This ended a 60-year old guarantee of support for parents and children who met program requirements and replaced a single federal program with 50 states programs, with a great deal of flexibility as to how the states would manage their individual systems (Tilly 15). The law also includes a time limit that sets a cap on federal spending through 2002 (Tilly 15). .

             At the state level, there are three main issues-time limits, work requirements, and sanctioning (Tilly 15). If parents break the rules of the system, they can be "sanctioned" by having all of their benefits revoked. Welfare caseloads are down nationwide on the new program. What happens to these families once they leave the welfare rolls is unknown because no one is collecting that sort of information; however, many critics find it indicative of the situation that there has been a corresponding record demand on food banks (Tilly 16). .

             While the single mom on welfare has received a great deal of negative press in the media, agencies such as the Human Rights Monitoring Project of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee can relate stories that paint a different story. For example, "Fern," a single mom in Connecticut with three children was attending school under the old welfare laws, trying to get a BA. Under the new laws, Fern had to quit school or risk being "sanctioned," which would mean that she would lose food stamps and child care benefits (Albelda 15). .

             Similarly, a California woman, "Joyce," mother of two children, told this committee that she took a terrible job because her social worker told her that he would cut off all benefits if she didn't. On the job, Joyce was sexually harassed. When she reported this to the social worker, he informed her that if she quit the job, she would still lose her benefits-it was her decision (Albelda 15). .

             The overwhelming thrust of the literature regarding how the state programs are being run emphasizes that state employees are encouraged to reduce the welfare rolls by any means possible.