Page 1 GAO-12-1028R TANF Waivers

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

September 19, 2012

The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch

Ranking Member

Committee on Finance

United States Senate 

The Honorable Dave Camp

Chairman

Committee on Ways and Means

House of Representatives

Subject: Waivers Related to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant 

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, administered by the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provides federal funding to states for 

both traditional welfare cash assistance as well as a variety of other benefits and services to 

meet the needs of low-income families and children.1 In December 2011, 1.9 million lowincome families nationwide received cash assistance through states’ TANF programs. While 

states have some flexibility in implementing and administering their state TANF programs, 

there are numerous federal requirements and guidelines that states must meet. For 

example, under section 402 of the Social Security Act, in order to be eligible to receive 

TANF funds, a state must submit to HHS a written plan outlining, among other things, how it 

will implement various aspects of its TANF program.2 More specifically, under section 

402(a)(1)(A)(iii) of the Social Security Act, the written plan must outline how the state will 

ensure that TANF recipients engage in work activities.3 Under section 407 of the Social 

Security Act, states must also ensure that a specified percentage of their TANF recipients 

engage in work activities as defined by federal law.4 Compared with its predecessor 

program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), TANF increased the percentage 

of welfare recipients expected to prepare for work, imposed stronger sanctions against 

individuals who did not participate as required by states, and placed time limits on the 

receipt of cash assistance for many TANF recipients, among other changes. 

In its July 12, 2012, Information Memorandum,5 HHS notified states of HHS’ willingness to 

exercise its waiver authority under section 1115 of the Social Security Act.6

 

1 See 42 U.S.C. § 601. 

Under section 

2 Codified at 42 U.S.C. § 602.

3 Codified at 42 U.S.C. § 602(a)(1)(A)(iii).

4 Codified at 42 U.S.C. § 607.

5 Transmittal No. TANF-ACF-IM-2012-03.

6 Codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1315.
Page 2 GAO-12-1028R TANF Waivers

1115, HHS has the authority to waive compliance with the requirements of section 402 in 

the case of experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects which the Secretary determines 

are likely to assist in promoting the objectives of TANF.7 In its Information Memorandum, 

HHS asserted that it has the authority to waive the requirement in section 402(a)(1)(A)(iii) 

and authorize states to “test approaches and methods other than those set forth in section 

407,” including definitions of work activities and the calculation of participation rates.8 HHS 

informed states that it would use this waiver authority to allow states to test various 

strategies, policies, and procedures designed to improve employment outcomes for needy 

families.9 The Information Memorandum sets forth requirements that must be met for a 

waiver request to be considered by HHS, including an evaluation plan, a set of performance 

measures that states will track to monitor ongoing performance and outcomes, and a budget 

including the costs of program evaluation. In addition, the Information Memorandum 

provides that states must seek public input on the proposal prior to approval by HHS. 

In response to your request, we are providing information on any waivers related to TANF. 

To gather this information, we reviewed relevant federal laws and regulations, TANF policy 

documents available on HHS’s website, including TANF Policy Announcements, Program 

Instructions, and Information Memoranda, and documents provided to us by HHS. 

Specifically, we asked HHS to provide all documentation of state interest in TANF waivers 

since TANF’s creation, as well as HHS’s responses to such states, statements of prior HHS 

Secretaries on TANF waiver authority, and information on AFDC-granted waivers that 

continued after TANF was created. We also interviewed HHS officials. HHS provided 

documents that included letters signed at the levels of HHS Secretary and Assistant 

Secretary as well as email correspondence from program staff. We did not analyze whether 

HHS has the authority to issue waivers related to TANF work requirements. Rather, this 

report provides some background information on HHS and the issue of waivers related to 

TANF. 

We conducted our work from August 2012 to September 2012 in accordance with all 

sections of GAO’s Quality Assurance Framework that are relevant to our objectives. The 

framework requires that we plan and perform the engagement to obtain sufficient and 

appropriate evidence to meet our stated objectives and to discuss any limitations in our 

work. We believe that the information and data obtained, and the analysis conducted, 

provide a reasonable basis for any findings and conclusions.

In response to your request for information on waivers related to TANF, we addressed the 

following questions: 

1. Since TANF was created in 1996, has HHS granted any TANF waivers or previously 

indicated it has the authority to waive TANF work requirements? 

Since the creation of TANF, HHS has not granted any section 1115 waivers related to 

TANF. Many states received section 1115 waivers under AFDC, and they were allowed to 

 

7 Section 1115 also authorizes the Secretary to waive compliance with certain other requirements of the Social 

Security Act not related to TANF.

8 Questions have been raised about the extent of HHS’s authority under Section 1115 and TANF with respect to 

the Information Memorandum; however, neither this report nor our recently issued product, B-323772, Sept. 4, 

2012, address whether the Information Memorandum is a valid interpretation of statutes or regulations.

9 On September 4, 2012, we held that this Information Memorandum constitutes a rule and is subject to the 

Congressional Review Act’s requirement that it be submitted to Congress and the Comptroller General before 

taking effect. See B-323772, Sept. 4, 2012.
Page 3 GAO-12-1028R TANF Waivers

continue these until their expiration, the last of which expired in 2007.10 No provision in law 

allowed these AFDC waivers to be extended.

Based on our discussions with HHS officials and our review of HHS documents, we did not 

find any evidence that HHS stated that it has the authority to issue waivers related to TANF 

work requirements, before the July 12, 2012, Information Memorandum. However, in an 

HHS document prepared in 2008 on program flexibilities available during times of disaster, 

HHS stated that section 1115 allows for waivers of state plan requirements in several 

programs, including TANF. HHS also said that section 1115 waivers are not disaster specific 

and are better for long-term situations due to approval time.

