Since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, the system by which financial assistance is distributed to low-income families has been drastically altered. The replacement of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant and the devolution of this cash assistance program from the federal to the state level have caused an unprecedented level of change in the world of welfare.

The passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 authorized the Welfare-to-Work (WtW) grant program to fund employment-related services for hard-to-serve welfare clients. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), was passed with the goal of creating a more coordinated and responsive workforce development system via the one-stop service center approach.

Additional Resources on TANF Policy