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(Revised 1/1/04 ML #2897)
Case management is the activity that puts into operation the goals and objectives of TANF. TANF places primary emphasis on households moving towards self-sufficiency in contrast to welfare’s historic emphasis of providing benefits to address current financial needs.
Case management is a primary activity of the TANF eligibility worker. Historically, the eligibility worker’s primary duty has been to determine eligibility and benefit amount. Referrals and other case activities were viewed as secondary tasks. Financial assistance will now be viewed as one of a variety of services to support households. The design of TANF supports the philosophy that participants can and want to live independently of the welfare system; that low-income families have many strengths; that TANF's role is to support those strengths and help remove barriers so participants can become self-sufficient. The household and the TANF eligibility worker will mutually assess the strengths and needs of the household that are currently impacting financial self-sufficiency. This assessment is used to develop goals and tasks agreed to by the household and the TANF eligibility worker that will help move households toward self-sufficiency.
The Department of Human Services recognizes that eligibility workers posses the skills needed to do case management. TANF provides training, technical assistance and an assessment tool in the automated computer system to support TANF eligibility workers in this activity.
