The law allows states to create jobs by taking money now used for welfare checks and using it to create community service jobs or to provide wage subsidies or hiring incentives for potential employers. Ending dependence and promoting two-parent families. All states have the administrative flexibility to use TANF funding for fatherhood programs. Five-year time limit. Families with adult recipients who have received assistance for five cumulative years will be ineligible for federally funded cash aid under the welfare reform law.
States have the option of setting a shorter time limit.
The bonuses were given to the 28 states with the best performance in moving parents on welfare into jobs and their success in staying employed and increasing their earnings. The states receiving bonuses were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. State maintenance of effort requirements. States are spending more per recipient now than in 1994. In 1999, all states met the minimum spending requirements and 19 states exceeded it.