In 1996 congress passed a bill reforming the welfare program. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 changed many of the policies of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS). It unified these two programs under Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). One of the reasons that this reform was needed was because of the need for legitimacy associated with client politics. In order for the public to support aid to people they must see good reason for it. When AFDC was first created, it was for the purpose of siding single mothers whose husband had been killed in war or mining accidents, it was not meant to be permanent aid. The public saw this as a legitimate reason

The politics of social welfare programs have affected all of us since their creation in the 1930's. Some people feel that politics are something that happen in Washington, and that individually they are not a part of policy-making, but every time they pay their taxes or vote, they are taking place in forming programs. Through the reform of old programs, creation of new programs, and the design of future programs the welfare of the United States is constantly getting better.

for giving aid to these people. However, as the years went on, people began to see a moral breakdown in the structure of AFDC. It began to be viewed as a government handout that supported people who were using the system. Mothers would be on it that never planned on being married, it supported out of wedlock childbirths, and it weakened work ethics. At this point the legitimacy of the program had been lost, people wanted a service based program rather than a handout. Some of the changes that were made, were allowing states to have more decision making power in the programs. Since the states would more easily assess problems, they could more easily distribute benefits effectively. The reform also forced people to develop a work ethic, by placing limits on the amount of time that they could remain on the program. It also denied Aid in the form of food stamps to aliens until they become citizens. The reform also denied TANF completely to Illegal aliens. With these and other reforms made, welfare regained its legitimacy, ensuring its survival for a while longer. Whether or not the reform is successful is irrelevant to the masses, but this is the goal of client politics. In orde

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