2. Have any states requested waivers of TANF work requirements or any other 

provision of TANF since 1996?

In the 16 years since TANF was created, several states have expressed interest in TANF 

waivers. 

Specifically, from 2000 through 2009, evidence shows that five states asked HHS about the 

availability of waivers under TANF. Generally, states were not asking for waivers to test new 

approaches through experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects, which would be 

necessary in order to get a waiver under section 1115; instead, they were asking to be 

excused from specific requirements.11 

• Two states sent letters to HHS requesting waivers of various federal TANF requirements 

to address unanticipated circumstances each faced. First, in 2001, a state asked HHS 

about various waivers due to the emergency situation caused by the terrorist attacks. 

The state was concerned about meeting TANF requirements related to, for example, the 

use of funds, data reporting, cost allocation, and work participation. Second, in 2004, a 

state asked HHS about various waivers after its legislature provided a portion of the 

state’s federal TANF block grant to two tribes operating their own TANF cash assistance 

programs. In both cases, states thought that the unanticipated circumstances could 

result in their noncompliance with certain federal TANF requirements. The Assistant 

Secretary for Children and Families responded to each state that he did not have 

authority to provide waivers. He did, however, offer to work with the states to address 

their concerns through other flexibilities allowed under the law. 

• Three other states asked HHS more informally through email about waivers of particular 

TANF provisions. Specifically, states asked about waivers related to the limit on the 

maximum percentage of TANF families participating in vocational education that count 

toward a state’s work participation rate, the use of TANF funds for purposes other than 

the four purposes prescribed in federal law, and the eligibility of certain populations for 

TANF cash assistance. To each of these states, HHS TANF program staff generally 

responded that the requested waiver authority was not available.

In addition to responding directly to individual states about waiver issues, HHS discussed 

these issues when it provided general information to help answer states’ questions about 

TANF under disaster conditions. Two TANF policy documents issued by HHS in 2005 and 

 

10 The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which created TANF, 

allowed states to continue these waivers until their expiration. 

11 Two states also asked HHS in 2003 if it would extend waivers that had been approved under AFDC. However, 

HHS Secretary Thompson indicated in his responses to these states that there was no provision of law that 

would permit HHS to extend such waivers.
Page 4 GAO-12-1028R TANF Waivers

2007 discussed various aspects of administering TANF for families affected by disasters, 

including, for example, application procedures and work requirements. In these documents, 

HHS stated that all applicable programmatic requirements apply to a family that is provided 

TANF-funded cash assistance, and the Department does not have authority to waive any of 

the provisions. HHS also discussed certain flexibilities allowed under TANF that states might 

use to assist these families.12 

States also expressed their interest in waivers under TANF and other related programs in a 

2005 letter to the Congress on TANF reauthorization. Specifically, 28 states expressed 

support for a Senate reauthorization bill that included increased waiver authority to 

coordinate across multiple programs serving low-income families, including TANF, as well 

as certain amendments to TANF work requirements. However, when TANF was 

reauthorized through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, this waiver authority was not 

included in the act. 

In 2011, some states expressed interest in TANF waivers when HHS solicited ideas on 

areas in which increased administrative flexibility could lead to improved TANF outcomes. 

Specifically, HHS held conversations with TANF officials from all states in response to the 

President’s February 2011 Memorandum directing executive agencies to work closely with 

state, local, and tribal governments to identify administrative, regulatory, and legislative 

barriers in federally funded programs that prevent the efficient use of tax dollars to achieve 

results for constituents. Following these conversations, HHS documents show that six states 

expressed interest in TANF waivers, with five of those states specifically indicating their 

interest in waivers related to TANF work requirements, and the sixth asking about TANF 

waivers in general.13 In response, HHS officials generally indicated that the Department was 

in the process of reviewing its TANF waiver authority. 

Since HHS issued the July 12, 2012 Information Memorandum indicating the Secretary’s 

willingness to exercise section 1115 waiver authority related to TANF work requirements, 

HHS documents show that eight states have expressed interest in pursuing these waivers. 

As of September 6, 2012, no state had formally submitted a request for a waiver related to 

TANF work requirements to HHS. 

Agency Comments 

We provided a draft of this correspondence to HHS for its review and comment. HHS 

provided technical comments, which we have incorporated as appropriate. 

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, 

we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the report date. At that time, we will send

copies of this correspondence to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, appropriate 

 

12 See TANF-ACF-PI-2005-06, Subject: Using Federal TANF and State Maintenance of Effort Funds for Families 

Affected by Hurricane Katrina and TANF-ACF-PI-2007-08, Subject: Using Federal TANF and State Maintenance 

of Effort Funds for Families in Areas Covered by a Federal or State Disaster Declaration.

13 HHS officials indicated that during the conversations, a major focus of state comments was state interest in 

various modifications to the TANF work requirements. Further, in follow-up comments submitted by states to 

HHS, 26 states expressed interest in various modifications to the TANF work requirements. This is consistent 

with the findings of our 2010 report on TANF work requirements, in which we discussed challenges states had 

implementing the changes made to the TANF work requirements by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. See 

GAO, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Implications of Recent Legislative and Economic Changes for 

State Programs and Work Participation Rates, GAO-10-525 (Washington, D.C.: May 28, 2010). 
Page 5 GAO-12-1028R TANF Waivers

congressional committees, and other interested parties. The report is also available at no 

charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff members have any questions about this report, please contact me at 

(202) 512-7215 or brownke@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional 

Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this correspondence. Other 

key contributors to this correspondence included Gale C. Harris and Rachel Frisk. Jessica 

Botsford, Alex Galuten, and Janet Mascia also contributed to this product. 

Kay E. Brown 

Director, Education, Workforce, 

 and Income Security Issues 

(131199)
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