Welfare Reform: HHS Should Exercise Oversight to Help Ensure TANF Work Participation Is Measured Consistently across States
GAO-05-821
Published: Aug 19, 2005. Publicly Released: Aug 29, 2005.
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Highlights
The debate over reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant has focused on work requirements and brought attention to the measure of TANF work participation. The measure is used to assess states' performance and determine whether a state is subject to penalty for not meeting TANF work requirements. The 2003 work participation rates ranged from 9 to 88 percent for the 50 states based on data they submit to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). To help Congress understand these rates, GAO looked at (1) how selected states are defining the categories of work activities, (2) whether selected states have implemented internal controls over the work participation data, and (3) what guidance and oversight HHS has provided states.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | HHS should issue regulations to specify the types of activities that can and cannot be included under the 12 categories of work activities. |
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171) reauthorized Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and required the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide additional direction and oversight regarding how to count and verify allowable work activities. As a result, HHS issued an Interim Final Rule (Fed. Reg. vol. 71, No. 125, June 29, 2006 pp. 37454-37483) amending the TANF regulations to further define the 12 categories of work activities (45 CFR 261.2). In the preamble to the Interim Final Rule, HHS included a detailed discussion of the type of activities that can and cannot be included under the various categories.
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| Department of Health and Human Services | HHS should issue regulations to have HHS oversee states' definitions of activities under the 12 categories. |
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171) reauthorized Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and required the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide additional direction and oversight regarding how to count and verify allowable work activities. As a result, HHS issued an Interim Final Rule (Fed. Reg. vol. 71, No. 125, June 29, 2006, pp. 37454-37483) amending the TANF regulations to require states to submit a Work Verification Plan to HHS that will, among other things, include a description demonstrating how the activity meets the relevant definition of the activity in the regulations. The regulations also state that HHS will review states' Work Verification Plans to determine if they will result in accurate reporting of work participation information. (45 CFR 261.62)
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| Department of Health and Human Services | HHS should issue regulations to set forth criteria for counting actual hours of activity and whether there are circumstances under which scheduled hours may be counted. |
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171) reauthorized Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and required the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide additional direction and oversight regarding how to count and verify allowable work activities. As a result, HHS issued an Interim Final Rule (Fed. Reg. vol. 71, No. 125, June 29, 2006, pp. 37454-37483) amending the TANF regulations to specify that states must report actual hours, not scheduled hours, of activity (45 CFR 261.60).
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| Department of Health and Human Services | HHS should develop and implement a plan for working with states to improve internal controls over work participation data. This plan could make use of existing resources and include steps such as (1) working through its regional offices to identify cost-effective internal controls being used by states, (2) using regional offices and existing sponsored conferences to share information with states on these internal controls and to emphasize the importance of internal controls, and (3) obtaining information from states about their experiences using the National Directory of New Hires to determine if it has potential for helping states collect more complete work participation data and if there are any useful practices to be shared with other states. |
To implement the increased focus on state internal controls for TANF work rate data specified in the 2006 TANF reauthorization law, HHS issued interim final regulations in June 2006 that required each state to provide a work verification plan that includes a description of how the state will ensures its work participation data are reliable. The final regulations were issued in February 2008 and became effective on October 1, 2008. Moreover, HHS now has authority to penalize states that fail to maintain adequate procedures for ensuring the accuracy of their work participation data. Our June 2007 review of the early implementation of TANF reauthorization in selected states found that HHS was reviewing state work verification plans and working with states to ensure they are in compliance. In addition, many states are now using the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) to find unreported employment and improve the accuracy of participation rate reporting. According to HHS, using NDNH allows states to uncover hours of participation that they were previously unaware of, as well as ensuring that those receiving benefits are eligible for the amount they receive each month.
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Block grantsData collectionData integritystate relationsInternal controlsPerformance measuresPublic assistance programsReporting requirementsState-administered programsStatistical dataWelfare recipientsProgram evaluation