Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program has been designed propounding with an ability to garner tribal population with power to attain self-sufficiency.
Under the new ‘Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996’ the Emergency Assistance (EA) program, the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) were repealed for empowering American Indian Tribes to conduct their own TANF programs. This act was further reauthorized under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 in February 2006.
TANF program’s aim is to provide support to welfare programs administered by state, and tribal agencies through federal block grants. These grants are designed and conducted to accomplish four primary goals: assisting tribal families with needs and requisite skills for proper care of their children within their own homes. In order to promote them for getting them prepared for job, work and marriage and reducing their dependency on parents; to ward off out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and to help the families to run smoothly involving both parents to take care of.
Any federally recognized tribe can apply to introduce and conduct a Tribal TANF program on its own for members of its own tribe or if it wants, can choose to team up with other tribes to operate a joint Tribal TANF program. The regulations of Tribal TANF are framed in such a way that it supports adaptability, creativity and variation to Tribes to enable them to approach and contact all families and administer assistance to working families.
Benefits of operating a Tribal TANF program are manifold as it enables Tribal Nations to develop and support those activities and services, which enable them to address and settle their particular type of problems in their community. It also enables Tribal Nations to expand and support activities to assist those families who are engulfed in danger of losing their capacity and aptitude of remaining self-reliant. It makes provisions to implement activities of the program and training sessions to augment economic activities of the tribe to foster development and growth.
It also enables Tribes to promote and implement culturally harmonious programs and activities so that esthetic touch of their culture is not lost. The most important of all, such programs help to strengthen family and community cohesively. However, these tribes operating the program have to adhere to the provisions and guidelines of the Act failing of which may lead to penalties. The sole objective of the grants should be to accomplish the motives of TANF program.
