[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 76 (Tuesday, June 11, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S5371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself and Mr. Corzine):
  S. 2610. A bill to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to include efforts to address barriers to employment as a work 
activity under the temporary assistance to needy families program, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Chance to 
Succeed Act of 2002 on behalf of myself and my colleagues Senator 
Corzine.
  The research is clear that many of the parents still receiving 
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, cash assistance have 
barriers, often multiple barriers, that make it harder, sometime 
impossible, for them to work. These barriers include mental and 
physical impairments including learning disabilities, domestic and 
sexual violence, substance abuse, limited English proficiency, and 
hopelessness. In some cases, parents are caring for a child with 
disabilities and this inhibits their ability to meet the State's work 
requirements.
  In my own State of Minnesota, we are beginning to see compelling 
evidence that many families receiving TANF, have significant barriers 
to employment. A recent study done by Lifetrack Resources looked at 
welfare recipients participating in a transitional jobs program. This 
research found that individuals participating in the program had an 
average of seven barriers to employment, ranging from a lack of 
reliable transportation to limited education to domestic violence 
issues. Welfare offices in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties, where the bulk 
of families approaching their 5 year lifetime limit live, found similar 
results as they have begun testing TANF recipients for learning 
problems, mental illness, physical limitations and other disabilities. 
They found that: about two-thirds of the parents in each county have 
problems severe enough to qualify for benefits extension; In Ramsey 
county, testers who have worked with several hundred parents, have 
found the average IQ for English speakers was 82. An IQ of 100 is 
considered average; and Hennepin County found that 24 percent of a 
sample of 66 parents reaching their time limits had a mental illness.
  With additional help, many of these families in Minnesota and 
elsewhere, will be better able to maximize their potential and move 
toward greater financial independence. In order to be able to better 
help these families address such barriers and move toward work, States 
need to have in place policies and procedures that help identify these 
families and the barriers they face and provide them with the services 
and supports they will need to eventually succeed in the workplace. 
There is no need for these policies and procedures to be identical--one 
size does not fit all for states or families. But, the failure to have 
any such procedures results in families with barriers being 
inappropriately sanctioned while also unable to work. It also means 
that States are not using their limited TANF resources most efficiently 
to ensure accurate matching of families' barriers with program to help 
to address those barriers. Inadequate screening and assessment impedes 
states' ability to better tailor their programs and the individual's 
responsibility plan to meet a family's needs.

  Some States have already taken steps along the lines proposed in this 
bill. The purpose of the provisions in this bill is to put into place a 
skeletal structure in each State, leaving the States with flexibility 
in terms of exactly how the various provisions are implemented, will 
help to ensure that both states and families have the tools they need 
to ultimately ensure that more low-income families succeed in the 
workplace. The Chance to Succeed Act encourages states to better serve 
the needs of TANF recipients with barriers to employment by: giving 
states broad flexibility to place TANF recipients in barrier-removal 
activities and count recipients participating in such activities toward 
federal work participation rates for at least three months; improving 
service delivery for families with barriers by developing a screening, 
assessment and service delivery process; providing technical assistance 
to states to develop model practices, standards and procedures for 
screening, assessment and addressing barriers to move individuals into 
employment; and providing funding for state-level advisory panels to 
improve state policies and procedures for assisting families with 
barriers to work; helping TANF recipients with barriers to employment 
move into the workforce by creating personal responsibility plans that 
outline an employment goal for moving an individual into stable 
employment; the obligations of the individual to work toward becoming 
and remaining employed in the private sector; the individual's long-
term career goals and the specific work experience, education, or 
training needed to reach them; and the services the State will offer 
based on screening and assessment; and developing sanction, 
conciliation and follow-up procedures that address barriers and improve 
compliance.
  TANF recipients want to work and be able to provide for themselves 
and their children. To be poor in this country is difficult enough, but 
to be poor and on welfare carries with it a stigma that makes life 
nearly impossible. States like Minnesota and others are only now coming 
to understand the true depth and extent of the kinds of barriers to 
employment that many TANF recipients face. It takes a tremendous 
commitment of effort and resources to provide individuals with the 
services and supports they need to address these barriers so that they 
may successfully transition into the workforce. It is critical that our 
federal TANF policies do all that is possible to help those states that 
are already making this kind of commitment. I believe this bill does 
just that, and I urge each of my colleagues to support it. I look 
forward to working with my colleagues on the Finance Committee and 
others to ensure that the provisions in this bill are included in the 
Senate TANF reauthorization bill.
                                 ______