Issues for
Families with Disabilities

Position Paper

Finalized June 5, 2002

The Utah Reauthorization Project (UREAP) seeks common ground recommendations for the next phase of welfare reform. UREAP is described in the final pages of this Position Paper, including its goals, principles, and membership.

More welfare and former welfare families are working and there are success stories, but not everyone has fared well. Research in Utah and other states uniformly shows that disabilities-of both parents and children-play a significant role in the lives of anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of TANF families. A survey of studies⁽¹⁾ concerningTANF families found that,

from one-fourth to one-third of current TANF recipients have a serious mental health problem;
one-fifth have physical impairments that are barriers to employment;
from one-fifth to one-third have learning disabilities;
as many as 20 percent have a substance abuse problem.

Disabilities also affect the lives of families who have left TANF,

among those not working, one-fifth to two-fifths say they cannot work due to a disability, health condition, or illness;
one-fourth to one-half of parents who have been sanctioned off of TANF say they were unable to comply with the state's welfare rules because of a disability, health condition, or illness;
learning disabilities or low intelligence has caused difficulties in understanding and complying with the complicated program rules.

Although less is known about children with disabilities in TANF families, it is clear that at least the shortage of specialized child care for children with disabilities and child behavior problems greatly complicate the efforts of TANF parents to comply with work and other participation requirements. Although families without disabilities often face substantial barriers to complying with the new welfare system, those with disabilities are among the most vulnerable to having to cope with the challenges of other families, plus special difficulties related to their disability or those of their children. The sometimes restrictive rules and definitions for some services for people with disabilities may also leave some TANF parents without resources they need.

In April 2002, Reauthorization discussions are beginning to move quickly. President Bush released a proposal, "Working Toward Independence," in late February and many of those ideas are embodied in H.R. 4090, "Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2002," introduced on April 9 by Representative Wallace Herger (R-CA), Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. There are plans to "mark up" this bill during the week of April 14. It is known that several members of the Senate Finance Committee are working to produce a bi-partisan bill and mark it up by the end of May. Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch is a key player in this process.

In this position paper, we urge Congress to consider carefully the reauthorization issues below and the implications they may have for families with disabilities, and ask that our recommendations be taken into account.

Anti-Discrimination

We support the Tripartisan group working in the Senate Finance Committee in its Consensus Provision on Anti-Discrimination as follows: "We require GAO to conduct a review of how states have complied with the requirements of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Section 504 of the Rehab Act of 1973, the ADA, and Civil Rights, as well as make recommendations for improving compliance.

Proposals to increase work participation requirements for families and work participation rate requirements for states

Under the 1996 welfare reform law, 50 percent of TANF families must work at least 30 hours per week in order for states to avoid financial penalties for failure to meet work participation rates. Utah and other states have met those rates, in part because during most of the first five years of welfare reform, the economy has been exceptionally strong. However, the Bush Administration and Representative Herger want to raise these requirements from two directions: TANF parents must work or participate in work-related activities for 40 hours per week, and by FY 2007, the percentage of case that is so engaged must reach 70 percent.

Implications for Families with Disability Issues: Effective assessment and involving families with disabilities in appropriate self-sufficiency activities can be a powerful means to meet their needs and provide positive interventions. With appropriate services and accommodations, parents with disabilities of various kinds can succeed in the workplace. Frequently, though, they are not prepared to work or engage in work-related activities as a first step. Other interventions and supports are needed first. Utah's Single Parent Employment Demonstration (SPED) Program was founded on a solid understanding of this fact and Utah's TANF program-the Family Employment Program (FEP)-has been able to continue that approach. But, higher work participation rate requirements for states are likely to exert more pressure to funnel more people into "work first" circumstances. Depending on their circumstances, this may set them up for failure.

We therefore urge Congress to . . .

1.    resist increasing work participation requirements for families and work participation rates for states beyond the current law. Acknowledging that work is the cornerstone of welfare reform, the first five years of the program have revealed family barriers to work that call for refinement and more effective strategies. Finding ways to assist effectively families with disabilities who cannot immediately cope with "work first" requirements must occur first, before increasing the pressures on families and states
2.    resist provisions that would reduce the flexibility of states to design programs and pathways for families that will facilitate their self-sufficiency, including those with special barriers.
3.    allow states and Tribal organizations to individualize employment plans, based on the results of an effective assessment, to include a broad range of work-related and other activities that are determined likely to assist the individual family to progress towards self-reliance. Families that satisfactorily participate in activities in their plans for 30 hours per week should be counted for purposes of state work participation rates.

Child Care funding increases to meet the needs of families with disabled children

Child care specialists approached Welfare Reform Reauthorization with great hopes to build on a funding increase in 1996, especially to address well-known shortages in certain types of care, e.g., after-hours and week-end care, and care for ill children and children with disabilities. However, despite the increases in hours and percentages of family participant work requirements, neither the Bush Administration nor Representative Herger propose additional child care funding for any type of care. Representative Herger authorizes an increase in funds that can be shifted from TANF to child care from 30 to 50 percent, but this is only a shift, and promises to leave other important programs and supports, such as those needed to assist families with difficult and multiple barriers to employment, without adequate funding.

