Social Welfare System Overview

PRWORA stands for Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. “This act changed federal funding for cash assistance to poor families from an open-ended entitlement to a block grant” (Axxin, 2017, p.313). This act focused on the relief being short-term, with five years being the limit. This act also required anyone receiving funds to be employed and also created even more restrictions for certain groups such as unmarried teen mothers, drug felons, and immigrants.                 Title: Evaluating Welfare Reform: A Framework and Review of Current Work, Interim Report                 This article discussed the idea of PRWORA and explained what it did and how it changed our nation’s social welfare system. It enacted to new programs, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). “The underlying goal of the legislation is to decrease dependence on welfare and increase the self-sufficiency of poor families in the United States” (Moffitt, 1999). However, this article also mentions that because this legislation allowed states to make their own modifications to their laws, the data has been misinterpreted and mismanaged.                 Title: The Law of Unintended Consequences: The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and Its Impact on Medicaid for Families with Children                 This article discussed the “unintended consequences” of PRWORA. There are two major problems that have aroused or gotten worse from the enactment of PRWORA. The first one is considered the “back end” phenomenon. This is what happens when someone leaves welfare but is also terminated from Medicaid, even though they still qualify. This has been an issue since Medicaid came around, but the problem deepened when this legislation was passed. The second is considered the “front end” phenomenon. “This front end problem can be summed up as either the failure to enroll in Medicaid at all or a delay in enrollment until serious health needs are present” (Rosenbaum & Maloy). Axinn, M.J.S. J. (2017). Social Welfare. [Capella]. Retrieved from https://capella.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134292960/ Moffitt, R., Ver Ploeg, M., & National Research Council (U.S.). (1999). Evaluating Welfare Reform: A Framework and Review of Current Work, Interim Report. National Academies Press. Rosenbaum, S. & Maloy, K. The Law of Unintended Consequences: The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and Its Impact on Medicaid for Families with Children (https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/65021/OSLJ_V60N4_1443.pdf)