Government

Somebody told me about the TANF (Texas Assistance for Needy Families) program. I looked it up online to see what is was about. The web site says if you meet certain criteria, then you could receive a one-time grant for the amount of $1,000. (I also found out that if you do not qualify for that grant, then the state signs you up for another grant. The second grant is paid out once a month for up to 6 months. The amount of money you receive is based off of how many people are in your family.) I did not see any mention of the CHOICES program.

The CHOICES program was designed to help people find a job and become self-sufficient. Per this program (created by Health and Human Services Dept of Texas) you must volunteer 35 hours a week to the Workforce Center as long as you are receiving benefits. The first two weeks, you must focus on a job search during those 35 hours. Who in the world can spend 35 hours a week looking for a job? Wait, here is the catch: you have to be in their building for your hours to count. Time spent filling out applications or going to a job interview does not count toward your hours. The Workforce Center has several activities going on throughout the day that does count toward those hours. They have classes on interviewing skills, computer classes and stuff like that. So basically you are spending 35 hours a week either in a classroom environment, looking through the newspaper or searching online for job openings. (I think they should shorten this time to about 20 hours or let application time and interview time count.)

A four person family on TANF only receives about $300 a month. A person is volunteering 140 hours a month just to receive $300!

One good thing is this: if you find a job during the day, those hours count toward your volunteer time. It is better just to find a full time job, skip all of the job search classes and get your extra $300 a month.

Most people say that TANF is more trouble than it's worth. One person explained the program like this: "You receive your payments on your food stamp card. Mine comes in on the first of every month. If you find a job and make more than $2,000 a month, then you have to report the new income. That will also disqualify you for the TANF program. If you do not meet your volunteer requirements, then they can take away your family's food stamps, medicaid and any other other government assistance you are getting. This is a penalty that could stick with you for life, or until you complete the requirements of the CHOICES program. The first two weeks of the CHOICES program require you to focus only on job search. After that, they might make you volunteer some where else, like a nursing home or something. You have to sign in and out every day at the Workforce Center. Some times the sign-in papers get lost and you don't get credit for that day. That becomes a big hassle! You have to contact your caseworker and they are hard to get a hold of. Their case load is so huge, plus their hours vary or they might even be on vacation. I get the month to month grant. I received my first payment on July 1st. I got tired of doing the volunteer work and I wanted out of the program. They say they I needed to fill out proper paperwork and return it by July 6th. I did not decide to get out of the program until July 15th. They said that the August payment is already in the computer. The paperwork has to be filled out by Aug. 6th now so they can cut off September's payment. So now I am stuck volunteering 140 hours in July and 140 hours in August."