The law also strengthens the child support enforcement requirements. The Administration for Children and Families is responsible for implementation of these parts of the Welfare Reform law. With few exceptions, recipients under the new law must work after two years of assistance, or earlier at the state option. To count toward state work requirements, recipients are required to participate in unsubsidized or subsidized employment, on the job training, work experience, community service, up to 12 months of vocational training, or provide child care service to individuals who are participating in community service. Single parents with a child under six who cannot find child care cannot be penalized for failure to meet the work requirements.
States can exempt from the work requirement single parents with children under age one.
States develop personal responsibility plans for recipients identifying the education, training, and job placement services needed to move them into the workforce. 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 income subsidies or hiring incentives for potential employers. The Child Care and Development Fund. The Welfare Reform law also restructures child care into a single, integrated child care system, and funds state efforts to provide quality child care services for low income families with parents who work or who attend school. Specific services for children focus on education, socio emotional development, physical and mental health, and nutrition.