“To prevent and address intentional misuse of subrecipient TANF funds.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends the Social Security Act to establish a framework for monitoring subrecipient use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant funds (under SSA section 403(a)(1)) to identify intentional misuse, supplementing single State audits; directs the Secretary of HHS to create a TANF Program Integrity Unit at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to conduct the monitoring; increases annual funding under SSA section 403(a)(1)(C) by $10 million for the unit's staffing and operations; and requires annual reports to Congress on the unit's activities. (As background, TANF provides states formula block grants for cash welfare assistance to low-income families, often administered via subrecipients such as local governments and nonprofits.) It further amends TANF penalties for intentional misuse (SSA section 409(a)(1)(B)) to require states, upon a finding from such monitoring, to expend an additional amount equal to the misused funds on cash assistance directly to families with incomes below 100% of the poverty line. It requires HHS to publish a notice of rulemaking within two years of enactment, with amendments effective on the later of the first day of the fifth calendar quarter after enactment or the first day of the first fiscal year after enactment.