Implications for TANF Families with Disability Issues: Even without enlarging the pool of TANF families who will need child care for a greater number of hours per week, adequate funding to increase the supply of specialized child care is needed. Proposed participation increases are likely to put specialized child care farther out of reach.

We therefore urge Congress to . . .

1. resist legislative provisions that would increase pressure on the child care system without providing adequate funding to pay for the higher need
2. appropriate funding to cover the cost of child care that is needed, but currently cannot be afforded, i.e., care for ill children and children with disabilities, infants and toddlers, and children with parents doing shift or weekend work.

The need for focus on strategies to assist families with serious and multiple barriers to self-reliance.

The experiences of the first five years of the new welfare system have shown the need for approaches that will assist families with serious and multiple barriers to self-reliance to overcome their problems. Caseload reductions have freed up resources for states to begin to develop and implement strategies, but it is essential that states have sufficient flexibility to design approaches that will respond to local realities. President Bush's proposal institutes "universal engagement," wherein all families are required to be involved in primarily work-related activities by 60 days after enrollment. This substantially reduces the ability of states to implement programs aimed at addressing barriers that surface during early assessment and that will need attention before employment is realistic.

Implications for TANF Families with Disability Issues: Effectively, Utah statute already requires "universal engagement" for TANF families, but thus far, Utah's Department of Workforce Services (DWS) has been able to instruct employment counselors to individualize the plans of TANF parents, so that activities and interventions in their plans respond to their specific barriers to employment. Mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, and other family stabilization efforts can be incorporated into a family's plan. If this practice must be diminished or stopped because of a change in the federal law or if the length of time a family can be involved in rehabilitative activities is restricted, families with disabilities will have little chance to build the foundation they need to succeed.

We therefore urge Congress to . . .

1.    resist legislative proposals that would reduce the flexibility of states and Tribal organizations to develop and implement strategies to help families with various types of barriers, including disabilities, to receive interventions directly related to increasing their ability to become self-reliant.
2.    offer states and tribal organizations demos to create and test programs to assist families with multiple barriers to employment and self-sufficiency.
3.    encourage states and tribal organizations to experiment with programs that create jobs for TANF parents in special circumstances, including those that place TANF parents unable to find private sector jobs into public sector employment.
4.    strengthen requirements for initial assessment to increase the chances that personal and family barriers will be discovered early and interventions can be provided in time to yield results before time limits are reached.
5.    offer states and Tribal organizations demos or incentives to develop and implement strategies to coordinate services and resources to TANF families with multiple barriers.
6.    allow states and Tribal organizations to define "work activity" and to tailor "work participation" of families they serve to the specific needs of the families, such that they are able to work through their employment barriers and increase their earning power.

Participation problems and sanctions

Utah and nearly two-thirds of other states impose "full family sanctions" when families fail to comply with program requirements. This means that financial assistance to the whole family is withdrawn. Very little is known about the circumstances of families who have been sanctioned for failure to comply with program rules, but what research exists strongly suggests that most are not working and many are not faring well.

Implications for Families with a Disability Issue: State studies have shown that some sanctioned have a physical or mental disability that would have reduced their ability to understand program requirements or to find and retain a job. Utah-specific research indicates that, among families who have left TANF because of a sanction, there is a sizable proportion that have some type of disability or health problem that may have been at least an indirect factor in causing the sanction to be given. The fact that this occurs in Utah is cause for special concern, because Utah has one of the most cautious and detailed conciliation policies in the nation that should prevent sanctions from taking place under these circumstances.

We therefore urge Congress to . . .

1.    allow states and Tribal organizations to broaden the range of allowable activities to help address the needs of families who have been sanctioned and longer-term recipients, so that more options will exist to enable them to return to the program and begin participating.
2.    ensure that states and Tribal organizations have adequate resources to develop and implement processes that identify hidden family disabilities and other barriers (including in families that have been sanctioned), track families who have difficulty navigating the "work-first" TANF environment, and develop processes that link the most disadvantaged families with appropriate, expert services.
3.    ensure that states and Tribal organizations guard due process in imposing sanctions and time limits.

Health care coverage for parents in former TANF families

Many jobs TANF leavers have do not offer health care benefits they can afford; some do not offer any benefits at all. Under the current law, parents can be covered for 12 months under the Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) program. (Utah has a waiver allowing a second 12 month TMA period, for a total of 24 months.) TMA must be reauthorized this year-which is important-but even with TMA, the short time of eligibility ends with many parents facing health care costs for themselves alone.

Implications for Families with Disability Issues: The absence of health care coverage for working parents is a serious problem for all parents. For people with disabilities who may have greater health care needs, this barrier can be insurmountable.

We therefore urge Congress to . . .

reauthorize TMA and provide additional funds for additional types of transitional medical services.

Parents and families whose circumstances may preclude their becoming self-reliant, either within their time limit or ever

Utah and other state research has found that a large percentage of TANF families have some kind of disability present, either a parent or child, and although with appropriate supports, many may eventually be able to be employed, others may take longer than time limits allow and others may never be able to become self-sufficient. The provision in the 1996 welfare law allowing states to exempt 20 percent of their average annual caseload from time limits appears to be inadequate, especially over time as progressively larger proportions of caseloads are made up of families with severe and multiple barriers.

