A key feature of the 1996 law was flexibility. The law set out goals for the program and gave states the authority to determine how to best accomplish the goals. Guidelines are set by each state to determine how much assistance each family will receive. "States do have the ability to exempt up to 20% of their caseload from the five-year time limit," which is a benefit for those who will never be able to maintain full time employment. (Comparison of 1). With TANF funds, states can provide families who receive welfare, who formerly received cash welfare, as well as families who have never received cash welfare with supplemental income. Providing these critical services, such as cash benefits to families who are working at low paying jobs ensures that they continue working and that they do not return to welfare.
According to federal guidelines, benefits may be disbursed in one of the following ways, or in a combination of any of the following: cash benefits, food stamps, medical assistance, job training, day-care assistance, transportation assistance and/or housing assistance (housing allowance is provided only once in a lifetime). "Currently, only about 50% (fifty percent) of the federal block grant money is used for cash disbursements. Before the reform, approximately 80% (eighty percent) was used for this purpose. The other 50% (fifty percent) is used for job training and placement, education and day-care assistance for women (or men) who return to work" (Finsterbusch 229). With the significant cut in cash disbursements and the requirement of having to work, adult recipients do benefit from their new responsibility. Being employed will help the welfare-to-work recipients, as well as our economy; hence, less money paid out to the TANF program, over time, may mean fewer taxes to be paid by taxpayers. The recipient's newfound freedom will give them a better chance at financial security and a sense of accomplishment.