Paper about TANF known by americans as welfare Essay

Paper about TANF known by americans as welfare - Essay Example It advocates the need for jobs, marriages, two parent families and also tries to prevent out of marriage pregnancies. Sharon Hays through her book â€Å"Flat Broke with Children† gives us an interesting insight into the world of the social workers who aid in carrying out the welfare programs under TANF and also tell us the story from the view points of those who receive the aid. TANF which came in place of the Emergency Assistance program (EA), the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) was a welcome change to the social workers who all were involved with various welfare organizations throughout the United States of America. As Hays (2004) points out â€Å" most of welfare caseworkers I met were optimistic about the new law, at least in the first year of its enactment.....a number of case workers, echoing popular sentiment, told me that welfare had become a trap and the clients had become dependentâ₠¬  (Hays, 2004, p. 4). So the social workers felt that to impart training to the poor clients and make them suitable for various jobs would be a change of scenario, both for the worker and the recipient. However as Hays travels through the various phases of this program and meets various clients and aid workers over an extended period of time she finds many pitfalls in this assistance program. Though facts and figures prove that this program is a resounding success but as we travel with Hays we find that not everything is as rosy as it seems. Her research work which nearly extended for about three years gives us, in vivid details, as to the happenings in the various welfare program offices and in the homes of the recipients of this aid. She explores the various social values that this aid program tries to instill in its recipients and the inherent contradictions that arise while trying to apply these values in every day