Implications for Families with Disability Issues: Utah continues to engage people in activities, even after they have been extended beyond time limits, such that some temporary barriers can be removed and their extension returned to the pool for use by another family. However, an unknown number of extensions must be given to families who, because of their disability, are unlikely to ever be able to become self-supporting, even if they cannot qualify for the stringent eligibility requirements of Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Under the current law, these families must first exhaust their time limits on the regular FEP program, and then be given extensions that will be utilized over the very long term.

We therefore urge Congress to . . .

1.    allow states to approach severe barriers to self-sufficiency by pausing the time clock for such families as long as such barriers exist. This would maintain their eligibility for needed assistance without requiring that they first run out of time and then be given an extension that could be of potentially greater benefit to a family with less severe barriers.
2.    encourage states and Tribal organizations to allow exemptions to time limits to families with members who have a disability.
3.    give states and Tribal organizations the flexibility to respond in areas where resource shortages for families with barriers exist, e.g. pause the welfare time clock when appropriate interventions are unavailable.

_____________________________________________________________________________

About the Utah Reauthorization Project (UREAP)

Utah has a long history of considering how to help welfare families become self-reliant. The Utah Reauthorization Project (UREAP) is a broad-based effort to educate state and national decision-makers and the public about needed refinements to the current welfare system, to muster congressional support for common ground solutions that will help stabilize vulnerable families, and to enhance efforts to address pverty in our state and nation.

UREAP has as its vision of the next phase of welfare reform strengthening our nation by building families' and individuals' economic and social well-being. We seek to be involved in realizing this vision as Congress considers the 2002 Reauthorization of major pieces of the 1996 welfare law, as well as related measures, in the intervening months and beyond. It is appropriate at this time to consider what has been learned since 1996 and look ahead to new, common ground public policy options that provide opportunities to go beyond reducing caseloads and promoting low-wage work. This will require refinements to the law so that welfare reform effectively provides eligible families and individuals with the services they need and assists all vulnerable people to become as self-reliant as possible.

UREAP will support and encourage provisions which:

set a clear and consistent goal to reduce poverty.

meettemporary and emergency needs.

facilitate job advancement and increased earnings through training or skill-development for those who can move toward self-reliance.

sustain basic needs and dignity for those families and individuals who are not able to achieve self-reliance.

afford families and individuals with the opportunities and resources they need to address their barriers to achieving economic independence before they leave the welfare system.

support the efforts of families and individuals to move forward.

make work pay.

provide necessary supports to families and individuals as they transition from welfare to work.

emphasize the care and well-being of children, as they are the majority of welfare recipients.

include appropriate flexibility and encouragement to allow states, localities, and Indian Tribes to run programs that are responsive to special populations and circumstances.

provide increased or at least present levels of funding to support necessary programs and services to effect positive outcomes for families and individuals.

finance welfare reform without resulting in harm to other vulnerable groups.

UREAP Member Organizations

Active Re-Entry, Price, (Southeastern Utah)
Box Elder Family Support Center, Brigham City, (Box Elder County)
Bringing Hope to Single Moms Foundation, Logan, (Cache and Box Elder Counties)
Community Action Services, Provo, (Utah, Wasatch, and summit Counties)
Disabled Rights Action Coalition (DRAC), Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Family Support and Children's Justice Center of Carbon and Emery Counties, Price
International Rescue Committee, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
JEDI for Women, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Legislative Coalition for People with Disabilities, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Mental Health Association in Utah, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
New Hope Refugee and Multicultural Center, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake City)
Options for Independence, Logan, (Northern Utah)
Peace and Justice Commission, Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
People Helping People, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake County)
Salt Lake Community Action Program (SLCAP), Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake and Tooele Counties)
Tri-County Independent Living Center, Ogden, (Weber, Davis, and Morgan Counties)
United Way Executive Directors Association (UWEDA), Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake County)
Utah Children, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Utah Community Action Program Association (UCAPA), (statewide)
Utah Issues, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Utahns Against Hunger, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Valley Mental Health, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake and Tooele Counties)
Walsh & Weathers Research and Policy Studies, Fruitland
Your Community Connection, Ogden, (Weber County)

Membership list as of April 12, 2002

The URL for this position paper is www.slcap.org/UREAP/UREAPDisabilpospr.htm. For more information on the Utah Reauthorization Project (UREAP), please go to http://www.slcap.org/UREAP/ureap.htm or contact Shirley Weathers and Bill Walsh, Walsh & Weathers Research and Policy Studies, P. O. Box 270090, Fruitland, UT 84027-0090, (435) 548-2630, FAX (435) 548-2438, email wrw@ubtanet.com.

1. Eileen P. Sweeney, Recent Studies Indicate That Many Parents Who Are Current or Former Welfare Recipients Have Disabilities or Other Medical Conditions , Washington, D.C.: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, February 29, 2000.