TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] Bonus to Reward States for High Performance - Final Rule [loose] [2]

Extracted text

OCR Page 1 of 62
receive a bonus, particularly among States whose baseline performance was low. G. Leveling the Playing Field We stated in the NPRM that we believed that competition for the high performance bonus should primarily reflect a State's welfare to work strategies and should be a competition among States that is objective and fair. We indicated that there are factors over which the State has little control, such as the health of the State's economy, the demographics of its TANF caseload and its resident population, and State population growth. We asked if we should attempt to develop adjustment factors in order to ensure an objective and fair competition. Comment: There were two comments suggesting that we level the playing field to take into account such factors as economic, demographic, and cultural differences. We did not receive any specific proposals. Response: We believe that by incorporating both absolute performance and performance improvement measures, we have helped produce a more level playing field for States competing for the high performance bonus. Further, by changing from a percentage increase to a percentage point increase to measure improvement, 150