http://www.clasp.org/issues/rss/publications.xml?type=temporary_assistance Resources and Publications from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) en-us Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:39:08 -0500 info@clasp.org webmaster@clasp.org 40 Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0500 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=1246&list=publications The Work Supports Newsletter is a monthly update that summarizes CLASP's work on safety net programs that include cash assistance (TANF), nutrition supports (SNAP), refundable tax credits, health insurance, child support enforcement and child care subsidies. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1246&list=publications Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=1242&list=publications The Work Supports Newsletter is a monthly update that summarizes CLASP's work on safety net programs that include cash assistance (TANF), nutrition supports (SNAP), refundable tax credits, health insurance, child support enforcement and child care subsidies. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1242&list=publications Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=1229&list=publications The Work Supports Newsletter is a monthly update that summarizes CLASP's work on safety net programs that include cash assistance (TANF), nutrition supports (SNAP), refundable tax credits, health insurance, child support enforcement and child care subsidies. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1229&list=publications Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=1239&list=publications A new paper from the National Transitional Jobs Network and CLASP provides strategies and makes recommendations on leveraging and blending multiple sources of funding to support subsidized employment programs. In addition to highlighting the opportunities to use block grant funding, from both TANF and Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), the paper identifies efforts to fund these jobs by averting future expenses associated with prisons and other corrections measures and by leveraging public contracting and bidding opportunities. The webinar is also available. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1239&list=publications Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/A-Guide-for-HPOG-Programs-March-2013-Final.pdf Healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors in our economy, and there are many jobs in this sector that require fewer than 4 years of college education, have high demand, and offer good pay. However, low-income workers often face barriers to accessing the education and training they need to enter these jobs, including lack of information, poor basic skills, confusing and poorly aligned training programs, cost of training, and need for supportive services, such as child care and transportation. The Heath Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), authorized by section 5507 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA; Public Law 111-148), address this issue by supporting models for providing education, training, and support services to enable recipients of cash assistance under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other low-income individuals to obtain well-paying jobs in high-demand healthcare occupations. The HPOG program is one of several provisions of ACA aimed at supporting training for the healthcare workforce of the future. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/A-Guide-for-HPOG-Programs-March-2013-Final.pdf Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0600 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=1217&list=publications CLASP is inaugurating this Work Supports e-newsletter to highlight the efforts of CLASP and our colleague organizations to help ensure low-income families get the support they need to stay employed and provide for their families. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1217&list=publications Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 /admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-WM-Testimony-TANF-Work-Feb-2013.pdf This is the testimony that Elizabeth Lower-Basch delivered before the Ways and Means Human Resource Subcommittee regarding TANF Work Requirements and Waivers. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-WM-Testimony-TANF-Work-Feb-2013.pdf Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0600 /admin/site/publications/files/TANF-Reauthorization-Goals.pdf This updated Policy Brief argues that poverty alleviation and prevention of material hardship and creation of effective pathways to economic opportunity should be the goals of TANF reauthorization and recommends program changes that would more effectively promote these goals. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/TANF-Reauthorization-Goals.pdf Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/Helping-TANF-Recipients-Overcome-Addiction.pdf This brief aims to provide updated information on the range of state policies and highlights some of the promising approaches that states are using to address substance abuse by TANF recipients. It is based primarily on a recent CLASP-commissioned survey conducted by students at George Washington's School of Public Policy, as well as interviews they conducted with state TANF program administrators. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Helping-TANF-Recipients-Overcome-Addiction.pdf Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/520.pdf Updated October 2012. Legislators in a number of states have proposed to test all TANF recipients for drug use. This updated brief explains that random drug testing may be unconstitutional, and is a costly and ineffective way to identify individuals in need of substance abuse treatment. Screening, targeted testing programs, and enhanced treatment options are a better approach to helping TANF families affected by substance abuse. