Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/challenges-and-opportunities-of-welfare-reform-impacts-on-child-care-funding/5011237/
Late this summer, President Clinton signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" and ended "welfare as we know it." This bill impacts child care with:_ provisions that affect child care;
_ provisions that affect families;
_ tightening states' discretionary money for child care; and
_ changes to the general policy climate for child care.
The child care provisions:
_ Increase federal spending for child care
_ Allow states to spend less on child care and encourage them to spend more by matching it with additional federal funds
_ Require state health and safety licensing standards, and provider compliance with standards
_ Decrease what states must spend for quality, but allow states to spend more
_ Allow states to set reimbursement rates below the market rate
_ Eliminate payment for an extra meal for children spending more than 8 hours in a center enrolled in the child care food program
_ Increase paperwork for states and providers
_ Require consumer education and information to promote informed parent choice
The welfare provisions:
_ End AFDC and replace it with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
_ Impose strict time limits and work requirements on "welfare" families, thus increasing the need for child care more than the in-crease in federal child care dollars
_ Reduce federal money for welfare, making it harder for states to fund child care
_ Eliminate the guarantee of ...