On May 23, 2022, Vermont became the first state in the nation to modernize our Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) program, Reach Up, by eliminating arbitrary and convoluted work requirements that have failed to help families achieve long-term economic stability.
Using an evidence-based framework supported by the American Public Human Services Association, H.464 recognizes the agency and humanity of participating families, allowing them to work collaboratively with their case managers to enhance their economic mobility by pursuing training or education, by removing barriers to employment like untreated health issues, or by finding a job that recognizes their strengths, goals, and needs.
“The Governor’s signature on H.464 means Vermont will make important programmatic shifts to align Reach Up with best practices, which will help parents overcome barriers to employment,” said Amy Rose, Policy Associate for Voices for Vermont’s Children.
Throughout the 2022 legislative session, the Vermont Reach Up Coalition worked with legislators, partner organizations, and Reach Up participants to support the passage of H.464. In addition to eliminating work requirements in favor of a trauma-informed strength-based collaborative approach to building economic stability, the new law also allows families to continue to receive support for children who are in school through age 21, reduces the benefits cliff by increasing earned income disregards, allows more child support to be retained by families, and eliminates the use of a medical review team that reviewed determinations by participants’ own healthcare providers.
Donna Pavetti, Vice President for Family Income Support at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, testified that many families that turn to TANF (Reach Up) are fleeing domestic violence, have lived in extreme poverty, or have experienced significant adversity as a child. She noted that since TANF was created 25 years ago, we’ve learned that we need to create policies that do not retraumatize families by setting unrealistic expectations, ignore families’ individual circumstances, and take an overly punitive approach when parents cannot meet impossible goals.
Jessica Radbord, a consultant at Vermont Legal Aid, noted, “TANF work requirements were rooted in racist, sexist, and classist narratives. We advocated for elimination of Vermont’s strict and arbitrary work requirements because we believe – and evidence shows – that engaging Reach Up families collaboratively to remove barriers to employment and to identify goals is the best way to help them achieve long-term economic stability.”
Representative Taylor Small (P/D-Winooski), a member of the House Human Services Committee and a lead legislative voice supporting the bill said, “I am proud of my committee’s work on this legislation, which provides a much needed update to our Reach Up statute in order to better support both participating families and their case workers. By simplifying participant expectations and removing archaic work requirements, we are empowering some of Vermont’s most vulnerable families to pursue self-determined goals that will actually meet their needs and the needs of their children. There is more work to be done to eradicate generational poverty and strengthen Vermont’s social safety net, but this was an important and necessary step in the right direction.”
Voices for Vermont’s Children’s Amy Rose concurred, “Until the program’s cash benefits provide adequate support to families, children will continue to suffer from inadequate food, housing and other basic needs. We look forward to working with legislative champions in the new biennium to ensure that children in Vermont aren’t subject to a policy that subjects them to deep poverty by design.”
Vermont Reach Up Coalition:
• Disability Rights Vermont
• Hunger Free Vermont
• Public Assets Institute
• Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition
• Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance
• Vermont Legal Aid
• Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council
• Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
• Vermont Parent Child Center Network
• Voices for Vermont’s Children