Rangel to keynote conference on welfare reform, Oct. 6

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York will deliver the keynote address at a Princeton University conference on welfare reform at 12:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

Rangel, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, is expected to lay out key priorities for the next Congress, presenting a major address on action areas in social policy.

The conference, titled "TANF@10: A Retrospective on Welfare Reform," is intended to focus on the passage of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a landmark bill created by the Welfare Reform Law of 1996. TANF became effective July 1, 1997, and replaced what was then known as welfare: Aid to Families with Dependent Children and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training programs. TANF was reauthorized in February 2006.

Scholars, practitioners and families whose lives have been affected by welfare reform will gather to discuss the changes TANF has produced, and what the future of welfare should look like. Presenting specially commissioned research will be Peter Edelman of Georgetown University, Olivia Golden of the Urban Institute and Robert Wood of the policy research firm Mathematica. Commentators will include Linda Gibbs, New York City's deputy mayor for health and human services, and Clarke Bruno, New Jersey's new commissioner of human services.

An original documentary short on welfare in the region will be released at the conference, as well as a specially commissioned survey on public perceptions of poverty and public assistance.

The conference will run from 9:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. in Robertson Hall. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required by completing an online form or by calling (609) 258-9065.

The event is sponsored by the Policy Research Institute for the Region in Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Members of the news media planning to attend should contact Andrew Rachlin at (609) 258-9531.