Welfare Reform bill

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Block Grants for Temporary Assistance for Needy

Families

Title II: Supplemental Security Income

Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions

Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children

Subtitle C: Additional Enforcement Provision

Subtitle D: Studies Regarding Supplemental Security

Income Program

Title III: Child Support

Subtitle A: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of

Payments

Subtitle B: Locate and Case Tracking

Subtitle C: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures

Subtitle D: Paternity Establishment

Subtitle E: Program Administration and Funding

Subtitle F: Establishment and Modification of Support

Orders

Subtitle G: Enforcement of Support Orders

Subtitle H: Medical Support

Subtitle I: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity

for Non-Residential Parents

Subtitle J: Effective Dates and Conforming Amendments

Title IV: Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens

Subtitle A: Eligibility for Federal Benefits

Subtitle B: Eligibility for State and Local Public

Benefits Programs

Subtitle C: Attribution of Income and Affidavits of

Support

Subtitle D: General Provisions

Subtitle E: Conforming Amendments Relating to Assisted

Housing

Subtitle F: Earned Income Credit Denied to Unauthorized

Employees

Title V: Child Protection

Title VI: Child Care

Title VII: Child Nutrition Programs

Subtitle A: National School Lunch Act

Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Act of 1966

Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Provisions

Title VIII: Food Stamps and Commodity Distribution

Subtitle A: Food Stamp Program

Subtitle B: Commodity Distribution Programs

Subtitle C: Electronic Benefit Transfer Systems

Title IX: Miscellaneous

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 - Title I: Block Grants for Temporary Assistance For Needy Families - Expresses the sense of the Congress that prevention of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and reduction in out-of-wedlock births are important Government interests.

(Sec. 103) Replaces the current Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) programs under parts A and F of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) (and terminates current entitlements to any benefits or services under them effective October 1, 1996) with a single, combined program under part A of block grants during FY 1996 through 2002 to eligible States with Federal-approved plans for temporary assistance (TANF) to eligible needy families with a minor child.

Eliminates AFDC transitional and at-risk child care programs.

Provides for 75 percent matching grants to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, and makes appropriations for them.

Places such new block grant program under the present administrative authority of an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Family Support.

Requires State TANF programs to include certain mandatory work- (public or private, subsidized or unsubsidized), education-, and job-related activities, including job training and job search, for the purpose of: (1) providing such families with time-limited assistance in order to end their dependency on government benefits and achieve self-sufficiency; (2) preventing and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies, especially teenage ones; and (3) encouraging the formulation and maintenance of two-parent families. Retains the former AFDC purpose of providing assistance so that children may be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives.

Prescribes State TANF plan general requirements, including annual numeric goals for reducing illegitimacy in the State between 1996 and 2005, while allowing a State to determine how to meet such requirements. Requires a State to certify that, among other things, it will: (1) operate an appropriate child support enforcement program and a foster care and adoption assistance program; (2) provide Indians with equitable access to assistance; and (3) establish and enforce standards and procedures to ensure against program fraud and abuse. Authorizes a State to further certify that it will screen for and identify TANF recipients with a history of domestic violence, and refers them to counseling and supportive services.

Mandates plan contents requiring: (1) a parent or caretaker receiving TANF to engage in State-defined work once the State determines such recipient is either ready to do so or has received assistance for 24 months (two years), whether or not consecutive, whichever is earlier; and (2) a State statutory rape training program outline for law enforcement and other applicable personnel in order to provide for expanded teenage pregnancy prevention programs including men.

Permits States to decide in their TANF plans: (1) whether or not they intend to provide TANF assistance to aliens; and (2) how to treat families moving interstate (allowing them, under grant-related provisions below, to impose the program rules and benefit levels of the State from which the family moved if they have lived in the State for fewer than 12 months).

Requires a State (as under current law) to explain how it will provide opportunities for adversely affected recipients to be heard in a State administrative or appeal process. Eliminates formal requirements (under the current JOBS program) for dispute resolution procedures for such matters, including separate conciliation procedures.

Authorizes States to use block grants: (1) in any manner reasonably calculated to accomplish TANF purposes; or (2) in any manner that the State was authorized to use funds received under the former AFDC and JOBS programs. Requires an initial assessment of a recipient's skills, prior work experience, and employability that is performed by the applicable State agency in order to gauge the level of support needed for the recipient to achieve self-sufficiency. Provides that in return, at the State's option, such recipients may agree to satisfy certain obligations (such as immunizing their children or attending parenting and money management classes) set forth in any individual responsibility plan (IRP) executed in consultation with the State, in addition to the required program activities outlined below, in order to help the individual become and remain employed in the private sector. Requires IRPs to describe the services that the State will provide to enable the individual to obtain and keep such employment. Allows such IRPs to include requirements for appropriate substance abuse treatment. Sets forth formulae for computing specific State grant amounts. Provides for child and medical care needs of individual family members on TANF at work or engaged in other required program activities.

