{
  "id": "R43461",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43461",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 429405,
      "date": "2014-04-02",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T23:03:56.129256",
      "title": "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Subsidized Employment and the President\u2019s FY2015 Budget Proposal: In Brief",
      "summary": "President Obama\u2019s FY2015 budget proposal would establish within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant a \u201cPathways to Jobs\u201d fund. The fund would help states pay for subsidized employment programs targeted toward needy parents, guardians, and youth. Subsidized employment programs use government funds to pay all or part of the wages, benefits, and other costs of employing a participant. Under the President\u2019s proposal, the subsidized job could be in either the public or the private sector. Funding for \u201cPathways to Jobs\u201d would be $602 million per year beginning in FY2015.\nThe Administration\u2019s \u201cPathways to Jobs\u201d proposal comes as interest in subsidized employment as a policy for the economically disadvantaged was rekindled by a brief experience of TANF-funded jobs during the recent recession. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) created a temporary \u201cEmergency Contingency Fund\u201d (ECF) that provided $5 billion for FY2009 and FY2010. The ECF was created, in part, because of projections that the TANF contingency fund created in the 1996 welfare reform law would be exhausted. \nThe ECF was different from other TANF grants to states in that it financed only certain TANF expenditures: basic assistance, short-term aid, and subsidized employment. Of the $5 billion in ECF funding, $1.3 billion financed increased subsidized employment expenditures. An estimated 280,000 persons benefitted from ECF-funded subsidized jobs. About half of these persons were adult parents; the other half were youth. ECF subsidized employment differed from earlier subsidized jobs initiatives by placing some adult parents in private sector jobs, in addition to public service employment. ECF-funded subsidized employment served a population broader than those on the TANF cash assistance rolls.\nSubsidized employment programs can have a number of policy goals: job creation, particularly during a recession; providing income support through work; and improving the long-term employability of participants. There is little recent experience to draw on in assessing the Administration\u2019s proposal. However, past research has indicated that subsidized employment programs can meet the goal of providing income support through work, as evaluations have indicated that such programs employ those who would otherwise not have a job. The research is less conclusive on the other policy goals. \nThe costs of the Administration\u2019s proposed TANF-subsidized employment initiative would be offset by ending the current law TANF contingency fund. The TANF contingency fund was created in the 1996 welfare reform law and provided $2 billion for extra grants to states during recessions. However, the fund often has not behaved as a countercyclical source of extra TANF funds. In assessing the Administration\u2019s proposal, policy makers might also consider whether savings from ending the current contingency fund should go to subsidized employment programs or other uses\u2014for example, creating a modified contingency fund to provide a better countercyclical source of extra TANF funds.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": []
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  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy"
  ]
}