During a joint legislative hearing of the House and Senate minority parties, speakers from the state’s Department of Human Services and advocates for low-income residents shared their concerns regarding Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Millions of these TANF dollars were misspent by a former DHS Director in partnership with several other parties who have pleaded guilty to fraud. Investigations are still ongoing into funds spent by a former governor and an NFL football player. Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons says Mississippians deserve answers.
“We can not help but to recognize that Mississippi has two hands,” says Simmons. “While one hand is refusing aid, the other hand is intercepting aid. While one hand holds its poorest people hostage, the other hand liberates greed and normalizes corruption.”
While there were many questions regarding the misspending of TANF dollars during the two-hour hearing, questions were also raised on why it is often difficult for people to qualify for benefits across many welfare programs. Bob Anderson, the current Executive Director of DHS, says one policy that can be a hurdle for many low-income residents is needing to prove they are not abusing narcotics, a requirement that came from the HOPE Act of 2017.
“The HOPE Act is more a problem for us in our SNAP program more so than it is in our TANF program,” says Anderson. “We’ve asked you to repeal the part of it that requires us to do redetermination every time there’s a $100 increase in income. We’ve asked you three years in a row to repeal that and I will ask you again in January.”
Anderson says his agency is also working towards developing a system that monitors the outcomes of TANF spending and creates more internal accountability.
