About
Tribal TANF of S o n o m a & M a r i n
TANF replaced the former welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Emergency Assistance (EA) for Needy Families, and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training program (JOBS).
TANF combined funding streams from these programs into a single block grant and allocated dollars to each state equal to what the state received under the old AFDC program.
In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), bringing an end to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program.
PRWORA replaced AFDC, Emergency Assistance, and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program, with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to States.
Section 412 of the Act gave federally recognized Tribes the authority to independently design, administer, and operate their own Tribal TANF programs.
TANF authorized federally recognized Native American tribes or tribal consortia to apply for federal funding under Section 412 of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by P.L.104-193, to administer their own TANF programs, effective July 1, 1997.
Tribes also have the option of allowing states or counties to continue providing services to tribal families.
Through PRWORA, Federal, Tribal, State and local governments are encouraged to foster positive changes in the United States welfare system by forming partnerships with each other.
PRWORA gives federally recognized Tribes flexibility in operating Tribal TANF Programs designed to:
Provide assistance to needy families so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives;
End the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage;
Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies; and
Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families
