TANF WORK GROUP

MINUTES

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

 

Members Present: Representatives Mark Larson and Ann Pugh; Senators Diane Snelling and

Jeanette White; Joe Patrissi, Deputy Commissioner for Economic Services, Department for

Children and Families; Karen Lafayette, Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council; Maureen

O’Reilly, Vermont Legal Aid

 

Members Absent:   None

 

Also Present:          Legislative and Joint Fiscal staff, members of the

                                    Administration, the press, and the public

 

Recording:               CD 2006 – 1, 2

 

 

Convene, Elect Chair, Vice Chair

 

Robin Lunge, Legislative Counsel, convened the meeting at 1:15 p.m. in the Skylight Conference Room, Osgood Building, Waterbury, Vermont.  Work Group members unanimously agreed to elect Representative Mark Larson to serve as chair.

 

Representative Larson welcomed the TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) Work Group members, and others attending the meeting and asked each person to introduce him or her self. 

 

 

Review Enabling Legislation (Act 215, Sec. 296); Overview of Reach Up, Federal Changes to TANF and Potential Effects

 

Documents distributed:

 

Robin Lunge, Legislative Counsel, reviewed Act 215, Section 296, the enabling legislation for the TANF Work Group.  She said the Work Group was created to review the changes in the federal law governing TANF, assess the impact on Vermont’s programs funded with TANF dollars, and to develop a recommendation for legislative action with a report to the General Assembly no later than January, 2007.  The Work Group may meet up to four times and cease to exist upon adjournment or the first of the year of the 2007 legislative session.

 

Robin Lunge asked if there were any questions regarding two background documents legislative staff had emailed to Work Group members prior to the first meeting:  a TANF issue brief and a Reach Up Report issued annually.

 

Robin Lunge then provided background on Vermont’s TANF-funded program and reviewed TANF federal changes.  The most significant changes in federal law are the calculation method of the state’s work participation rate, the increase in the rate, and the verification requirements.

 

Department for Children and Families Update on other related Committees, Process, Timelines and Create a Plan for the Study – Work Group Discussion

 

Documents distributed:

 

Steve Dale, Commissioner, Department for Children and Families, Agency of Human Services, said Joe Patrissi, Deputy Commissioner for Economic Services would serve on the TANF Work Group.  Commissioner Dale said he had just attended a national conference of all TANF administrators who, with federal officials, worked through the new rules and TANF changes.  He said there were significant financial implications, but that the conversation should be about people, not just federal rules and the goal should be to end poverty as we know it.

 

Deputy Commissioner Patrissi provided background on how the Department of Children and Families had been proceeding with understanding the changes needed to make with the TANF program in anticipation of the new rules to achieve higher work participation rates and get people out of poverty.  He said he and Representative Larson had just come back from a regional hearing regarding the proposed federal rules.  He said the Department was reviewing Casey Foundation studies as well as other resources.

 

Representative Larson said he had raised the issue of the federal rules going into effect October 1, the penalties, and the fact Vermont and many other states’ legislatures will not be meeting prior to the new rules going into effect.  At the regional hearing, Sec. Horn suggested that Vermont should look at the “reasonable cause” provision because the state will have difficulty meeting the federal timeline due to the fact that we have a part-time legislature and might need statutory changes to comply.

 

Representative Larson said driving factors in the federal rules were loss of case load reduction; tighter definitions for work activities; and people who weren’t included before will have to be included.  He said the reduced flexibility was a real concern.

 

Representative Ann Pugh said the purpose or the Work Group was to deal with the unknown.

 

Deputy Commissioner Patrissi said the Department had assembled a Reach Up Redesign Work Group which would reflect the need for field input and to keep the emphasis on local control and autonomy in service delivery.  He said this larger Work Group would help to inform the TANF Work Group.

 

Senator Jeanette White asked if research had been done to assess states in similar situations.  Robin Lunge said she had been in contact with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and would continue to get information and try to have an NCSL staffperson at the next meeting in person or by telephone.

 

Paula Gottwik, Senior Policy and Regulatory Attorney-Analyst, Planning, Policy and Regulation, Department of Children and Families, Agency of Human Resources, discussed “reasonable cause” relating to waiver opportunities and penalties.  She said states can request a “reasonable cause” finding and/or corrective compliance and present a plan.  She said there may be “reasonable cause” that put Vermont in a unique situation.  She said the first step would be to comment on the federal proposed rule by the end of August.  She said she had also drafted a Vermont draft rule which she would provide to legislative staff for distribution to Work Group members.

 

Commissioner Dale said the Department of Children and Families would do everything they could to move the situation forward and completely restructure the program by January 2009.

 

Deputy Commissioner Patrissi said there might be an opportunity to make joint comments to the federal government with other states.

 

Representative Larson said it was important to concentrate on concrete tasks, in the long term what the program would look like, but now to focus on comments for the end of August, a verification plan for the end of September, support of exploration of “reasonable cause,” and legislative recommendations for January.

 

Diana Carminati reviewed Reach Up program caseload and trends. The state is currently spending more than required for maintenance of effort (MOE). The state may be able to maintain some of the desirable features of the Reach Up program and the Post-Secondary Education program by shifting spending to non-MOE state only dollars.

 

Paula Gottwik and Diana Carminati said they would assist the Work Group and be helpful in any way they could.

 

Discuss Future Agenda Items, Meeting Dates, Time, Place

 

The Work Group agreed at the next meeting to assess how to shift thinking, have representative of larger Work Group report on their work, NCSL, Casey Family Foundation, look at what Vermont can use TANF money for, what penalties look like and how numbers are affected.

 

Members discussed other information needed and future meeting topics, including:  identifying options the state can take to maintain the Reach Up program, while complying with federal provisions; creating a diversion program and the effects of this; determining how best to use TANF money, to count people, to include in “maintenance of effort” (MOE); reviewing the Department for Children and Families plan for 2007 and 2008; learning more about the verification procedures; determining whether Vermont definitions of activities meets the federal definitions; creating a state funded separate program for two parent households; and reviewing the Maximus study of the previous demonstration project.

 

The Work Group agreed to meet Monday, August 21, beginning at 9:00 a.m., in Room 10 at the State House, Montpelier. 

 

The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

/s/ Robin Lunge and /s/ Rachel Levin

Legislative Council