Often they are pushed into jobs for which they are not qualified and then sanctioned for failing at work. The result may be that they are poorer when they are working than they were on welfare, a fact that also shows up in responses to later questions. There were many expressions of concern for people with multiple barriers to employment. For example, it is likely to take more than the two years permitted a person on TANF to help someone become employable who suffers from mental illness, drug or alcohol addiction, or domestic violence. It may even take more than the five years permitted in a lifetime.
Most states have no provisions for helping such people once they reach the time limit.
Many states do little or nothing to help parents of severely handicapped children, requiring them to meet the same demands as anyone else or face being sanctioned. There was substantial criticism of the welfare bureaucracy. Half of the respondents did not know whether their state had spent all of its TANF funds for TANF purposes. Most of the remainder felt the funds had been correctly used, but those who did not identified a wide range of alternative uses made of the funds. Most respondents felt that the state's intent had been simply to make people leave welfare.