Teen Parent Provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

Jodie Levin-Epstein

Center for Law and Social Policy

Teen parents who receive public assistance have long been a source of legislative interest. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 includes a number of provisions intended to influence the behavior of teens and teen parents and address such issues as out-of-wedlock births, schooling, and living arrangements.

Title I of the Act replaces Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). While AFDC entitled states to open-ended federal funds, the TANF block grant is given to the state with several "strings" that restrict assistance to minor teen parents. In order to receive TANF funds, states must submit state plans detailing "special emphasis they will give to teen pregnancy as part of their effort to prevent out-of-wedlock births. The plan should also outline the state's statutory rape education program. TANF precludes minor, unmarried, custodial teen parents from receiving TANF federal funds unless they "participate" in education, and live in an adult-supervised setting.

Although states are expected to design and implement a program of assistance to low-income families, no family will be entitled to assistance under federal law. The state must decide whether it is more desirable to assist teen parents or exclude them. The state can apply different rules to teen parent families when deciding assistance eligibility. The Act also includes a number of financial incentives for states that could lead states to invest federal and state funds in a range of initiatives related to teens and teen parents.

Vol. IV, No. 2, p. 323 (1997)

 

Revised July 17, 2003 (MD)