TANF and the 5-year time limit
To the editor:
As of Jan. 1, 2012, all families who have been on TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families) for five years or more since Nov. 1, 1996, will no longer receive TANF. My family is one of those, closing at the end of May, 2012. The state of Maine tells me that I can get a 6-month extension if I qualify for a “hardship.”
These “hardships” are as follows: disabled or caring for a disabled family member; victim of domestic violence; a minor parent; cooperating but unable to find employment; elderly (often grandparents); and/or completing or enrolled in an approved education or training program.
Under these hardship rules, I feel that my family should qualify to get a “hardship” extension. When I was receiving TANF (then AFDC (Aid for Dependent Children) in the past I was exempt from working and participating in the ASPIRE program. The reason for this is because I was told that I wasn’t allowed to work. I was considered to be the caregiver of my husband, my step-daughter and my daughter who were all on disability. If I was exempt or not required to work then, how was I supposed to get gainful employment to support my family and get off state aid?
Since this time my husband still gets disability; however, my daughter is no longer on disability, and my step-daughter no longer lives at home. In 2006, my family moved from Maine and did not return until 2010. During that time we did not receive any state aid. I did not re-apply until March of 2011. As soon as I did I started participating in ASPIRE and following all guidelines.
This brings me to my next point, I am also enrolled in a college transitions course at the Caribou Learning Center. I have been receiving high marks and also working as an office intern in the Adult Education Department. Before moving to Caribou I volunteered at the Presque Isle public library for 30 hours each week. After completing the course I am enrolling in a CNA program through Adult Ed at the Caribou Learning Center (providing I can get the extension that I need); to enable me to get a good paying job. My future goal is to take online courses through the University of Maine at Augusta in hopes of working toward my master’s in information and library sciences. With my husband’s health declining I am doing everything that I can to get off the state so that I can provide for my family.
When I first re-applied for TANF in March of last year, I started job searching, walking two miles to the Career Center every day. I stopped in to all the neighborhood stores and completed job applications after job applications. When I moved to Caribou the first thing I did was to enroll into an Adult Ed program. In the summer I completed a partial college transitions course, and enrolled into the full college transitions course immediately afterwards. I did not complete this course because I had to have my gallbladder removed.
As soon as I recovered I re-enrolled in the spring college transitions course. I am getting excellent grades in all of my classes and have been told that the Adult Ed office would not know what to do without my help. Now that things have been looking up for me for the first time in years, I am most disappointed that I may lose my only means of support. I am not going to settle for just flipping burgers. I want more than that for myself and for my family. How am I supposed to support my family on a minimum wage job when I have a child with spina bifida and a husband whose health is going down hill? I want to finish what I started and complete my education.
I agree to some degree with the five-year limit of families being on TANF. What I agree with is that there are some families out there who do take advantage of living off the state and the parents are quite capable of working. Some that are just too lazy or just too unwilling to go out and look for work. However, what I don’t agree with is when someone like me who is really trying to get off the state and the state takes whatever money that they have coming in away from them. If I have been following all rules, reporting to my case workers when I am supposed to, why would the state of Maine take away my only means of support and the opportunity for me to improve my life and my family’s?
Name withheld
