P&P August 2015

director‘s memo By Tracy Wareing Evans

Direct from Our Members Pathways to Create Opportunities and Advance Equity

A s we approach the 20th anni- versary of welfare reform, there is a heightened national discussion of the growing income gap in this country and what it will take to create opportunity and advance equity for all Americans, no matter what their zip code. The House Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee has recently undertaken a series of hearings to understand how we can better address poverty, strengthen work engagement, and build the capacity of individuals and communi- ties. In late April, I had the opportunity to communicate to the Subcommittee our members’ insights on how we can more effectively connect Americans to the workforce and to a sustainable career path. I joined five other pan- elists in a strikingly consistent call for Congress to modernize TANF by moving from “participation that counts to engagement that matters.” Given the importance of this national policy debate, I thought it was important to provide Policy & Practice readers with the text of my oral comments to the Subcommittee: OralTestimony to House Ways and Means Subcommittee on April 30, 2015 Our Framework —Mr. Chairman, your description for today’s hearing expresses this Subcommittee’s inten- tion to “examine ways to make the federal welfare program work more efficiently and more effectively as a hand up from poverty, not a hand out.” We, too, are interested in what evidence tells us actually works and how public investments can return

progress. We must support changes in the broad human service system that more effectively deliver “engagement that matters,” ultimately getting parents into sustainable jobs with wage progression and advancement opportunities. Engagement —At its core, TANF was designed to help low-income parents build a pathway out of poverty and toward economic security for their family while assuring the safety and well-being of their children. Our members believe that TANF partici- pants who can move directly into a job should have the opportunity to do so. Our members also know that most TANF participants are families in crisis and face various obstacles that require targeted and appropriate supports to become work-ready, get a job, and stay in the workforce over time. Indeed, their very presence in the TANF

real and lasting value. We urge the Subcommittee to look beyond TANF. As laid out in our members’ Pathways agenda, success in the workplace is a function of not just TANF and other human service programs, but a wide segment of the broader community, including the education and training system, the private sector, nonprofit groups, and other government agencies. In today’s rapidly evolving world, neither TANF recipients, nor anyone else needing employment, are likely to succeed without the collective and aligned effort of all these sectors. What TANF Needs —My remarks about TANF today are provided within this broader context. While our members do recommend some changes in TANF’s details (as noted in my written statement), their overarching concern is with the full workforce engagement system and how its com- ponents must be better aligned and coordinated if we are to make real

See Director’s Memo on page 32

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August 2015   Policy&Practice