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/520.pdf Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-comments-to-HHS-on-EBT-blocking.pdf A new law requires states to restrict access to TANF assistance from ATMs and POS devices in certain locations. This document responds to HHS' request for comments on how to implement this provision. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-comments-to-HHS-on-EBT-blocking.pdf Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-Ways-and-Means-State-Spending-and-WPR-May-2012.pdf CLASP submitted Testimony for the Record for the House Ways and Means Committee's hearing on State TANF Spending and its Impact on Work Requirements. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-Ways-and-Means-State-Spending-and-WPR-May-2012.pdf Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0600 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=1079&list=publications Twenty-three states around the country are considering requiring drug tests for recipients of programs like welfare (TANF) and food stamps. Elizabeth Lower-Basch discusses which states are proposing these tests and why she believes that they are unnecessary. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1079&list=publications Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600 /admin/site/publications/files/Big-Ideas-for-Job-Creation-Rethinking-Work-Opportunity.pdf This paper is part of the Big Ideas for Job Creation in a Jobless Recovery project, which includes proposals from more than a dozen leading experts on practical, scalable proposals to create more jobs for the U.S. economy. CLASP Senior Policy Analyst Elizabeth Lower-Basch recommends that deeper, more targeted subsidies administered at the state level are an effective way to encourage employers to hire disadvantaged workers and create jobs. There are federal subsidies such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) currently in place to encourage hiring of disadvantaged workers, but in contrast, they often provide large windfalls to employers in low-wage, high-turnover industries without creating any net new jobs or changing who they hire. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Big-Ideas-for-Job-Creation-Rethinking-Work-Opportunity.pdf Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-testimony-on-nontraditional-students-to-ACSFA.pdf On Sept. 30, 2011, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance held a hearing on higher education regulations and nontraditional students. CLASP submitted comments focusing on the primary barriers to access and persistence for nontraditional students and promising strategies and policies and the role of the federal government in helping nontraditional students in overcoming the barriers. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-testimony-on-nontraditional-students-to-ACSFA.pdf Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-TANF-testimony-for-the-record-WM-September-2011.pdf On September 8, the Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on TANF, in preparation for the pending reauthorization of the block grant. CLASP submitted this testimony for the record. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-TANF-testimony-for-the-record-WM-September-2011.pdf Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/Oklahoma-Special-Projects.pdf One in a series of briefs profiling promising approaches to supporting education and training programs under TANF in spite of the limits imposed by the federal rules. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Oklahoma-Special-Projects.pdf Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0500 /admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-Ways-and-Means-Committee-testimony-on-duplication.pdf In April 2011, the Subcommittee on Human Resources to the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives, held a hearing on Duplication of Government Programs with a focus on welfare and related programs. CLASP's testimony for the record focuses on how the programs should be coordinated into a system of benefits that is easy to access, unstigmatized, responsive to economic hardship, open to all, and fully funded. Education and training are drivers of economic mobility and opportunity, and low-wage workers and low-income individuals need access to them to enter and advance in the labor market. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/CLASP-Ways-and-Means-Committee-testimony-on-duplication.pdf Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=0940&list=publications In order to use public funding to support an integrated approach and to account for the different needs and demographic characteristics of participants, organizations must braid sources together. CLASP has recently produced Federal Funding for Integrated Service Delivery, a Toolkit. The audio conference oriented listeners to the resource, and highlighted two organizations that braid public and private funding sources to support integrated service delivery approaches. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=0940&list=publications Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500 /resources_and_publications/publication?id=0932&list=publications CLASP senior policy analyst, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, testified during the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources Hearing on Use of Data Matching to Improve Customer Service, Program Integrity, and Taxpayer Savings. CLASP shares the concern with reducing error rates and fraud to save taxpayer funds, preserve funding for those who are truly eligible for programs, and protect public support for programs. Data matching can reduce administrative costs by sharing information collected by one program with another, and reducing the number of visits that customers must make to various offices. This also improves customer service, and reduces the time that applicants must take away from work or other responsibilities. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=0932&list=publications