Welfare Reform
A Guide to Selected Government Information Available at WIU's Government Publications Library
(Prepared by Lara D. LaDage- 3/99; revised 8/06)
Web version of this guide includes links to web resources.
Federal Government Information
Welfare Reform State Links
This page brings together the State Welfare Children and Families home pages into one place. 2003.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
The factsheet at this website explains this Act requiring work in exchange for time-limited assistance. The full act can be read at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:H.R.3734.ENR:htm 1996.
Fatherhood and Welfare Reform
A hearing to examine the social, economic, and legal difficulties encountered by unmarried fathers of children on welfare. 1998
Y 4.W 36:105-78
Implementation of welfare reform work requirements and time limits
This hearing focuses on issues related to the implementation of welfare work requirements and time limits in preparation for the reauthorization of the
TANF program. 2002.
Y 4.W36:107-59
National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies
This report studies the implementation, participation patterns, and cost of the mandatory welfare-to-work program in Portland.1998
HE 25.2:W 45
Second in a series on welfare reform
This hearing focused on work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash welfare program, as well as other means-tested benefits programs. 2001.
Y 4.W36:107-10
States' Perspective on Welfare Reform
A look at the states' role in welfare reform. 1995
Y4. F 49: S. Hrg. 104-339
Teen Parents and Welfare Reform
This hearing studies the relationship between teenaged mothers and welfare to determine the best way to help them become self-sufficient. 1995
Y4. F 49: S. Hrg. 104-349
Governors' Proposal on Welfare and Medicaid
This hearing looks at the unanimous and bipartisan proposal for welfare and Medicaid reform submitted by the Nation's Governors. 1996
Y4. F 49: S. Hrg. 104-791
Welfare Reform
An examination of President Clinton's welfare reform proposal, welfare dependency, fraud, child support enforcement, welfare for noncitizens, and
welfare's role in illegitimacy. 1996
Y4. W 36: 104-62
Welfare reform: an examination of effects
Testimony on the effects of welfare reform and the temporary assistance for needy families block grant to determine whether the law has resulted in reducing
welfare dependence and increasing work. A look back on the law's implementation, assessment of the current situation and a look forward to changes that may be
necessary to build upon the foundation already created. 2002.
Y 4.ED 8/1:107-30
Welfare reform
GAO study of work participation rates to help Congress understand these rates and to help ensure TANF work participation is measured
consistently across states. 2005.
GA 1.13: GAO-05-821
Welfare reform: reauthorization of work and child care
Testimony on the effects of welfare reform and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant and the administration's plans for the second phase
of welfare reform. 2005.
Y 4.ED 8/1:109-4
Welfare reform: success in moving toward work
Continued examination of the effects of welfare and its impact on work and families. Specifically focusing on the work requirements within the welfare reform bill
passed by the Congress in 1996. 2002.
Y 4.ED 8/1:107-33
Working toward independence
A hearing on how the administration can build upon the success of the 1996 welfare reform law. 2002.
Y 4.ED 8/1:107-54
Contract with America-- Welfare Reform
This two-volume set contains hearings on the Personal Responsibility Act. Part 1 contains topical hearings on welfare costs, block grants, illegitimacy,
welfare dependency, and SSI eligibility. Part 2 offers testimony from 70+ witnesses. 1995
Y4. W 36: 104-43 and Y4. W 36: 104-44
lllinois Government Information
Welfare Reform: What Does it Mean to Small Business?
This publication, discusses the role small businesses play in Illinois' newly reformed welfare system and explains the benefits and the assistance available
to small businesses hiring welfare recipients. 1999
ILLINOIS 361.68 WELF
"Is Welfare-to-Work Working"?
This article asks some tough questions about the success of federal and state welfare reform.
Illinois Issues. Vol. 25, No. 9 September 1999 pp. 24-28
ILLINOIS 320.9 ILLI Vol. 25 No. 9
Legal Information
"Beaten Before they are Born: Immigrants, their Children, and a Right to Prenatal Care"
A contention that the Welfare to Work Act is stripping away medical benefits from illegal immigrants and post-1997 legal immigrants which lessens the
availability of necessary prenatal care.
Annual Survey of American Law 1997, Issue 3, p. 695
"Selling Employers on Welfare Reform"
A look at different techniques and programs that states have initiated in order to place welfare recipients in stable employment.
State Legislatures, February 1999, p. 20
"Devolving Welfare Programs to the States: A Public Choice Perspective"
An argument against giving lower levels of government the power to control welfare and an examination of theory, current structure, and predictions. 1996
Harvard Law Review, June 1996 Vol. 109, No. 8, p. 1984
"An ' Age of [Im]possibility': Rhetoric, Welfare Reform, and Poverty
" This article assesses welfare from many angles, including morally, culturally, and structurally. 1996
Michigan Law Review, May 1996 Vol. 94, No. 6, p. 1953
"Buying Time for Survivors of Domestic Violence: a Proposal for Implementing an Exception to Welfare Time Limits"
An overview of welfare-to-work programs and a look at whether states should choose to assist survivors of domestic violence. 1998
New York University Law Review, May 1998 Vol. 73, No. 2, p. 621
"Fencing Out the Poor: The Constitutionality of Residency Requirements in Welfare Reform"
A study of Supreme Court cases and current conditions imposed on welfare recipients regarding residency advocating court involvement in representing the interests of the poor. 1996
Wisconsin Law Review, 1996 No. 6, p. 1255
"When Welfare Ends"
When the welfare-to-work policy went into effect, thousands of families left the system, but where did they go? This article looks at studies being
conducted to track families after they leave welfare. 1998
State Legislatures, October/November 1998, Vol. 24, No. 9, p. 30
"Recent Developments - Welfare Reform Symposium"
A look at procedural due process - welfare reform from a constitutional perspective - and a description of the key provisions of the 1996 federal law and its impact
on the poor and on welfare rolls.
Administrative Law Review Summer 1998 Vol. 50 No. 3 p.579
"Elderly Immigrants: What Should They Expect of the Social Safety Net?"
A look at the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act on elderly immigrants, who are finding themselves without any federal assistance,
regardless of their circumstances.
Elder Law Journal Fall 1997 Vol. 5 No. 2 p.229
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
This legislation of the 104th Congress increases State control of welfare systems by establishing block grants, mandating work requirements, and changing
Supplemental Security Income, child support, welfare receipt for noncitizens, and food stamps. 1996
U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News, P.L. 104-193, 110 STAT.2105
The legislative history of this Act can be found at U.S.C.C.A.N 1996 vol. 5, pp. 2184-2193