Authorizes a State to use Federal family assistance grant amounts under its TANF program for: (1) providing prepregnancy family planning services (while denying their use for medical services generally); (2) covering home heating and cooling costs for TANF-eligible families with low income; (3) carrying out a State child care program under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 for family members with children that are required to engage in program activities (in lieu of the child care previously provided under the former AFDC child care programs); (4) carrying out a State social services program; (5) funding development accounts of individual TANF-eligible family members in order to help them accumulate funds for first home purchase and other qualified purposes; and (6) make payments (or provide vouchers) to State-approved public and private job placement agencies that provide employment placement services to individual TANF recipients (currently under the JOBS program State agencies are authorized to carry out a program of job search for individual JOBS program participants).

Encourages States receiving family assistance grants to use them to implement an electronic TANF benefit transfer system.

Limits eligible families generally to no more than 60 months (five years), consecutive or nonconsecutive, of TANF, with certain exceptions for hardship situations, minor children, or family members that have been battered or subject to extreme cruelty, including mental abuse.

Provides for continuation of waivers of State AFDC requirements granted by the HHS Secretary before enactment of this Act (or, if applied for before enactment, approved before July 1, 1997) to carry out certain experimental, pilot, or demonstration (welfare reform) projects.

Denies TANF assistance in cases: (1) where an individual family member is a fugitive felon or a probation or parole violator; and (2) where unmarried teenage parents with a minor child at least 12 weeks of age in their care do not attend high school or other equivalent training program. Provides for suspension of cash TANF assistance for ten years to an individual family member found to have fraudulently misrepresented residence in order to obtain TANF, Medicaid (SSA title XIX), food stamp, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (SSA title XVI) assistance in two or more States.

Requires States with approved Medicaid plans and receiving family assistance grants to provide medical assistance to certain families that would otherwise become ineligible for AFDC or TANF assistance because of earnings from employment or child or spousal support.

Requires, in addition, certain adult-supervised living arrangements for unmarried teenage parents in order for them to receive TANF.

Provides for additional grants to States as bonus rewards for reductions in illegitimate births and for high performance under the TANF program, as well as supplemental grants to certain States for population increases.

Provides a Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs in the Treasury for payments to eligible needy States and the District of Columbia.

Makes necessary appropriations for such grants and the Contingency Fund.

Sets up a Federal loan program for State TANF programs for anti-fraud and other specified activities, and makes necessary appropriations.

Outlines required TANF program activities (similar to current JOBS program activities) for TANF recipients to attain self-sufficiency through mandatory participation in, among other activities, community service programs, vocational educational training, and in programs for refurbishing public housing and providing child care services for community service program participants. Requires that education, as a TANF program activity, be directly related to employment in the case of a recipient who has not received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate (as opposed to current educational activities under JOBS which include basic and remedial education to achieve a basic literacy level). Limits the number of weeks for which job searching counts as work. Deems a single parent with a child under age six to be meeting work requirements if engaged in work for 20 hours per week. Grants States the option of not requiring a single custodial parent caring for a child who has not attained 12 months of age to engage in work.

Sets forth various requirements with respect to Indians and Alaskan Natives, including those for determining the number of months for which an adult Indian or Alaskan Native shall receive TANF assistance if such adult lived on a reservation or in a native village. Provides for direct funding for FY 1997 through 2000, by way of three-year tribal family assistance grants, to Indian tribes with approved plans for the purpose of operating their own welfare programs with similar work requirements and time limits for receipt of welfare-related services. Prescribes a special rule for Indian tribes in Alaska. Makes available other grants for Indian tribes that conducted JOBS programs in FY 1995 in order for them to make work activities available to tribal members. Makes necessary appropriations.

Established penalties for States and individual families for specified grant and program violations, respectively, including individual noncompliance with any IRP provisions, through reduced grants and assistance payments. Allows States to terminate such payments outright to certain individual family members without small children needing child care who refuse to: (1) engage in required program activities; or (2) cooperate with the State in establishing paternity or obtaining child support unless the member qualifies for a good cause or other specified exception.

Provides for a separate reduction in State family assistance grant payments for States failing to comply with Federal paternity establishment and child support enforcement requirements, and for failure to timely repay a Federal loan fund for State welfare programs under the Federal loan program set up below. Provides for enhanced penalties for intentional violations. Includes provisions for corrective compliance plans under which States may be notified of a pending penalty and be afforded the opportunity of correcting the matter giving rise to such sanction.

Declares that States receiving family assistance grants shall not be prohibited from sanctioning a family that includes an adult who: (1) has received TANF or food stamp assistance if such adult fails to ensure that his or her minor dependent children attend school as required by applicable State law; and (3) is between age 20 and 51 and has received such assistance if such adult does not have, or is not working toward attaining, a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent (unless he or she is determined to lack the requisite capacity to attain such credentials).

Sets forth the mechanism for State appeal of Federal adverse decisions on State plans or of penalties, providing for advance notification of any program violation and the opportunity for a State to correct it before any such penalty is imposed. Limits to 25 percent the amount of any penalty reduction in the State's quarterly family assistance grant payment.

