During Tuesday’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) questioned Roxane Somerlot, director of Marion County Department of Job and Family Services, about the effect of losing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program funding.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'll now recognize Ranking Member Davis for any questions he may have.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and let me thank all of our witnesses for your expert testimonials.
00:12Economists predict a 60% chance of recession due to the Trump tariff tax.
00:19Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson is determined to careen ahead with deep cuts to the very programs
00:26that would help families survive the Trump-created recession programs,
00:33programs like Medicaid, food assistance, TANF, and the Social Services Block Grant.
00:41And even if some programs remain, the Trump administration has strangled the ability of agencies to be able to help.
00:51The administration fired thousands at the Department of Health and Human Services
00:57and closed half of the regional offices that manage state TANF and child care programs,
01:06including the one in Illinois.
01:09It was days before the administration even provided an email address for states left without federal contacts.
01:18Ms. Summerlott, can you tell us more about how Marion County uses TANF
01:28and the Social Services Block Grant and how cutting or eliminating them would affect the families you serve?
01:37Ms. Yes, Chairman LaHood, Ranking Member Davis, thank you for that question.
01:50In Marion County, in particularly responding to the Social Services Block Grant,
01:57and Ohio does transfer 10% of their TANF Block Grant to Social Services,
02:03in Marion County, our agency uses that primarily for adult protective services.
02:12We contract with our area agency on aging to investigate and then support people 60 and over
02:23who are at risk of abuse and neglect, self-neglect, and financial exploitation.
02:29And probably more critically, the majority of the Social Services Block Grant goes to supporting
02:39our Child Protective Services system, I think in particularly because 4E reimbursements have been
02:46diminishing over time, and we see a growing number of youth that have multiple needs and more
02:54and more complicated needs. So social services block grant reductions would likely impact the ability
03:02to serve those youth and those families. And TANF, I have mentioned several programs,
03:09our PRC program in particular, our comprehensive case management for employment program for youth,
03:18as well as the benefit bridge program, which now looks to help people not fall back as they're continuing
03:29their journey forward on the economic mobility ladder.
03:34Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, like Ohio, Illinois has a high percentage of children
03:40living with grandparents or other families who receive TANF child-only grants.
03:47This often is because TANF presents significant barriers for grandparent caregivers,
03:55getting whole family benefits. Can you tell us quickly about how grandparents are served?
04:09In Marion County, we developed a special category of support in our PRC plan
04:16for kinship caregivers. So we use the TANF dollars to support them in a variety of ways,
04:25including home repair, legal services, basic needs for kids, school-related costs,
04:34because the only support that they're getting is a small TANF cash grant for that child.
04:41Thank you very much. And Mr. Chairman, I yield back.