WWEE Hosts TANF Roundtable

A group of human service providers to Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) recipients shared their frustrations and ideas for improvement with state and federal elected officials Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at a meeting hosted by Washington Women’s Employment & Education (WWEE) at The Tacoma Club. The consensus among providers was that more time is being spent on paperwork and less on helping the unemployed gain the training and life skills to get and keep a job that permanently moves them from welfare to work.

Providers identified the key elements of increased transition time, greater flexibility for activities, barrier reduction and greater customization of services which will provide more effective and efficient delivery of service to meet the end goal of sustainable wage jobs.

The consensus among legislators was that comparison data is needed to show that compliance to complicated rules imposed by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 has decreased the effectiveness of the providers and the ultimate goal of converting tax consumers to tax payers.

Mary McBride, from US Senator Patty Murray’s office, encouraged service providers to share the facts and data about these issues and personal experiences with other elected officials in order to engage them fully in this work. “Consider your strategy of communication,” she remarked, “How can we share a roadmap of our past, current state and vision of the future with all of our leaders?”

The meeting was successful with an agreement on identified goals, action steps and follow-up assigned to the meeting participants.

The TANF Roundtable was hosted by WWEE and attended by: Senator Debbie Regala, Senator Rosa Franklin, Representative Jeannie Darneille, Leslie Goldstein, Executive Policy Advisor to Governor Gregoire, Mike English, Office of US Senator Maria Cantwell, Mary McBride, Office of US Senator Patty Murray, Chelsea Orvella, Office of Congressman Adam Smith, Ryan Dumm and LaTasha Wortham, Office of Congressman Norm Dicks, Brad Forbes, Office of Rep. Dennis Flannigan and Kelly Lindseth, Office of Financial Management. Also in attendance were leaders of area human services providers and community and technical colleges who work closely with TANF recipients to help them gain sustainable employment.