Good afternoon, Chairman Wells and members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Katie Kerstetter, and I am a Policy Analyst with the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. DCFPI engages in research and public education on the fiscal and economic health of the District of Columbia, with particular emphasis on policies that affect low- and moderate-income residents.
I am here to testify in support of the Income Maintenance Administration’s (IMA) recent modernization efforts and to offer recommendations about how the agency can better serve its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients.
In FY 2009, IMA will begin a modernization of its computer system that will enable agency staff to access recipients’ files electronically and will expand the application process to include online, telephone, and in-person applications for benefits. These efforts will allow the agency to more effectively serve its food stamp, Medicaid, and TANF clients. We support the agency’s modernization plans and ask the committee to ensure that IMA has the full funding it needs to implement this project.
IMA’s modernization process also presents an opportunity for the agency to improve its assessment of TANF recipients’ skills and needs. According to the Urban Institute’s 2002 study of DC’s TANF caseload, a majority of recipients (74 percent) face two or more barriers to work.[i] These include physical and mental health challenges, caring for a disabled child or family member, learning disabilities, domestic violence, and substance abuse issues. Without addressing these challenges, many TANF families cannot transition successfully to work.
DC’s TANF program includes several programs and policies to help with barriers to work, including:
- The Program on Work, Employment, and Responsibility (POWER): The program provides referrals to TANF recipients who need substance abuse treatment or rehabilitative services for a mental or physical disability. Recipients must be declared eligible by the medical review team.
- Domestic Violence Services: Currently, IMA contracts with an organization to provide counseling to recipients who are survivors of domestic violence.
- Exemptions from the Work Requirement: TANF recipients who have experienced domestic violence or are deemed unable to work due to a physical or mental health issue or substance abuse issue are exempt from the work requirement while they receive services to address these issues.
However, after conducting focus groups with TANF recipients last year and collecting administrative data from IMA, it seems that many TANF recipients’ barriers to work are not being addressed.
- Few Recipients Receive Domestic Violence Exemption: The Urban Institute report indicated that approximately 21 percent of DC TANF recipients had an experience with domestic violence in the past year. But during any given month in FY 2008, two to thirteen TANF recipients (fewer than 1 percent of the caseload) were granted domestic violence exemptions. As of May 2008, only 40 TANF recipients were receiving domestic violence services.
- Number of Recipients Participating in POWER Is Low, Compared to Need: Similarly, the Urban Institute study found that 16 percent of TANF recipients had a physical health problem, 21 percent had a mental health problem, and 3 percentsuffered fromsubstance abuse. In FY 2008, however, only 3 percent (or305 adults) received services through the POWER program.
IMA has expressed a desire, as part of its modernization plan, to move towards a case coordination approach, where a case manager would provide assessments and referrals to a subset of clients who need services. We strongly support this approach and urge the committee to ensure that it includes comprehensive assessments of recipients’ skills and needs, referrals to qualified providers, and effective oversight by IMA to ensure that recipients are receiving appropriate services. Addressing barriers to work upfront makes sense as we look for ways to reduce our sanctioned population and increase the number of families who are able to transition successfully to employment.
Currently, the Department of Human Services is not required as part of its agency performance measures to report the number of TANF recipients receiving exemptions or services from POWER or the domestic violence provider. Since many TANF recipients do not seem to be receiving these exemptions or services, we recommend that this be tracked yearly as part of the department’s performance measurement. IMA already collects some of this information, and these indicators could help measure how well the agency is moving toward a more individualized approach.
Our focus group research also concentrated on employment services provided to TANF recipients and the adequacy of benefits that families receive from TANF and other services. We look forward to sharing those results with you this spring.
Lastly, we would like to thank you, Chairman Wells, and Councilmember Brown for your leadership in helping to expand District families’ access to food stamp benefits through the Categorical Eligibility option.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify, and I am happy to answer any questions.
[i] Acs, Gregory and Loprest, Pamela, “A Study of the District of Columbia’s TANF Caseload,” The Urban Institute, October 2003, http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410863_DC_TANF.pdf.