Provides for the exchange of certain TANF program information with law enforcement under specified conditions.

Details miscellaneous TANF plan and family assistance grant administrative matters, including confidentiality protections for TANF recipients, limitations on the use of grants for administrative purposes, and payment of grant funds in quarterly installments.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that State TANF programs: (1) are encouraged to assign the highest priority to requiring adults in two-parent families and in single-parent families with older preschool or school-age children to be engaged in work activities; and (2) should require noncustodial, nonsupporting parents under age 18 to fulfill community work obligations and attend appropriate parenting or money management classes after school.

Outlines specific program data collection and reporting requirements, as well as certain research, evaluation, and study requirements. Requires the Secretary annually to rank the States receiving family assistance grants according to their successes under the TANF program with regard to certain categories, including their success in placing TANF recipients into long-term private sector jobs and lowering out-of-wedlock births. Makes appropriations.

Authorizes the HHS Secretary to implement and evaluate demonstrations of innovative and promising strategies which: (1) provide one-time capital funds to establish, expand, or replicate programs; (2) test performance-based grant-to-loan financing in which programs meeting performance targets receive grants while programs not meeting such targets repay funding on a prorated basis; and (3) test strategies in multiple States and types of communities.

Establishes a mechanism for ensuring that increased child poverty rates attributable to this title are addressed via corrective action by the State involved in a plan submitted to the HHS Secretary.

Directs the Bureau of the Census to continue to collect data on the 1992 and 1993 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation as necessary to obtain such information as will enable interested persons to evaluate the impact of the changes made by this title on a random national sample of recipients of assistance under State TANF programs. Makes appropriations.

Provides for the treatment of existing State AFDC (welfare reform) waiver projects in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, and those under waivers granted subsequently. Gives States the option of terminating waivers before their expiration. Directs the HHS Secretary to encourage any State operating a waiver project to continue the waiver and to evaluate its result or effect. Declares that, beginning with FY 1996, a State operating a waiver project shall be entitled to payment through family assistance and other TANF grants for the fiscal year involved in lieu of any other payment provided for in the waiver.

Directs the HHS Secretary to reduce the Federal workforce within HHS by 75 percent of the number of positions that relate to direct spending programs and programs funded by spending that is converted to block grants, and take necessary action, including reductions in force, to reduce the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions within HHS by 245 FTE positions related to the program converted into TANF block grants, and by 60 FTE managerial positions at HHS.

(Sec. 104) Allows States to contract with charitable, religious, and private organizations to provide services and administer programs established or modified under titles I or II of this Act. Prohibits the expenditure of financial assistance under such programs for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytization.

(Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to expand census data collection efforts to enable the Bureau of the Census to collect statistically significant data on grandparent primary caregivers.

(Sec. 106) Requires an HHS report to the Congress on State automated data processing systems used in administering AFDC or TANF programs to determine what would be required to establish a system for tracking public program participants and checking case records to determine if they are participating in public programs of two or more States.

(Sec. 107) Details requirements for a similar study and report on alternative outcomes measures for evaluating the success of the States in moving individuals off welfare through employment.

(Sec. 108) Makes applicable conforming amendments to various SSA titles, the Food Stamp Act of 1977, the Job Training Partnership Act, the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1976, and the Immigration and Nationality Act, and other specified Federal laws.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code with regard to the collection of TANF overpayments.

(Sec. 111) Directs the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner) to: (1) develop a prototype counterfeit-resistant social security card; and (2) study and report to the Congress on improving the social security card application process, which shall include an evaluation of the cost and work load implications of issuing such a card for all individuals over specified periods.

(Sec. 112) Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to remove the "demonstration" status of the Job Opportunities for Certain Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) program and give it an increased annual authorization for any fiscal year.

(Sec. 114) Makes certain amendments to SSA title XIX for assuring Medicaid coverage for low-income families under the TANF program, using pre-welfare reform (AFDC) eligibility criteria. Gives States the option of terminating Medicaid assistance for certain individuals receiving cash TANF assistance who refuse to work, except with respect to minor children who are not heads of a household. Extends certain work transition provisions under Medicaid.

(Sec. 115) Makes any individual convicted of a Federal or State felony for the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance after enactment of this Act ineligible (along with other family members) for any TANF assistance or food stamp benefits (but not ineligible for emergency Medicaid medical services, noncash emergency disaster relief, certain public health assistance, prenatal care, and job training and drug treatment program assistance). Gives States the option of opting out of this eligibility denial requirement, or limiting the period during which it shall apply in the State.

Title II: Supplemental Security Income - Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions - Amends SSA title XVI to: (1) suspend SSI for ten years to individuals found to have fraudulently misrepresented residence in order to obtain benefits simultaneously in two or more States; and (2) deny SSI for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators.

Provides for the exchange of certain SSI information with law enforcement agencies under specified conditions.

(Sec. 203) Revises the treatment afforded prisoners with regard to SSI benefits to authorize the Commissioner to: (1) enter into an agreement with interested State or local institutions used to confine prisoners for monthly reports of certain identifying information in order to enforce SSI benefit limitations or denials, and pay such institution a specified fee with regard to each SSI-eligible inmate identified who becomes ineligible as a result of such reporting; and (2) provide, on a reimbursable basis, information obtained pursuant to such agreements to any Federal or federally-assisted cash, food, or medical assistance program for eligibility purposes.

Requires the Commissioner to study and report to the Congress on other specified potential improvements in the collection of information respecting public inmates.

Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children - Revises childhood disability eligibility rules to: (1) consider an individual under age 18 disabled if he or she has a medically determinable physical or mental impairment which results in marked and severe functional limitations, and which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months; and (2) modify the medical criteria for evaluation of mental and emotional disorders, discontinuing the use of individualized functional assessments for children. Declares that no individual under age 18 who engages in substantial gainful activity may be considered disabled.

Modifies medical improvement review standards, specifically dividing their applicability to, and creating separate criteria for, individuals aged 18 or older, and individuals under age 18, respectively.

Authorizes additional appropriations for continuing disability reviews and redeterminations, with adjustments as necessary under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings) and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

(Sec. 212) Requires the Commissioner, at least once every three years, to review the continued SSI eligibility of each individual who has not attained age 18 and is eligible for such benefits by reason of an impairment, or combination thereof, which is likely, or at the Commissioner's option, unlikely, to improve.

Requires a representative payee (RP) of a recipient to present at the review evidence demonstrating that the recipient has been receiving medically necessary and available treatment for the condition on which the SSI benefits are based. Provides that if the RP refuses without good cause to comply with such requirement, the Commissioner shall, if in the individual's best interest, promptly provide for payment of benefits to an alternative RP to the individual directly.

Provides that if an individual is eligible for SSI benefits because of disability for the month preceding the month in which he or she attains age 18, the Commissioner shall redetermine such eligibility: (1) during the one-year period beginning on the individual's 18th birthday; and (2) by applying the criteria used in determining the initial eligibility for applicants who have attained age 18.

Specifies requirements for continuing disability reviews for low-birth-weight babies.

(Sec. 213) Requires RPs of eligible individuals below age 18 to establish financial institution accounts on their behalf into which past-due SSI payments shall be paid if the lump-sum payment amounts to more than six times the maximum monthly SSI payment (including any State supplementary payments). Allows the use of account funds to pay for certain expenses, such as education or job skills training, therapy or rehabilitation, or any other appropriate item or service. Excludes account funds and their accrued interest and other earnings from resources and income in determining SSI eligibility. Directs the Commissioner to establish a system for accountability monitoring whereby a RP shall report on account fund activities.

(Sec. 214) Reduces cash SSI payments to institutionalized children whose medical costs are covered by private insurance.

Subtitle C: Additional Enforcement Provision - Provides for installment payment of large amounts of past-due SSI benefits.

Subtitle D: Studies Regarding Supplemental Security Income Program - Requires the Commissioner to report annually to the President and the Congress on the SSI program, including summaries of relevant research by the Social Security Administration.

(Sec. 233) Outlines the requirements for a General Accounting Office study and report on the impact of this title on the SSI program and on the extra expenses incurred by families of children receiving SSI benefits that are not covered by other Federal, State, or local programs.

Title III: Child Support - Subtitle A: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to require State plans for child and spousal support to provide: (1) certain services relating to paternity establishment or enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) continuation of services for families ceasing to receive TANF assistance.

(Sec. 302) Revises payment distribution guidelines for support obligations collected by the State on behalf of a family.

(Sec. 303) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions; and (2) notification to services applicants or recipients of all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations.

Subtitle B: Locate and Case Tracking - Mandates that single statewide automated data systems include a State case registry containing records of: (1) each case in which services are provided by the State agency; and (2) each support order established on or after a specified date. Permits the linking of local registries.

(Sec. 312) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. Permits the unit to be established by linking local disbursement units through an automated information network if the Secretary agrees that it will not cost more or take more time to establish or operate than a centralized system.

(Sec. 313) Requires State plans to: (1) provide for a State-operated and automated State Directory of New Hires containing prescribed information furnished by employers on new personnel; and (2) transmit such information to the National Directory of New Hires.

(Sec. 314) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which wages of a person with a support obligation imposed by a child support order issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement.

(Sec. 315) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to ensure that Federal and State agencies conducting income-withholding activities have access to State locator systems for motor vehicle or law enforcement purposes.

(Sec. 316) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to provide for additional information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of: (1) establishing parentage; (2) establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations; and (3) enforcing child custody or visitation orders.

Directs the HHS Secretary to establish in the Federal Parent Locator Service an automated Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders and an automated National Directory of New Hires.

Requires the Secretaries of Labor and of HHS to jointly develop cost-effective methods of accessing information in the various State directories of new hires and the National Directory of New Hires (established under this Act), taking into account impact and cost to the States, and the need to insure authorized use of wage record information.

(Sec. 317) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring recordation on such documents of the Social Security number of: (1) specified driver's, marriage, and occupational, and professional license applicants; (2) individuals subject to certain domestic relations orders; and (3) deceased persons (on death records).

Subtitle C: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures - Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1998. Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for the court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders.

(Sec. 323) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring: (1) expedited administrative enforcement in interstate cases and support orders; and (2) expedited administrative and judicial procedures for establishing paternity and enforcing support obligations.

Subtitle D: Paternity Establishment - Revises the guidelines for State laws governing paternity establishment. Requires State procedures under which the name of the father shall be included on the birth certificate only: (1) if the mother and father have signed a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity; or (2) pursuant to a judicial or administrative order.

(Sec. 333) Requires State plans for child and spousal support to provide that the State agency administering the plan will make a determination as to whether a program recipient is cooperating in good faith with State efforts to establish paternity and secure support.

Subtitle E: Program Administration and Funding - Directs the Secretary to develop a new incentive system to replace the current one. Revises the guidelines for Federal performance-based incentive payments to the States for effective child support enforcement programs.

(Sec. 342) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location.

(Sec. 344) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks.

(Sec. 345) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service.

Subtitle F: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders - Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders.

(Sec. 352) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to authorize a consumer agency to furnish a consumer report: (1) in response to a request by a governmental child support enforcement agency; or (2) to the State administrative agency which sets child support awards.

(Sec. 353) Shields a depository institution from Federal or State liability for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency. Prohibits such agency from disclosing such a financial record except for the purpose of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation. Sets forth civil penalties for any person knowingly or negligently violating such prohibition.

Subtitle G: Enforcement of Support Orders - Amends Internal Revenue Code procedural guidelines for the collection of arrearages to provide that no additional fee may be assessed for adjustments to a previously certified amount.

(Sec. 362) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed Forces.

(Sec. 364) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to have in effect the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act of 1981, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act of 1984, or a similar law, as well as certain procedures governing the voiding of fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor.

(Sec. 365) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include specified procedures: (1) to ensure that persons owing past-due support work or participate in work activities the court deems appropriate; (2) to report to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (3) to provide for liens against real and personal property for the support arrearages of a non-custodial parent; and (4) to implement the restriction of driver's, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses of individuals owing support arrearages.

(Sec. 370) Requires the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, or limit a passport upon certification of nonpayment of child support.

(Sec. 371) Authorizes the Secretary of State to negotiate reciprocal agreements with foreign nations: (1) regarding international enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) designating HHS as the central authority for such enforcement.

(Sec. 372) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which a State agency shall enter agreements with financial institutions doing business within the State to develop and operate a data match system to provide identifying information for each non-custodial parent targeted by the State who maintains an account at the institution, and to encumber or surrender such parent's assets at the institution pursuant to a lien or levy.

(Sec. 373) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which child support orders relating to the child of minor parents, where the custodial parents are receiving assistance, are enforceable against the child's paternal or maternal grandparents.

(Sec. 374) Amends Federal bankruptcy law and the Social Security Act to declare a debt for child support nondischargeable in bankruptcy.

(Sec. 375) Authorizes a State plan for child and spousal support to enter into cooperative agreements with an Indian tribe or tribal organization if it demonstrates that it has an established tribal court system with authority to establish paternity, and child support enforcement powers for the cooperative delivery of child support enforcement services, and for the forwarding of all funding collected by the tribe to the State agency.

Authorizes the Secretary to make direct payments (analogous to payments to a State plan for spousal and child support) to an Indian tribe or tribal organization with an approved child support enforcement plan.

Subtitle H: Medical Support - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process.

(Sec. 377) Amends part D of SSA title IV to mandate statutorily prescribed procedures under which all enforced child support orders shall include a provision for the health care coverage of the child.

Subtitle I: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non- Residential Parents - Amends part D of SSA title IV to prescribe guidelines under which the Administration for Children and Families shall make grants to enable States to establish and administer access and visitation programs to facilitate non-custodial parents' access to their children.

Subtitle J: Effective Dates and Conforming Amendments - Sets forth effective dates and conforming amendments.

Title IV: Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens - Declares that: (1) it is a compelling government interest to enact new rules for eligibility and sponsorship agreements in order to assure that aliens be self-reliant in accordance with national immigration policy; and (2) it is a compelling government interest to remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits.

Subtitle A: Eligibility for Federal Benefits - Prohibits Federal public benefits (as defined by this Act) to aliens who are not qualified aliens (as defined by this Act). Stipulates that such prohibition shall not apply to: (1) emergency medical services; (2) certain emergency disaster relief; (3) public health immunizations and treatment of communicable diseases; (4) housing assistance; (5) certain in-kind community services; and (6) Social Security Act benefits under specified circumstances.

(Sec. 402) Makes qualified aliens ineligible (with limited exceptions for refugees, asylees, certain permanent residents, veterans and active duty personnel, aliens whose deportation is withheld, and aliens currently receiving benefits) for: (1) supplemental security income (SSI); (2) food stamps; (3) temporary assistance for needy families; (4) social services block grants; and (5) Medicaid.

(Sec. 403) Makes qualified aliens ineligible (with limited exceptions for refugees, asylees, and veterans and active duty personnel) for Federal means-tested public benefits (as defined by this Act) for the first five years after U.S. entry. Provides a special rule for certain Cuban and Haitian entrant assistance.

(Sec. 404) Requires each Federal agency administering a program covered by this title to post information and provide general notification to the public and program recipients, either directly or through the States, of the requirements concerning alien eligibility for any such program pursuant to this title.

Amends the Social Security Act and the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide for State reporting of certain illegal alien information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

Subtitle B: Eligibility for State and Local Public Benefits Programs - Makes an alien who is not a qualified alien, a nonimmigrant, or a parolee ineligible for State or local benefits (as defined by this Act). Stipulates that such prohibition shall not apply to: (1) emergency medical services; (2) certain emergency disaster relief; (3) public health immunizations and treatment of communicable diseases; and (4) certain in-kind community services.

(Sec. 412) Authorizes States to determine eligibility for State public benefits for qualified aliens, nonimmigrants, or parolees. States that refugees, asylees, certain permanent residents, and veterans and active duty personnel shall be eligible for all State public benefits. Sets forth transition provisions for aliens currently receiving assistance.

Subtitle C: Attribution of Income and Affidavits of Support - Provides that in determining the eligibility and the amount of benefits of any alien for Federal any means-tested public benefits program the income and resources of the alien shall be deemed to include: (1) the income and resources of any person who executed an affidavit of support on the alien's behalf; and (2) the income and resources of the person's spouse (if any). Applies such requirement with respect to an alien until such time as the alien achieves U.S. citizenship through naturalization or has worked without public assistance for a specified time.

(Sec. 422) Authorizes States to make similar attributions with respect to State programs (with specified exceptions).

(Sec. 423) Sets forth requirements for sponsor's affidavit of support.

Subtitle D: General Provisions - Defines qualified alien to be: (1) a lawful permanent resident; (2) an asylee; (3) a refugee; (4) a parolee; (5) an alien under withheld deportation; and (6) an alien granted conditional entry.

(Sec. 432) Requires the Attorney General to promulgate regulations regarding alien eligibility for Federal public benefits. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle E: Conforming Amendments Relating to Assisted Housing - Makes conforming amendments related to assisted housing under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 and the Housing Act of 1949.

Subtitle F: Earned Income Credit Denied to Unauthorized Employees - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require a taxpayer to provide his or her social security number in order to qualify for the earned income credit.

Title V: Child Protection: Amends the Social Security Act to change the definition of "child care provider" to eliminate the nonprofit requirement for providers.

(Sec. 502) Extends funding for the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS) through FY 1997.

(Sec. 503) Requires a national study based on random samples of children at risk of child abuse or neglect or who are determined by States to have been abused or neglected. Requires the study to have a longitudinal component and to include specified elements. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2002.

(Sec. 505) Provides for kinship care, requiring that States consider giving preference to adult relatives over non-relative caregivers when determining child placement.

Title VI: Child Care - Child Care and Development Block Grant Amendments Act of 1996 - Revises and extends through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (the Act, for purposes of this title). Sets forth goals for State child care assistance.

(Sec. 603) Amends Part A of title IV (TANF) of the Social Security Act to entitle each State to payments for providing child care assistance.

(Sec. 604) Authorizes the State lead agency to administer the financial assistance it receives through other governmental or nongovernmental agencies.

(Sec. 605) Revises State application and plan requirements with respect to consumer education information, State licensing compliance, meeting the needs of TEA recipients (especially those attempting through work activities to leave the assistance program) and those at risk of becoming dependent on assistance, and assistance for certain low-income working families.

(Sec. 607) Reduces from 20 percent to four percent the minimum amount of certain funds available for State activities to improve the quality of child care, limited to: (1) comprehensive consumer education to parents and the public; (2) activities increasing parental choice; and (3) activities designed to improve child care quality and availability.

(Sec. 608) Repeals a requirement that States expend a specified minimum amount of reserved funds for early childhood development and before- and after-school services.

(Sec. 613) Reduces the allotment reserved for Indian tribes or tribal organizations from three percent to one percent. Prescribes guidelines for the use of such allotment for facility repair and construction.

Title VII: Child Nutrition Programs - Subtitle A: National School Lunch Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to repeal specified authorities and requirements for the school lunch and related programs, including: (1) State educational authority to use resources from the nutrition and education (NET) program; (2) prohibition of State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; (3) certain demonstration grants to private nonprofit organizations or educational institutions for elementary school curriculum food and nutrition projects; (4) aspects of summer food service programs, reducing payment rates and daily meals at camps, reducing the National Youth Sports Program, and revising nutritional standards compliance requirements; (5) certain commodity distribution program requirements, including State Advisory Councils; (6) expansion of the child care food program; (7) adult care food aid to adult day care centers and services for persons over 60; (8) certain pilot projects, including one for paperwork reduction; and (9) an information clearinghouse.

(Sec. 701) Includes in the definition of child any individual with one or more mental or physical disabilities, regardless of age, who attends a specified type of institution, or any nonresidential public or nonprofit private school of high school grade or under, in order to participate in a school program for such individuals.

(Sec. 702) Revises nutritional and other program requirements.

(Sec. 705) Prohibits, in general, any waiver that will increase Federal costs.

Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to revise the school breakfast program: (1) eliminating Federal assistance for food preparation training and program expansion and start-up costs; (2) repealing certain authorities and requirements relating to State administrative expenses (SAE); (3) repealing the prohibition against State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; and (4) repealing the program of cash grants for nutrition education.

(Sec. 729) Revises the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC), among other things repealing specified requirements and changing from mandatory to optional: (1) drug abuse education; and (2) provision of WIC information in languages other than English.

(Sec. 731) Makes the Nutrition and Education program discretionary rather than mandatory. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop, and report on, proposed changes in regulations to simplify and coordinate the school lunch program under NSLA and the school breakfast program under CNA into a comprehensive meal program.

(Sec. 742) Provides that an individual eligible to receive free public education benefits under State or local law shall not be ineligible to receive benefits under the NSLA school lunch program or the CNA school breakfast program on the basis of citizenship, alienage, or immigration status.

Declares that nothing in this Act shall prohibit or require a State to provide to an individual who is not a citizen or a qualified alien benefits under: (1) NSLA and CNA programs other than the school lunch and school breakfast programs; (2) specified provisions of the Agricultural and Consumer Protection Act of 1973; (3) the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983; and (4) the food distribution program on Indian reservations under the Food Stamp Act of 1977.

Title VIII: Food Stamps and Commodity Distribution - Subtitle A: Food Stamp Program - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (Act) to establish a maximum 24-month food stamp program (program) authorization period for households whose adult members are elderly or disabled.

(Sec. 802) Expands the definition of "coupon."

(Sec. 803) Treats children who are themselves parents living with their children and married children living with their spouses as part of an existing household rather than as a separate household.

(Sec. 804) Revises thrifty food plan adjustment requirements.

(Sec. 805) Revises the definition of "homeless individual" to limit the length of time a person may temporarily live in another person's residence.

(Sec. 807) Revises household income exclusion provisions regarding: (1) students; and (2) Federal energy assistance.

(Sec. 809) Revises household income deduction provisions regarding: (1) standard deductions; (2) earned income; (3) dependent care; (4) child support payments; (5) homeless shelter assistance; (6) excess medical expenses; and (7) excess shelter expenses.

(Sec. 810) Eliminates specified excludable auto value increases and establishes the maximum excludable auto value at $4600.

(Sec. 811) Includes as household income third party payments for transitional housing for the homeless.

(Sec. 812) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to develop a simplified procedure for calculating self-employment income.

(Sec. 813) Increases penalties for certain program violations.

(Sec. 814) Disqualifies permanently an individual convicted of specified coupon violations.

(Sec. 815) Revises work requirement and employment and training provisions. Extends employment and training funding authorizations.

(Sec. 819) Authorizes comparable program disqualification based upon means-tested public assistance disqualification.

(Sec. 820) Disqualifies for ten years an individual who participates in the program in two or more States.

(Sec. 821) Disqualifies a fleeing felon from program participation.

(Sec. 822) Requires at State option: (1) cooperation with child support agencies in order to maintain program eligibility; and (2) program disqualification for child support arrears.

(Sec. 824) Defines "work program." Makes nonexempt persons ineligible for program benefits if during the preceding 36-month period they received food stamps for not less than three months without working at least 20 hours per week, or participating in a workfare program. Sets forth exempted persons and situations.

(Sec. 825) Directs States to implement electronic benefit transfer systems.

(Sec. 826) Eliminates annual minimum allotment adjustments.

(Sec. 828) Authorizes a combined allotment for expedited households.

(Sec. 829) Authorizes program reductions for failure to comply with a means-tested public assistance reduction requirement.

(Sec. 830) Authorizes program assistance for households residing in a homeless shelter or drug or alcohol treatment center.

(Sec. 831) Provides that no food store or wholesale food concern be approved for program participation without a prior visit by a Department of Agriculture employee, or a designated State or local official.

(Sec. 832) Directs the Secretary to establish authorization periods for retail food stores and wholesale food concerns to redeem food stamps or benefits through an electronic benefit transfer system.

(Sec. 833) Includes income and sales tax information among the types of eligibility verification information that may be requested.

(Sec. 834) Establishes a six-month reapplication waiting period for a store that does not meet participation requirements.

(Sec. 835) Revises: (1) food stamp office operating provisions; and (2) expedited coupon service requirements.

(Sec. 836) Eliminates certain certification personnel training requirements.

(Sec. 837) Provides for the exchange of information with law enforcement or Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel.

(Sec. 839) Authorizes a family to withdraw a fair hearing request.

(Sec. 840) Permits States to use income, and immigration eligibility verification systems other than a specified system under the Social Security Act.

(Sec. 842) Provides for disqualification of a store: (1) that knowingly submits a falsified application; and (2) that is disqualified from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

(Sec. 844) Directs program overissuances to be collected by: (1) allotment reduction; (2) unemployment compensation withholding; or (3) Federal pay or Federal income tax refund recovery.

(Sec. 845) Authorizes suspension of a store pending administrative and judicial review. (States that the Secretary shall not be liable for lost sales during such period.)

(Sec. 846) Establishes criminal forfeiture penalties for specified program violations.

(Sec. 847) Terminates Federal matching requirements for program recruitment activities.

(Sec. 849) Authorizes States to use funds otherwise available to a participating household for a work supplementation or support program. Sets forth program provisions.

(Sec. 850) Authorizes waiver of program requirements as necessary to conduct related pilot projects. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 852) Authorizes States to carry out private sector employment initiatives. Sets forth program provisions.

(Sec. 853) Authorizes appropriations for program operations.

(Sec. 854) Authorizes States to carry out a Simplified Food Stamp Program in lieu of existing program requirements. Sets forth program provisions.

(Sec. 855) Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the use of food stamps for vitamin and mineral purchases.

(Sec. 856) Expresses the sense of the House Committee on Agriculture that reductions in outlays resulting from this title shall not be considered for certain budget reduction purposes under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

Subtitle B: Commodity Distribution Programs - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to combine the emergency food assistance program with the soup kitchen-food bank program. Amends the Act to direct the Secretary to purchase commodities for such combined programs.

(Sec. 872) Amends the Charitable Assistance and Food Bank Act of 1987 to repeal the food bank demonstration project.

(Sec. 873) Makes conforming and technical amendments to the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990.

Subtitle C: Electronic Benefit Transfer Systems - Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to exempt (with exceptions) State and local government electronic benefit transfer systems from specified provisions of such Act.

Title IX: Miscellaneous - Subjects any funds received by a State under the TEA program or the child care block grant to appropriation by the State legislature, consistent with program terms and conditions.

(Sec. 902) Provides that States shall not be prohibited by the Federal Government from testing welfare recipients for use of controlled substances nor from sanctioning those who test positive.

(Sec. 903) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to eliminate housing assistance for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators, and provide for the exchange, upon request, of housing information about such individuals with law enforcement agencies.

(Sec. 904) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) States should diligently continue their efforts to enforce child support payments by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent, regardless of the former's employment status or location; and (2) States are encouraged to pursue pilot programs in which the parents of a non-adult, non-custodial parent who refuses to or is unable to pay child support must pay or contribute to the child support owed by the non-custodial parent or otherwise fulfill all financial obligations and meet all conditions imposed on the non-custodial parent, such as participation in a work program or other related activity.

(Sec. 905) Directs the HHS Secretary to establish a strategy for: (1) preventing out-of-wedlock teenage pregnancies; and (2) assuring that at least 25 percent of U.S. communities have teenage pregnancy prevention programs in place.

(Sec. 906) Expresses the sense of the Senate that States and local jurisdictions should aggressively enforce statutory rape laws.

Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a program of specified studies and State and local criminal law enforcement official education about statutory rape; and (2) ensure that the Department of Justice's Violence Against Women initiative addresses statutory rape by predatory older men with repeat offenses.

(Sec. 907) Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to exempt from certain required disclosures, responsibilities, remedies, and regulations (regulation E) any State or local electronic benefit transfer systems for the distribution of needs-tested benefits, except for direct deposits into a consumer account held by a benefit recipient.

(Sec. 908) Amends SSA title XX to provide for a reduction in block grants to States for social services and authorize the use of vouchers under it to provide services to families: (1) ineligible for TANF assistance because of a durational limit; and (2) denied cash TANF assistance for additional children.

(Sec. 909) Amends Internal Revenue Code rules for denial of earned income credit for individuals having excessive investment income to: (1) reduce from $2,350 to $2,200 the disqualified income threshold; (2) revise the adjustment for inflation; (3) make disqualified income (and therefore a basis for denial of credit) any capital gain net income and any aggregate gains from all passive activities; and (4) modify adjusted gross income for the earned income credit to exclude specified capital, trust and estate, and business net losses.

(Sec. 911) Prohibits any individual whose Federal, State, or local welfare benefits are reduced because of fraud by the individual from receiving any increased benefit under any other federally funded welfare or public assistance program for the duration of the reduction.

(Sec. 912) Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to provide for an increase in funding and authorize the provision of abstinence education, along with a separate funding set-aside for it.