The role of public administrators in North Carolina's TANF Work First program

Public Administrators in Work First Family Assistance Program

The Role of Public Administrators in Work First Family Assistance Program

Competency 1: Summarize the Findings of the Analytical Framework

Designing an analytical framework is possible and is seen because the Act was passed into law in 1975 by the federal government. The aim of implementing the child support policy in all states was to reduce the expenditure of the public on social welfare. The North Carolina welfare is an example of child support programs where the Division of Social Service disburses funds, and 100 counties use the program. Remember, TANF program is a block grant. The assistance provided by the state is for five years only to ensure that the family stays together, and a reduction of teenage pregnancies is adhered to especially because teenagers need their parents guidance and counsel.

TANF program was created after the passing of legislation in 1996 with the aim of improving the livelihood of families with low income and addressing health disparity problems in the U.S. The program was trying to make self-sufficient people and by so doing, the role of the welfare declined and skepticism arose regarding the program's effectiveness. Nevertheless, self-sufficient people needed to be employed, and since the program does not give job training and education to the parents or recipients, it delivers a service that is employment-related. The first requirement of TANF Work First is that they need to be a needy family requiring assistance to care for their respective families. As a result, these families will enhance safety, achieve well-being and be self-sufficient at the end of the five-year program. In short, the program does not want to have children entering into foster homes because it will mean an item of expenditure of the country's budget (The European Union, 2012).

The unemployment rate in North Carolina stands at 6.3% with a population of 102,331 hence, high rates of poverty in the state. As such, the TANF program looked at reducing poverty levels in the state of North Carolina and the ineffectiveness of the program is attributed to the dependence of people on the government. Moreover, other arguments assert that the program has encouraged behaviors that make it hard for poverty and other related challenges to be addressed. Statistics given show that one-third of North Carolina's families below the Living Income Standard (LIS). The program has issues of eligibility especially with AFDC replacing TANF, which had set requirements that worked well for determining the families that needed the financial help. These programs also implement federal government rules and regulations because they want to work together in seeing families stay together, and parents raise their children thus minimizing the birth of children out of wedlock. The other problem facing TANF is with accommodation where finding an affordable, and decent housing facility is a challenge.

The program has seen a drop in the number of cash recipients but the poverty level remains to be high among the recipients of TANF. The reason for this is that it falls on the purchasing power due to the state's inflation rate hence reducing the recipients' purchasing power rate. The research uses various documents to analyze the problem. This corroborates and convergences the different sources of data. Hence, bias is reduced, research credibility is delivered, and researchers develop understanding, meaning is uncovered, and insight into the research problem is provided. Since 1996 to-date, the cash grant has not been increased, and this has eroded the value of the program's benefits to the society and or community. Therefore, the federal government needs to consider integrating vocational training programs for the recipients to help them gain full-time employment. The training offered will help them escape their current poverty line and the cash benefits need adjusting (Fischer, Miller, & Sidney, 2007).

Competency 4: Create Efficacy in Public Administration Strategies

In determining the recommendations, the public administration personnel reviewed current program on a regular basis ad through this they developed the recommended statutory changes to the TAFN. The public administration also recommended regulatory changes that help the North Carolina and its localities to serve their varied clientele effectively. NASTA divided the recommendations given into four broad categories like the allowable uses of funds allocated to TAFN programs; special concerns of the program and population regarding TAFN; the appropriate level of funding to TAFN; and employment services and the outcome measures. From the recommendations given, it is evident that the public administrators had the first-hand experience of the attributes of TAFN. Additionally, they looked at programs shortcomings on serving those families with low-income in the whole nation. Therefore, the recommendations were based on the operational realities associated with state TAFN administration (APHSA, 2010, p. 1).

The cost-benefit analysis is used in evaluating the expenditure decisions of the public and requires systematic enumeration of all costs and benefits, both tangible and intangible, whether they are readily quantifiable, or they are difficult to measure, all affects the members of North Carolina State. TANF Work First program needs to be economically efficient and aims at making the people from low income to be self-sufficient and have acquired employment at the end of the five years. The approach has been applied in many programs and projects and is seen to be both enthusiastic and positive, and since the techniques convey an atmosphere of objectivity and precision, they become potentially dangerous to implementers (Fischer, Miller, & Sidney, 2007). Public administrators play an important role in maintaining well-managed systems of performance measures by being accountable across varied service areas. As such, they provide stakeholders with information on what has been accomplished by the implemented program basing on the consumed resources. Moreover, the efficiency relates to their ability to embrace performance management, and here, the public administration at the local level use their performance information derived from the higher order to measure their efficiency. Besides, the information they obtain from the state level shows the effectiveness of the program and the administrators can improve the services and will make strategic decisions about funds allocation (Kelly & Rivenbark, 2011).

In logic, the precision of the program requires the public administration personnel should compound the error of the program to enable their objectives and benefits to be more precise. Since the TANF program has precision, then the cost benefit of the program affects the recipients in an appositive way. The professionalism of the design lends itself to the introduction of set alternatives of assumptions enabling policymakers, and critics see the different conclusions that emerge on completion of the program. Therefore, the cost-benefit analysis provides information to the political process of the U.S. federal government. As such, the tool enhances the mechanical elements of a given program or project besides helping policymakers make sound decisions in reaching they intended goal of having a society that is self-sufficient. Moreover, the program looks at utilizing the resources of the grant by giving the recipients vocational training that will lead to them getting full-time employment. Hence, when the period of the program elapses the parents of the children will be independent (Ammons, 2008).

Competency 5: Think Critically and Communicate Effectively in the Application of Program Skills to a Professional Setting

Program skills that need to be fostered in such instances will include the use of accreditation methods that look at evaluation procedures. This will enable public administrators to be accountable of implemented programs because they relate to the continuous process of the program. Ideally, audits must be performed to give stakeholders a clearer picture of how the organization is managing the resources given to them. Besides, they will ensure they are effective by being professional in the way they communicate their agenda to the public. It is vital for public administrators to possess professional skills in their programs because it contributes to transparency levels relevant to the cost-benefit analysis. Since most programs are fund based, it is vital for administrators to be professional in their decision-making the process that looks at the most sustainable measures to meet the needs of their state (Ammons & Riverbark, 2008).

The skills obtained during training will also help administrators in the field to be ethical when it comes to delivering their service to the people. Moreover, they will be looking at promoting values vital in fostering a developed community and matching the societal changes affecting the country and nation. These program skills also contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of the program by looking at the mission and objectives of the program. The issues aligned to the needs of the society are considered because they will create a society that is no longer dependent on the aid from the federal government. Thereby, they become creative, devise ways of satisfying the needs of their family members and ensure they are long-term.