D: Managing the Key Transition Period

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Outline
Introduction
Policy Statements:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Additional Resources

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2: The "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" dramatically changed the American welfare system, and created several specific barriers to eligibility for public benefits for individuals with criminal records.

In this chapter:

Overview

Recommendations:

A. Ensure interagency collaboration to effectively screen inmates for eligibility for TANF, Medicaid, supplemental security income, food stamps, and other benefits, and to facilitate successful prerelease application for these benefits.
B. Assess individuals in prison or jail for eligibility for veterans' benefits and services, and ensure access to those benefits for eligible individuals.
C. Help inmates identify and apply for appropriate benefits and identification as part of their transition plan.
D. Ensure that documents issued by departments of corrections are accepted as valid identification by other agencies.
E. Improve collaboration among agencies serving individuals re-entering the community.
F. Ensure timely access to Medicaid after release for eligible individuals by suspending, instead of terminating, Medicaid benefits during incarceration.
G. Facilitate access to "nonrecurrent" TANF benefits by individuals with criminal records who are re-entering the community.
H. Adopt a narrow definition of "in violation of a condition of parole/probation" for the purposes of TANF, food stamps, SSI & public housing.
I. Adopt balanced admission and eviction policies for public housing that consider individual circumstances.
J. Ensure continued Medicaid coverage for TANF families with parents who are released from prison or jail.

Research Highlights:

/Report/PartII/ChapterII-D/PolicyStatement24/ResearchHighlight24-2

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (the "1996 welfare law") includes a lifetime ban on eligibility for food stamps and benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for anyone who receives a felony drug conviction if both the conviction and the underlying conduct occurred after August 22, 1996. ^[1] , ^[2] No one is exempt, including pregnant women or individuals participating in treatment. Children in the family, however, retain their TANF eligibility. The 1996 welfare law also prohibits states from providing TANF assistance, food stamps, supplemental security income (SSI), and public housing to anyone who is in violation of his or her probation or parole. ^[3] The duration of ineligibility is different for each program. For SSI and food stamps, the ineligibility applies "during such month" and "during any period," respectively, that the individual has either absconded or is out of compliance with the conditions of release.

Public Law 104-193.
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§ 115, as amended by § 5516 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33).
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Housing prohibitions are discussed in more detail in Policy Statement 19, Housing.
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Reentry Policy Council

D: Managing the Key Transition Period

2: The "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" dramatically changed the American welfare system, and created several specific barriers to eligibility for public benefits for individuals with criminal records.

In this chapter: